I'm locking down tonight. Man, where has the time flown??? I've got my sponge strips in the Eco 20 and both reservoirs are full of water, so wish me luck. Hopefully I'll have somewhere near 20 little Orpingtons of varying color making their entrance this weekend.
I have 3 Silver Penciled Rocks 6 Golden Cuckoo Marans and 2 BC Marans in lock down and I have 1 pip so far. Tomorrow 4 Ameracaunas go into lock down I hope in the morning I have some chicks. Congrats to everyone's little fuzzies
Just set 36 eggs in the homemade cooler bator today. 13 of my own (12 BlCM X EE's + 1 BlCM X Wyandotte) 12 EE's picked up in UT, and some shipped eggs (6 BCM, 2 BBS Marans, 3 BBS Ameraucanas). The bator is super full so I'm kinda freakin' out. However, I'm pretty sure that there will be more room after candling on day 10. This is my first time setting my own eggs. I borrowed a rooster and everything. Hope I get some pullets from each breed. Still struggling with my stupid hygrometers. After calibrating they all 3 read 60%. Grrrrr!
Well, I had some serious problems the first 4 days with the new bator, couldnt get the temp right but since last thursday temps have been great. Unfortunately I am in need of some advice on my darn humidity. I have both vent plugs out, a sponge in a pimento jar with water, cant get the humidity over 45....GRRRRR it is varying between 32 and 45 but the highest I have gotten is 50 and my air sacs are looking a bit too big not detrimentally but I dont want it to get worse. any theories on my issues with humidity. I will have to have it at 75 on lockdown next week and I am at a loss on how to get it there. I mean I already have sponge and water in the bator, I have even squirted the eggs with water when I do that I can get it to 50 but no higher... GRR OH and guess what? Well, I just got my hens out of broody mode less than a month ago, and two of them just started laying again about a week ago, I'll be darned if they havent all gone broody again! We decided to put some quail eggs under our best girl and hope she'll sit on em. If it is in fact Momma I know she will but if it is sugar they may get eaten instead. Sugar, B and Spice are prejudice against eggs that arent light and one color lol. they have eaten the buttons and cort eggs I put under them before but momma she will sit on any and everything, it is day one on the broody eggs. here is the tally on the bator eggs
button quail-20eggs these are my own eggs
courtnix mixed- 18 these are my own eggs
Manchurian Golden Courtnix- 40 these were shipped from texas and ordered off of craigslist all were intact on arrival and the ones i candled look GOOD!
Quote:
This hatch I had to get sneaky. As I have a home made bator I have an area where I can drape wet paper towels to bump up the humidity. It means that if I catch the humidity dropping I need to open it and dip and rehang the papertowel, but I've gotten pretty quick.
Photos are slowly coming along, Ked. Here's a quick one (not for the autopsy page).
@ Vegaschick: if you have more than a couple hens, I hope you waited a couple days after borrowing the roo before collecting eggs to hatch... Otherwise you may face some infertility issues when you candle.
@ Sweet: God they are cute. RIR? And your idea.... it has given me ideas about humidity.... I have a styrofoam hovabator with a lid that sets on top of the bottom (inside a little lip).... if I were to drape a paper towel over the edge so part of it was outside the bator, I could add water to it (and it would soak to the whole paper towel) without ever opening the top! You're a genius
I'm hoping to come home to a hatched duckling... When I left this morning 3 were pipped and 2 were still wiggling. The ducks are way cuter than the chicks in the eggs.... they cheep up a STORM when I talk to them and it actually makes them try harder! I say DUCK DUCK DUCK to them and all the eggs start wobbling and cheeping XD
I have 29 eggs due to go on lockdown on Saturday. First hatch ever, guinea keets in a Hovabator with turner.
I kinda doubt that anything will hatch since I'm a newbie and these are shipped eggs, but you never know! I candled out 7 of the 36 I received that were obviously bad (clear) but the rest of the eggs are so dark that all I can see is an aircell. Can't tell about veining although I was able to see veining in one of the lighter eggs when the room was pitch dark, so SOMETHING is happening. I also have keets shipping on Monday along with chicks so these eggs were timed to hatch when anything that comes out would have company.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
I'd love to try some silkie eggs after this but with my luck only one would hatch and then I'd have one chick to try and integrate with a bunch of month olds..