Mahonri's 3rd Annual, BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[ronott1]

I just checked the map and the three hatchers still in the Atlantic Ocean say the were last updated by Tanya 19 hours ago. Did Tanya put them there? Maybe she could go fish them out and put them where they belong. I am particularly worried about the horse. 19 hours of treading water is pretty severe for a house. The star and the flag can make it longer though...

 

[ChooksChick]

Hatchability Hints & Secrets

Could we please keep these going? I love hearing others tricks and secrets. Let's do it for the good of the hatch and for the good of the fowl.

## If separated before egg collection begins, give the rooster and hens enough time to get to know each other before the beginning of egg collection. Two weeks seems a safe bet. Sometimes the hens take a little bit of time to get used to the new guy on the block before she starts accepting his advances. Until she accepts his overtures, we can be collecting and filling our incubator with duds. That's been my experience, but your mileage may vary.

This has scientific proof!

It was discovered that hens actually 'spit out' the deposit of males they don't fancy, for whatever reason. Often this is the male who is seen as less dominant, so if it's a bump-and-run incident because Alpha is heading over to kick Beta's tail, the hen may reject the offering with enough force to preclude eggs containing genes from that male from being created. This just goes to show that it pays to be nice if you want to really leave a legacy!!

 

[ChooksChick]

Hint ## This is a controversial hint, as many of my opinions may be:

I believe it is beneficial to open the incubator for a few minutes daily. I like to mimic the natural conditions of a hen's care, and she gets up to walk around, eat, drink, poo, etc., for about a half-hour daily- sometimes twice.

This gives me time to turn (if need be), smell, and candle my eggs if I like. I just open it for a few minutes if I'm not intending to handle them. I do this most days until 'confinement.' Some will be aghast and argue this is insane behavior...but I'm just sharing what works for me.

 

[ronott1]

Hint ## This is a controversial hint, as many of my opinions may be:

I believe it is beneficial to open the incubator for a few minutes daily. I like to mimic the natural conditions of a hen's care, and she gets up to walk around, eat, drink, poo, etc., for about a half-hour daily- sometimes twice.

This gives me time to turn (if need be), smell, and candle my eggs if I like. I just open it for a few minutes if I'm not intending to handle them. I do this most days until 'confinement.' Some will be aghast and argue this is insane behavior...but I'm just sharing what works for me.

I read this too. Was it earlier in this forum? There was a link to information from a guy that has been hatching for a long time. He said that for the first 18 days you should open the incubator two or three times a day. This is when using an automatic egg turner. He says the eggs will suffocate and that you would open the incubator that often if you turned by hand. I don't know about this though. Is there enough air exchange with a fan forced incubator like the Genesis 1588? It has holes in the bottom, so I would think there would be a good amount of air exchange.

Maybe it is good for the egg to cool down slightly periodically? I am testing mine with a water weasel and the temp in the weasel wend down a degree when I opened it and added hot water. During my next hatch, I will try opening the lid briefly a couple of times a day and see what happens.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Hint ## This is a controversial hint, as many of my opinions may be:

I believe it is beneficial to open the incubator for a few minutes daily. I like to mimic the natural conditions of a hen's care, and she gets up to walk around, eat, drink, poo, etc., for about a half-hour daily- sometimes twice.

This gives me time to turn (if need be), smell, and candle my eggs if I like. I just open it for a few minutes if I'm not intending to handle them. I do this most days until 'confinement.' Some will be aghast and argue this is insane behavior...but I'm just sharing what works for me.

I agree.

 

[NotAFarm]

Hint ## This is a controversial hint, as many of my opinions may be:

I believe it is beneficial to open the incubator for a few minutes daily. I like to mimic the natural conditions of a hen's care, and she gets up to walk around, eat, drink, poo, etc., for about a half-hour daily- sometimes twice.

This gives me time to turn (if need be), smell, and candle my eggs if I like. I just open it for a few minutes if I'm not intending to handle them. I do this most days until 'confinement.' Some will be aghast and argue this is insane behavior...but I'm just sharing what works for me.

This sounds like a very good hint to me...anything closer to conditions experienced under a hen have to be beneficial in my eyes.
Since I do not have auto turners in the old Farm Master, I have to open it three times a day to turn my eggs. Last Easter Hatch, I noticed the temp would drop 2 degrees after having the door open to turn the eggs, but would quickly return to proper temperature. I don't believe the eggs under a broody are always at an exact temperature so some variance is not a bad thing and neither is fresh air!

 

[karimw]

That may be why I have had significantly better hatches when I hand turn my eggs. I have two identical 1588s about 2 months different in age, but only one turner.

 

[ronott1]

That may be why I have had significantly better hatches when I hand turn my eggs. I have two identical 1588s about 2 months different in age, but only one turner.

Another thing that some say--An egg turner sets the eggs on end. Hand turning sets the egg on the side. When you remove the eggs from the egg turner and put them on their side at lock down, some chicks can't reorient their position and suffocate. To avoid this, Hatchers using egg turners use cut out card board egg cartons to leave the eggs in the same relative position as the egg turner.

I don't know about this, but it makes sense. I tried setting the eggs on their side and "wobbling" them a bit to make sure the weight of the chick in the eggs would orient the egg into the best position for hatching and such at lock down. I did have six of eight eggs hatch for my Easter Eggers.

I am going to try the egg carton tip on my next hatch. I am setting Dorking eggs this weekend

.


edited to remove redundant Grammar

 

[ChooksChick]

I can think of a lot of hints, but most of them are about hatching and involve interference that others generally warn against! I'm a rule-breaker!

BY FAR the best thing you can o is to be certain your hens are getting good vitamins and minerals. This has already been mentioned, of course, but I can't stress it enough! Fresh Kale, Chard and spinach are fabulous treats, and I would also suggest salmon and tuna in the egg-collection week. I supplement my feed with fish meal, and I use an organic nutrient supplement to assure proper vitamins and minerals in the feed. I use Molasses for vitamin B and Iron, and I use a liquid nutrient supplement for additional Omegas and vitamin E.

I think if I could afford it, I'd have all of them on a fresh diet, but I'm not an heiress, so no go.

 

[NotAFarm]

Renee, I think the fresh diet is so key to general overall health...but I too am not an heiress so it's not going to happen here! They do get all the scraps from making salads or peeling veggies etc from our meals.