June Hatch-A-Long

[ShrekDawg]

I’ve lost so many in the last week to coon attacks that when I lost 3 of my silkies Sunday morning I was just really mad! I did get pretty upset Saturday afternoon when I lost the last of my lavender Orpington chicks to heat stroke! Now I have to order some more of those.

awwww I’m sorry.

I love my Lav Orp cockerel

 

[FortCluck]

I’ve lost so many in the last week to coon attacks that when I lost 3 of my silkies Sunday morning I was just really mad! I did get pretty upset Saturday afternoon when I lost the last of my lavender Orpington chicks to heat stroke! Now I have to order some more of those.

I guess both of us have suffered pretty great losses this month

 

[LadiesAndJane]

OK lovely people I have a question for all of you experienced hatchers! I have my six lonely eggs left out of 34 and they are supposed to hatch this weekend. I just weighed them all and plotted them out on my graph and they all seem to be a bit dry. I pulled the dry sponges a week ago, those are mostly for Marans and I only have one Marans egg left.
Dry incubating with a natural humidity between 35 and 45% right now. Question is should I add some water here the last few days or just let things be? Air cell sizes actually look OK, maybe a little big, hard to tell.
Thanks, I’m really hoping all six of these hatch! Good movement in all six of them. They are day 16 and a 17 right now.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

OK lovely people I have a question for all of you experienced hatchers! I have my six lonely eggs left out of 34 and they are supposed to hatch this weekend. I just weighed them all and plotted them out on my graph and they all seem to be a bit dry. I pulled the dry sponges a week ago, those are mostly for Marans and I only have one Marans egg left.
Dry incubating with a natural humidity between 35 and 45% right now. Question is should I add some water here the last few days or just let things be? Air cell sizes actually look OK, maybe a little big, hard to tell.
Thanks, I’m really hoping all six of these hatch! Good movement in all six of them. They are day 16 and a 17 right now.

Oh I was planning to lock them down day 18/19! Of course humidity will be higher for that.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

OK lovely people I have a question for all of you experienced hatchers! I have my six lonely eggs left out of 34 and they are supposed to hatch this weekend. I just weighed them all and plotted them out on my graph and they all seem to be a bit dry. I pulled the dry sponges a week ago, those are mostly for Marans and I only have one Marans egg left.
Dry incubating with a natural humidity between 35 and 45% right now. Question is should I add some water here the last few days or just let things be? Air cell sizes actually look OK, maybe a little big, hard to tell.
Thanks, I’m really hoping all six of these hatch! Good movement in all six of them. They are day 16 and a 17 right now.

Depending on the type of incubator I'm using I usually shoot for 65% humidity in my first hatch and I alter it based on what I see during hatch. For example, in my NR360s I always aim for 65%, in the IncuView I may even go for more like 70%, in styrofoam incubators like hovabator or little giant I might go for 55-60%.

The humidity in my home is usually around 45%.

 

[hysop]

Has it been awfully hot there? The heat will definitely stop them laying.

Not hotter than the summer heat but I guess since it’s the start of the summer they haven’t gotten acclimated. Like it’s starting to get in the 90s and will keep climbing as the weeks go by.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Depending on the type of incubator I'm using I usually shoot for 65% humidity in my first hatch and I alter it based on what I see during hatch. For example, in my NR360s I always aim for 65%, in the IncuView I may even go for more like 70%, in styrofoam incubators like hovabator or little giant I might go for 55-60%.

The humidity in my home is usually around 45%.

Thanks so much @CluckNDoodle though I did not mean for lockdown, I meant should I up the humidity these last few days before lockdown? Will it make any difference at this point?
I have a Brinsea Mini Advance, worked awesome last month with about 65% on lockdown.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Thanks so much @CluckNDoodle though I did not mean for lockdown, I meant should I up the humidity these last few days before lockdown? Will it make any difference at this point?
I have a Brinsea Mini Advance, worked awesome last month with about 65% on lockdown.

Oops! Lol, Yes you could increase it if you're concerned that the air cells are too large. Increasing it to about 55% until lockdown should slow the rate of air cell growth.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

I’ve lost so many in the last week to coon attacks that when I lost 3 of my silkies Sunday morning I was just really mad! I did get pretty upset Saturday afternoon when I lost the last of my lavender Orpington chicks to heat stroke! Now I have to order some more of those.

I just lost a few too. I thought it was a coon and nailed and wired up everything so tight a bug couldn't get it....but I am beginning to think it might be a weasel. It's walking right past my box traps full of yummy (nasty) goodies and my trail cam doesn't want to work properly so I can confirm what I'm dealing with.

Today I moved everyone to my grow out chick tractor for extra safety. It's a bit snug in there for 8 grown chickens, but perhaps whatever is out there will go for the trap stuff if it can't get ahold of a bird.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Not hotter than the summer heat but I guess since it’s the start of the summer they haven’t gotten acclimated. Like it’s starting to get in the 90s and will keep climbing as the weeks go by.

Add the humidity and it's like trying the breathe through a wet towel. Gotta love the sauna. I mean South.