Mahonri's First Annual New Year's Day Hatch/Jan 2010

[The Sheriff]

I am late for lockdown! I marked my calendar that I set the eggs on the 11th then I re-read this thread and realized that I posted on 12/10 that I had already set the eggs and it was 9:30 a.m. I even said in my post that I was a day early. Guess I forgot to change the calendar! Anyway the Hovabator is firing up to accept the eggs due to hatch on 1-11-2010. The 5 still-viable Light Sussex will stay in the Brinsea with precise temp and humidity until they hatch (

) and go into the brooder. WOW, I'm on lockdown!

Edited to say: I candled them and there is movement in all five but they have huge, weird aircells taking up more than half the egg and the chick squished all the way down at the small end. Here's a lousy pic.

Go Sussex Five!

Go!

 

[Mahonri]

Well, Thursday we'll expect 5 beautiful chicks and next year some coronations right?

 

[Enjaytoo]

So is everyone sticking with about 65% for lockdown? I was trying a "dry" hatch, tried to keep it in low-mid 40s days 1-17 and (I had thought) 55% but no higher on days 18-21.....??

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
I set the Brinsea at 68%. I was at 65% for my Christmas hatch but still lost a lot of eggs so I am trying a little higher this time. Maybe I am going the wrong way. I had nine that never pipped but were fully formed chicks. Should I be going lower? Might they have drowned?

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
Wow! No pressure there!

 

[sekinkead]

I have 2 icubators, 1 for incubating and 1 for hatching as I was doing staggered hatches. My hatching is a still air and as of this morning the temp was still not up. It was only at 100, so I postponed lockdown until I get home. Do you think they will be ok for an extra 8 hrs or so?

 

[riftnreef]

I'm not an expert, but I wouldn't think there would be no harm. It's all approximate I'm sure...at least I hope so becuse I didn't do my before work this morning either...so I'll be in the same boat...

edit for grammer...as usual...I really should proof read these things before hitting submit!

 

[Mahonri]

Went home at lunch to candle and lockdown and I forgot my LIGHT AT WORK!

So I got the humidity up took them out of the turners and set them in cartons.

24 in the brinsea... ya know there isn't much room in there for hatched chicks! I set it at 65 and now I'm wondering if I should set it for more or less!???

30 in the hovabator. It's right at 62% by one, at 58 by another, I'm going to add a wet sponge or paper towel.

All of the vents are OPEN and the humidity pump on the brinsea just keeps a pumping.

 

[kathyinmo]

You can calibrate the hygrometers. Here are the instructions (copied from another thread):

How to Calibrate a Hygrometer
by Lianne McLeod, DVM
for About.com
*******To calibrate a hygrometer you will need:
· 1/2 cup table salt
· approximately 1/4 cup water
· coffee cup
· hygrometer
· large re-sealable freezer bag
1. Place 1/2 cup of salt in the coffee cup, and add the water. Stir for a bit to totally saturate the salt (the salt won't dissolve, it will be more like really wet sand).
2. Place the salt/water mix in a re-sealable plastic bag, along with the hygrometer, and seal the bag. Note: make sure none of the salt/water mix comes in direct contact with the hygrometer.
3. Set this bag aside at room temperature for 8-12 hours, in a location where the temperature is fairly constant.
4. After 8-12 hours, check the reading of the hygrometer. It is best to read it while still in the bag.
The relative humidity in the sealed bag with the salt/water mix should be 75 percent (mine read about 72 percent).
5. For adjustable hygrometers, adjust to read 75 percent. You will have to do this very quickly, or remember how much you need to adjust the setting (e.g. mine read 72 percent rather than 75 percent, so I would need to adjust the dial up 3 percentage points).
If yours is not adjustable (like mine), simply make a note of how "off" your hygrometer reads. If it reads below 75 percent, you will need to add the difference to your actual readings. If your hygrometer read above 75 percent on the calibration, you will need to subtract the difference from your actual reading.
In my example: after sitting in the bag, my hygrometer read 72 percent, when it should have read 75 percent -- a difference of 3 percent. I now add 3 percent to the readings I take on the hygrometer (e.g. in a tank) to get the actual relative humidity.
Remember: always give a hygrometer about 2 hours to stabilize before taking a reading, as changes in the relative humidity may take a while to register accurately on a hygrometer.
CORRECTION:

Burbs (on byc) wrote:
*Kosher salt is better because it is pure NaCl. Table salt has additives such as iodine and anticaking chemicals.
Mine was off by 10 when calibrating with salt. I don't think it is that uncommon with the $20 digitals.
When calculating at different humidity percentages keep in mind that it is not a direct addition. For example, mine read 65% when it should have read 75%. Thats a factor of 115% that needs to be added to the 65% reading. So if I am reading 35% on my meter the actaul is 40.25% (35 X 1.15 correction factor).
From wikipedia:
"The critical relative humidity (CRH) of a salt is defined as the relative humidity of the surrounding atmosphere (at a certain temperature) at which the material begins to absorb moisture from the atmosphere and below which it will not absorb atmospheric moisture.
When the humidity of the atmosphere is equal to (or is greater than) the critical relative humidity of a sample of salt, the sample will take up water until all of the salt is dissolved to yield a saturated solution. All water-soluble salts and mixtures have characteristic critical humidities; it is a unique material property.
I replied:
Burbs, thanks for posting that. That could make a BIG difference in the original post. Mine was 70% rather than 75% so I was just quickly adding 5% as suggested in my post above, i.e., right now my hygrometer is reading 43% or 43+5=48% the old way. However, doing it correctly 75/70= 1.07 , so 43 x 1.07 = 46.01% NOT 48%. That incorrect difference of 2% could make an important difference when incubating eggs and deciding when/whether or not to add water.
Also, when comparing my hygrometer's percentage to another that's known to be 100% correct, I could not see mine at 43% and the correct one at 46% and simply figure 3% difference at every percentage change, e.g., if mine only read 12% humidity, 12 x 1.07 = 12.84% not 15%.

 

[TammyP]

I hear peeping coming from under my hen.....it's only 19 days.....crazy! I thought they were supposed to be here new years eve?! I don't even have my brooder made yet.... procrastinated and was going to do it tomorrow.

How long should I leave them under my hen until I transfer them to the brooder? It's averaging 20 degrees on days and lows in the single digits where they are....will they be ok? I don't even have chick starter feed yet......ughhhhhhhhhhhh

I'm soooooooooooo excited since this is my first time. I didn't candle cuz I'm still a chicken dummy...lol but I know I got sumpin cuz I hear PEEEEEEEPING! YEA!

Please give me direction??!! Thanks!!