Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[SunHwaKwon]

I second raising the humidity; the silkies won't drown but you will have loads of problems with the guineas. I too have found that low humidity just won't work with guineas. I do incubate guineas and Bantams together very frequently, no problem. I make sure to put the chicken eggs in a week after the guineas, though. Once the guineas hatch you can go back to dry incubation.

 

[Beekissed]

Well unfortunately Sally Sunshine is the person who wrote the "Dry Incubation" article that influenced me to do dry incubation and in both hatchings I did this spring I had major problems in following her advice. I studied the article in depth but there are some problems with the instructions. (Have written elsewhere about the details, had problems with chicks being killed in the shell because of too low humidity, and had problems with advice to "raise the floor" of the incubator once you remove the egg turner, which led to a gap around the edge of the floor and chicks getting caught in that gap after hatching.)

imo 32% is too low for the guineas. Be aware that no egg/chick will "drown" prior to hatch moment-- the only time the size of the air cell comes into play is when the chick or keet internally pips into the air space in preparation for hatching out. The general advice is to monitor the air cell size and adjust humidity accordingly. My point being, there is still time to adjust the humidity for the silkies after the guineas hatch, or maybe there isn't. I don't know how many days the silkies will have left after the guineas hatch.

By all means go to the link provided for information and ask your questions. But please be aware that there is a trend toward encouraging excessive dryness. Of 36 guinea eggs, I had to help 18 out or they would have died in the shell, after I followed Sunshine's instructions and kept the humidity at around 25-30%. I had a total of 26 keets hatch, 10 eggs didn't develop (shipped eggs which have a lower hatch rate). But it's really true you need advice from folks experienced in mixed hatches.

Wishing you most well.
--V

Maybe those were dry hatch instructions geared towards chickens and not guinea fowl? I've had chicks drown in the shell from raising the humidity too high before actual hatching, so not sure where you learned that but it happens....had a whole clutch die from that. Healthy and active as all get out until I raised the humidity prior to hatch and then death.

I've used the dry hatch method for two different types of incubation of chicken eggs, one being in a natural nest with a heating pad and the other in a regular incubator, and didn't have one moments trouble with it, nor did I have to help out any chicks.

Never tried it with guinea fowl eggs, so there may lie the problem.

 

[Blooie]

These are the people who can help you the most about any kind of hatching here on BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...osts-sally-sunshine-bantychooks#post_16038469

Miss Sally Sunshine is the go to lady for hatching here and is the nicest person you'd ever chance to meet.

Bee has it right...but I have to say that that thread moved a little too fast for me. Sometimes I'd ask a question and had to wade through 6 or 7 pages to see if anyone had answered it yet. Most folks can keep up with it just fine, but I had a little trouble. That may well just be me.... Mixed hatches such as the ones you are asking about cause all kinds of headaches, but I think it can be done.

I hatched Silkies this spring and one of the things I was surprised to learn is that Silkies NEED a slightly higher humidity. I also learned to watch the size of the air cells. If they are too big at a certain points in the incubation, they are losing too much moisture too fast and you need to up the humidity a bit. If the humidity is too high, the size of the air cells doesn't change much, so they are absorbing too much humidity through the shell and you need to back it down. @AmyLynn2374 and @RubyNala97 have very high success rates with Silkies and I believe AmyLynn also hatches guinea eggs. Their thread is here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1081034/hands-on-hatching-and-help

Well unfortunately Sally Sunshine is the person who wrote the "Dry Incubation" article that influenced me to do dry incubation and in both hatchings I did this spring I had major problems in following her advice. I studied the article in depth but there are some problems with the instructions. (Have written elsewhere about the details, had problems with chicks being killed in the shell because of too low humidity, and had problems with advice to "raise the floor" of the incubator once you remove the egg turner, which led to a gap around the edge of the floor and chicks getting caught in that gap after hatching.)

imo 32% is too low for the guineas. Be aware that no egg/chick will "drown" prior to hatch moment-- the only time the size of the air cell comes into play is when the chick or keet internally pips into the air space in preparation for hatching out. The general advice is to monitor the air cell size and adjust humidity accordingly. My point being, there is still time to adjust the humidity for the silkies after the guineas hatch, or maybe there isn't. I don't know how many days the silkies will have left after the guineas hatch.

By all means go to the link provided for information and ask your questions. But please be aware that there is a trend toward encouraging excessive dryness. Of 36 guinea eggs, I had to help 18 out or they would have died in the shell, after I followed Sunshine's instructions and kept the humidity at around 25-30%. I had a total of 26 keets hatch, 10 eggs didn't develop (shipped eggs which have a lower hatch rate). But it's really true you need advice from folks experienced in mixed hatches.

Wishing you most well.
--V

I believe it was @AmyLynn2374 who wrote the article "Throw away those manuals" on humidity, but she also is a proponent of higher humidity in some kinds of eggs, including Silkies. I followed the advice from her and @RubyNala97 and had my best hatch ever, on shipped eggs that I got from RubyNala. Good luck!

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote:
I've used the dry hatch method for two different types of incubation of chicken eggs, one being in a natural nest with a heating pad and the other in a regular incubator, and didn't have one moments trouble with it, nor did I have to help out any chicks.

Never tried it with guinea fowl eggs, so there may lie the problem.

I definitely know it's a problem with guinea fowl eggs. But I also had a number of shrink-wrapped eggs in my first incubation with chicken eggs, and I didn't understand enough. I could have saved more of them if I'd acted more assertively.

Also a problem with this is the term "dry incubation" means something different to everyone who hears the term. There is a lot of disagreement even among the proponents of the method about what is safe or not, how low to go, how high to go for hatching. And my circumstances in the Deep South with air conditioning running (which dries out the air) is very different from someone whose house doesn't have air conditioning going on somewhere else with different climate.

Anyway all I'm saying is, I've had serious issues with humidity problems and for the current person with guinea eggs there is a known need for higher humidity not just at hatch but prior to that. Because I turned up the humidity to 70-80% at hatch, but it's clear that the guinea eggs were already in trouble.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree! Definition and ambient conditions differ so widely that it's hard to qualify perimeters for such a thing. When I did a dry hatch, I just added some moisture to the nest or incubator at the beginning of the incubation period and then no more and didn't even measure the humidity. I found that the first egg hatched seemed to add humidity enough to the air and each chick hatched added even more, if one didn't disturb that nesting site~and that was in the natural nest and also in the incubator.

For the natural nest, I didn't change anything at hatch to add humidity, just stopped checking the eggs under the heating pad~that stopped any loss of humidity under the pad and contained the humidity created by the first chick hatched. With the incubator, I just shut the little hole in the top of the 'bator to keep the moisture contained and let things happen.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Bee has it right...but I have to say that that thread moved a little too fast for me. Sometimes I'd ask a question and had to wade through 6 or 7 pages to see if anyone had answered it yet. Most folks can keep up with it just fine, but I had a little trouble. That may well just be me.... Mixed hatches such as the ones you are asking about cause all kinds of headaches, but I think it can be done.

I hatched Silkies this spring and one of the things I was surprised to learn is that Silkies NEED a slightly higher humidity. I also learned to watch the size of the air cells. If they are too big at a certain points in the incubation, they are losing too much moisture too fast and you need to up the humidity a bit. If the humidity is too high, the size of the air cells doesn't change much, so they are absorbing too much humidity through the shell and you need to back it down. @AmyLynn2374 and @RubyNala97 have very high success rates with Silkies and I believe AmyLynn also hatches guinea eggs. Their thread is here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1081034/hands-on-hatching-and-help
I believe it was @AmyLynn2374 who wrote the article "Throw away those manuals" on humidity, but she also is a proponent of higher humidity in some kinds of eggs, including Silkies. I followed the advice from her and @RubyNala97 and had my best hatch ever, on shipped eggs that I got from RubyNala. Good luck!

I did run my guineas dry for the incubation period though I thought I'd have to run about 45% like I did for the silkies because the guineas were comparable in size, but the shells were really thick and I think that is why I did not have to higher the humidity and could run at my normal 30%. But I agree that if you are having trouble with guinea eggs at 30% ish, then try 45%. I found the low humidity incubation (I hate the term "dry" it's so misleading) works best for my standard eggs, but 45% is needed for the banty size like the silkies I did. 30% would have undoubtedly have shrink wrapped them. But that's why I monitor my air cells, so I can tell when and if it needs adjusting. My low incubation article is here: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity and our hang out on BYC is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1081034/hands-on-hatching-and-help

 

[Ainee]

If your coop isn't finished, how about setting up the MHP in the run? You would just need to hang some plastic sheeting around the brooding area to cut off drafts and protect from weather. I brood in my run in a protected corner. The chicks have had it as cold as the 30s(F) and have done just great. Having lots of space is a wonderful thing when you're a baby chick growing up. It sure beats a cramped, confining brooder box. And you'll be spared all that dusty mess in your house. You would be surprised how that dust can infiltrate even into your closets.

Do you have any advice as to when I should take the plastic down? Chicks are 4 weeks old now, but just getting out. (The coop took 6 weeks, instead of 2, to build, but it's finally finished! Best laid plans and all...

) Anyway, just wondering how long I should keep the plastic up. I'm in Atlanta - highs low to mid 70s, lows will be around 50 in the coming week.. Thanks for any input!

 

[junebuggena]

Do you have any advice as to when I should take the plastic down? Chicks are 4 weeks old now, but just getting out. (The coop took 6 weeks, instead of 2, to build, but it's finally finished! Best laid plans and all...

) Anyway, just wondering how long I should keep the plastic up. I'm in Atlanta - highs low to mid 70s, lows will be around 50 in the coming week.. Thanks for any input!

They don't need it any longer. By 4 weeks they should be close to being fully feathered. And with those temps, they don't need any additional protection.

 

[HenLeia]

Hi, I love all the info I've gotten from this thread. Thank you! Is there anything different I should do for frizzle sizzles? They look really fluffy but are not fully feathered all over yet. It's been wet and windy here, temps in the 60-50's

 

[Ainee]

They don't need it any longer. By 4 weeks they should be close to being fully feathered. And with those temps, they don't need any additional protection.

Oh sweet music to my ears.

Thank you so much!