little giant 9300

[TheGeekySheep]

Yes dry incubation does seem to be the preferred method here on BYC. The lady I ordered the eggs from lives in Florida and she does this too and yes I asked about acquiring more eggs. It's worth a try since its the the only thing I have not adjusted with the past 4 attempts. You're correct about weighing the eggs being better than eyeing them. I do not have a scale though. The saga or madness , you decide, of hatching shipped eggs continues...

I wish Silkie Central wasn't down here in the South, then you might have a better chance at getting some eggs that haven't been shipped clear across the country, lol.

 

[only1bgirl]

Apparently chicks can drown during lockdown with high humidity, I do remember getting into the 70's during one of the lockdown days.

 

[only1bgirl]

Local options are not good here not that many people have them and if they do they're mixed up colors and they want $15 a chick, so paying $35 for a couple dozen shipped,true colors, is good. This will shock you too the people that run the poultry barn at the state fair are "rabbit people", they raise rabbits not chickens. And when I called local 4H I found I would have to start a group. Standard big birds are the norm here, Sex Links everywhere! There is such a better selection and quality of Silkies in the South so I will continue ordering until I get this incubation process down.

 

[TheGeekySheep]

Well you'll be a pro at it soon enough, haha.

Note on incubating in my still air: Last time I set it at 102ºF to maintain 101.5ºF - 102ºF at the top of the eggs. Now in order to maintain that same temp I have to set it at 103ºF. My average humidity is running about 10% lower than last time, I'm wondering if that's making it cooler.

Waiting for Day 7 so I can candle and weigh and see what's going on.

 

[only1bgirl]

The difference might be because they're upright this time instead of on their sides. When my humidity went down the temp would go up. Been reading up again and someone noted how the temperature changes for the egg when the turner is removed, that bit of height difference could make for a degree or better change. Still trying to figure out what went wrong, so I'm reading up now, so hopefully next clutch I can change my egg slaying ways!

 

[TheGeekySheep]

The difference might be because they're upright this time instead of on their sides. When my humidity went down the temp would go up. Been reading up again and someone noted how the temperature changes for the egg when the turner is removed, that bit of height difference could make for a degree or better change. Still trying to figure out what went wrong, so I'm reading up now, so hopefully next clutch I can change my egg slaying ways!

That could be it, I guess I thought if the thermostat probe was still laying on top of the eggs it would maintain the same temp regardless of height, in contrast to the still air incubators that have the thermostat in the lid, where height would make a difference.

I just saw this that someone just posted this in another thread, it has a troubleshooting guide for hatching, worth a read: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00008570/00001/1j

 

[only1bgirl]

YAY! As soon as I post about there not being any local Silkies a lady with straight Buff colored Silkies contacts me saying she has eggs that I can have, HALLELUJAH! She's not sure about fertility cause they have not set any since June, so she's giving them to me. Local eggs, this should be a good test of my incubation method.e

 

[TheGeekySheep]

Awesome!!

 

[jurczak09]

Good for you!! Maybe this will be your "lucky" clutch!

 

[jurczak09]

I was going to wait a little too try a second hatch and my mom decided that my excitement was something to go with.She came by with guinea eggs. Shipped eggs from the next state over. This ought to be interesting, I don't even have hatching chicks down yet! Now there is a little pressure since she must want some. . .