Little Giant Incubation Experiment - Day 21 - Hatch Day!

[AmyLynn2374]

Yes, I'm not talking huge swings, and I think 5 degrees is enough to worry over! I'm wondering if rotating the eggs around different areas would help? For example, if they sit in a 98 area for a few days, then 101 area for a few days? 98 isn't low enough and 101 isn't high enough to kill them, so I wonder if they would average out? I have nothing to base that on, just wondering.

You also have to consider shell condition. Some shells are tougher/thicker and hold the heat better, even with fluctuating temps around it. Some porous shells may not like it as well. ??? I weighed all mine before setting, and by day 21 (remember ducks, not chicks) one had only lost 8.7% and one had already lost 13% and both of those hatched a day apart. It could have been temp differences in the bator or it could have been shell thickness, or I'm sure there are other possibilities why... I don't know.

I tried rotating and I also tried for a few days to rotate just the top of the incubator so the side that was heating more hit all four sides during the day...lol. It was easier than rotating eggs..lol I have a few eggs that need to increase air cell size but most are growing good (using an average around 30%) for the most part, the few that could use a little more growth are brown thicker shelled eggs. I have a damp sponge in the middle of my bator for my humidity with the eggs on the outside, (the middle of the bator is a major cool spot so I am avoiding having eggs there until lockdown tomorrow night,) and I am moving the eggs I feel need a little more air cell growth to the farthest areas away from the spong and the ones I feel are adequate/bigger more toward the sponge to see if the proximetry to the source of humidity affects the growth as well.

 

[WVduckchick]

I tried rotating and I also tried for a few days to rotate just the top of the incubator so the side that was heating more hit all four sides during the day...lol. It was easier than rotating eggs..lol  I have a few eggs that need to increase air cell size but most are growing good (using an average around 30%) for the most part, the few that could use a little more growth are brown thicker shelled eggs. I have a damp sponge in the middle of my bator for my humidity with the eggs on the outside, (the middle of the bator is a major cool spot so I am avoiding having eggs there until lockdown tomorrow night,) and I am moving the eggs I feel need a little more air cell growth to the farthest areas away from the spong and the ones I feel are adequate/bigger more toward the sponge to see if the proximetry to the source of humidity affects the growth as well.

Awesome. Rotating the lid does sound easier! I'm not sure if mine fits all 4 ways or just 2. I anxiously await your results!

 

[fiset94]

Quote: You had such a Great hatch!! I am incubating mostly dry (couple teaspoons of water) and it is at a steady 40 in my hovabator... then I am moving them to the LG9300 for Hatching and I am just so disappointed with my results.

I am on Round 2 on the hatching experience... I go on lockdown Wednesday... and I am putting in Maran Eggs... I lost all my Olive Eggers to Shrinkwrapped- I take that back... 2 were stinkers and I guess died prior to pip time.

I did the float test... and capped off the top of the living ones - avoiding the blood vessels - 2 were upside down- and died that way.. 1 was the right way. I found the beak... and it actually chriped! I was so elated that i would get ONE out of this hatch!... it lived for about 12 hours then died.. in it's shell.


I need some advice about humidity control... my hygrometer measured at 70 when I did the salt test.. so it is 5 off... so if it says 60% humidity... it is really 65 in there??

The temp is a ever growing concern.. it seems that there are SO many different readings in that thing... between 3 thermo. I can get a range from 97 to 104!

I don't want to loose this next batch. - the Incubator is in my back room - no drafts... but on the cooler side. 62-64 degrees

What do you suggest lock down temp be in the 9300??

 

[WVduckchick]

You had such a Great hatch!!  I am incubating mostly dry (couple teaspoons of water) and it is at a steady 40 in my hovabator... then I am moving them to the LG9300 for Hatching and I am just so disappointed with my results.

I am on Round 2 on the hatching experience... I go on lockdown Wednesday... and I am putting in Maran Eggs... I lost all my Olive Eggers to Shrinkwrapped- I take that back... 2 were stinkers and I guess died prior to pip time.

I did the float test... and capped off the top of the living ones - avoiding the blood vessels - 2 were upside down- and died that way.. 1 was the right way. I found the beak... and it actually chriped! I was so elated that i would get ONE out of this hatch!... it lived for about 12 hours then died.. in it's shell.


I need some advice about humidity control... my hygrometer measured at 70 when I did the salt test.. so it is 5 off... so if it says 60% humidity... it is really 65 in there??

The temp is a ever growing concern.. it seems that there are SO many different readings in that thing... between 3 thermo. I can get a range from 97 to 104!

I don't want to loose this next batch.    -  the Incubator is in my back room - no drafts... but on the cooler side. 62-64 degrees

What do you suggest lock down temp be in the 9300??

I'm gonna let someone else respond to most of this but yes, if your salt test said 70, then you are 5 low, so a 60 reading actually means 65. I stuck a piece of masking tape to mine and wrote "6% low" on it so I would remember.

Also if they shrinkwrapped, then maybe your humidity is too low throughout the process. If they lose too much moisture, then they can't maneuver... I think. AmyLynn or someone else will know better than me on that, but that's my guess. How did your air cells look thru it all?

Edit for one other thing... How long did you wait before you did the float test and opened them up? Maybe you rushed it? I did that in my first hatch. I think temps were overall low and they were just slower than I expected.

 

[rossfam06]

I am interested because I am doing completely dry incubation. No water and my level stays at or around 40%. I live in the deep south and being coastal our humidity is high. I want to make sure I don't shrink wrap. My 7 day candling is on Wed. So I can mark the air cells.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You had such a Great hatch!! I am incubating mostly dry (couple teaspoons of water) and it is at a steady 40 in my hovabator... then I am moving them to the LG9300 for Hatching and I am just so disappointed with my results.

I am on Round 2 on the hatching experience... I go on lockdown Wednesday... and I am putting in Maran Eggs... I lost all my Olive Eggers to Shrinkwrapped- I take that back... 2 were stinkers and I guess died prior to pip time.

I did the float test... and capped off the top of the living ones - avoiding the blood vessels - 2 were upside down- and died that way.. 1 was the right way. I found the beak... and it actually chriped! I was so elated that i would get ONE out of this hatch!... it lived for about 12 hours then died.. in it's shell.


I need some advice about humidity control... my hygrometer measured at 70 when I did the salt test.. so it is 5 off... so if it says 60% humidity... it is really 65 in there??

The temp is a ever growing concern.. it seems that there are SO many different readings in that thing... between 3 thermo. I can get a range from 97 to 104!

I don't want to loose this next batch. - the Incubator is in my back room - no drafts... but on the cooler side. 62-64 degrees

What do you suggest lock down temp be in the 9300??

I'm gonna let someone else respond to most of this but yes, if your salt test said 70, then you are 5 low, so a 60 reading actually means 65. I stuck a piece of masking tape to mine and wrote "6% low" on it so I would remember.

Also if they shrinkwrapped, then maybe your humidity is too low throughout the process. If they lose too much moisture, then they can't maneuver... I think. AmyLynn or someone else will know better than me on that, but that's my guess. How did your air cells look thru it all?

Edit for one other thing... How long did you wait before you did the float test and opened them up? Maybe you rushed it? I did that in my first hatch. I think temps were overall low and they were just slower than I expected.

If your humidity was at 40% it shouldn't shrink wrap your chicks unless they had really thin/porous shells. When a chick is "shrinkwrapped BOTH membranes will be dry and tightly wrapped around the chick. If the outer membrane is dry and white and around the inside of the shell, but the inner membrane is wrapping the chick and is wet then it is drowning. There is a good pick of a true shrink wrapped chick on this thread:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491421/shrink-wrap-vs-sticky-chick Shrink wrapped chicks can't generally pip, unless they are shrink wrapped after the pip and that would be due to too low humidity at hatch or a big drop in humidity at hatch.
My last hatch completely dry my bator held 40% average. This hatch I have to keep a damp sponge in there just to keep it at 30%. I, however use 70/75% at hatch time.

 

[WVduckchick]

Wow, that's a great shrink-wrapped pic. But from reading the "summary" in the first post, it is not at all what I've been reading lately. It says shrink wrapping occurs before pip. But a lot of posts seem to me to say if you open the incubator after one has pipped, and humidity drops, it can become shrink wrapped. I've never seen that thread, so I'm going to read it. Thanks for the link. Maybe I have the terms all bass-akwards too!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Wow, that's a great shrink-wrapped pic. But from reading the "summary" in the first post, it is not at all what I've been reading lately. It says shrink wrapping occurs before pip. But a lot of posts seem to me to say if you open the incubator after one has pipped, and humidity drops, it can become shrink wrapped. I've never seen that thread, so I'm going to read it. Thanks for the link. Maybe I have the terms all bass-akwards too!

I noticead a coment I thought wasn't quite right too, but I think the poster was sharing what he understood, which wasn't necessarily all correct. No, you are correct. It's refering to chicks shrink wrapped in the shell (at eggtopsy time) . My understanding is a chick that is shrinkwrapped (due to the humidity being too low for the incubation period and resulting in too big air cells) will not be able to pip (internally or externally.) Then you have the "don't open the bator or they'll shrinkwrap theory. (Which my research and reading has led me to understand is a low probability, especially with proper humidity levels in the bator.) Those chicks have pipped and during pip/hatch have had a dramatic drop in the hatch humidity causeing the "shrink wrapping.

 

[WalnutHill]

I agree with Amy in that the same type of issue can occur in more than one way. Say for example you have a very porous egg shell, or a washed egg. That egg may be more prone to shrink wrap than a very smooth surfaced, thick shell with a good bloom, even in the same incubation conditions as the egg right next to it. If it's an older egg and has a larger air cell the same thing can happen. If it was in an area of the incubator with drier or hotter conditions it could also dry out more. Same with an external pip that was subjected to lower humidity or a dramatic temperature change.

There are potentially many causes, but all are detrimental to the chick's well being.

 

[fiset94]

From that pic..my chicks were def. shrink wrapped... The air cells looked decent...some were a little small.. None of the chicks had pipped internally or externally- .I am going to do everything possible to get that humidity up to 70 prior to Wednesday!