Mahonri's 2nd Annual NYDHatch, watching them grow...

[CorgiHouse]

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Water saturated Maxi-pads to up the humidity as needed.

Seriously.

My concern is getting too much humidity!! I'm just unsure about how much water I need, or if I even need a pad or not, because it's easy for me to get my humidity up (live in a relatively humid environment) and I just haven't experienced using the bator through a hatch yet, so don't know what it entails to keep it at the correct levels. I feel like I'm experimenting on all my little unborns! Hopefully they are tough little buggers though.

 

[CorgiHouse]

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That does look like a neat system.......but where do the chicks have room to 'hang out' after they have hatched? It seems like they would be falling in the holes or trying to scrabble over the other eggs. I assume it's not a problem, or you wouldn't do it that way. But I can't envision it very well. Do you have any pics of a hatch in progress using the egg cartons like that?

I pull them out shortly after they hatch and put them in "the recovery room,"

a HovaBator, to fluff up.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_dscf3020.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_dscf3014.jpg

Wow - that is very cool!!! Of course, you can open your bator during a hatch since you have a Brinsea and it recovers quickly, right? I'm using an LG styro still air for this first hatch, but I have already determined in this recent education of mine about hatching chicks, that I definitely want a 'better' incubator!!

So what settings do you have in "the recovery room" as far as temps and humidity? And do you then leave them in there for a day or two before removing them to the brooder?

This thread has been so fun and full of good info!

 

[Happy Chooks]

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With the amount of kids Mahonri has, I'm sure he's been through LaMaz a few times!

 

[Happy Chooks]

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Too cute!

 

[featherz]

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My guineas hatched in the turner also when I tried some this year. They are in a HURRY to get out and zoom around!!

 

[wolftracks]

OK what exactly are all you people on anyway?????

I marked a spot and "BAMMMM" Had to read before I even posted and now I can't remember who I wanted to ask what of!

So my guess for posts is 8449.

I locked down the first bator at 11:45 and sencond one at 12:15

Hard to see through all these brown eggs and even the blue ones! I did find some that were clear for sure though, so total of 57 went into lockdown and several are iffy.

I'm having a hard time now getting my temp and humiity up. I'm at 45% in one and 46% in the other and temps are so far 97 and 96. I have 2 LGs so need to get everything up.

Remember I said I got smashed boxes? We I managed to save 29 out of lotsapaints eggs. So many were smashed, but I put the survivors in. The 2 I waxed oozed last week, so they were out, but with the eggs I can see, Denny has some dark brown shells! I have development, so those are some really fertile chickens she has.

OK I gotta go check again.

I may need a hand holding soon. Panic time!

 

[Rathbone]

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What I wouldn't give to have someone take a look at me and think "you're a stripper". just kidding!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Here's the Mahonri hatch pictorial.....

(a girl can dream, right?)

then onto:

and maybe even

a time or two.

Some mother nature interruptions.....

Hopefully some

and ending with

That about sums it up, right?

 

[CorgiHouse]

OK - Lockdown for me here on the west coast. I candled and locked down about an hour and a half ago, at noon. Out of my 14 eggs, I took 2 out that look totally clear to me. One was a green egg and a bit harder to see, so not sure if it was clear or if it started to develop then quit early. But both definitely did not have any developed chicks in them.

Interestingly, the two eggs I took out:
One was a very first egg laid by one of my EE pullets and was outside and dirty, and I wiped off the worst of the mud, etc with a warm damp paper towel. Wondering if cleaning it did it in? Or if some other reason. I do have another 'first egg laid' from another pullet in there too, and it is developing fine.....
The other egg is from a SLW hen who was just going into molt when we started this adventure, and had slowed way down on her egg production. Turns out she laid her last egg for me just as I started collecting and it was the only one of hers I got in the bator. I had not seen the roo very interested in her lately, so I'm guessing it was not fertile.

It was very exciting for me to see a couple of the eggs rocking and rolling after I put them back in the bator!!! That is about the coolest thing I've ever seen. I can hardly wait to see them start hatching!!!

So my twelve eggs are all my own backyard mutts. EE roo over the following girls:

4/5 - EE (all from the same pullet - a blue!)
4/4 - Javas
3/3 - Cuckoo Marans
1/1 - Black Star
0/1 - SLW


edited to correct my numbers

 

[aka Rachel]

Weeee, everyone is so

And I see we already got our first baby, awww

I dropped an egg about 14 days ago, waxed it up and decided not to put too much hope in it.

However, that lil guy is wiggiling away

Sure hope the cracks don't interfere with pippin and zippin .