Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[heritagehabitatfarms]

i have one of those big old redwood incubators... i set eggs every week and hatch in a tray at the bottom... this is my 3rd year with this set up and i have found i get the best hatches with 50 to 55% humidity all of the time...

 

[DMRippy]

Has anyone tried this method for hatching?? I assume they are setting the temps at 99.5, and they said they were using the dry method, so humidity would be low. Never heard the bit about "no turning" for 7-8 days???

Let rest 24 hours prior to setting
Set in an upright position for seven days, no turning.
Start turning on 7-8 day, either upright or on side.
Turn till day 18
Move to hatcher
PRAY!!

For shipped eggs I have read people do that and put them in the fridge to firm up the air cell.

 

[ronott1]

That all sounds like stuff I posted on the Easter Hatch. I have Cream Legbars hatching today and did all of that. The first two have pipped exactly in the center of where I wanted them to pip. I am also using plastic egg holders that go into cabinet incubators. I cut them to a smaller size since I am hatching only five this time.

This is a picture of the Basque eggs I hatched at Easter. This was before I started using the plastic egg holders. The eggs are slightly tilted and on their sides. The biggest part of the air cell curve is facing up. 11 of these 13 eggs hatched. You can see my water weasel probe. It has a Brinsea spot check inside of it to act like an eggs. I used red food coloring so I could see the water level. These were shipped eggs and I hatched 11 out of 15 shipped. two were clears and one of the two that did not hatch was a gonner before lockdown. I tried it any way. I did the resting and dry hatch along with setting them in the cartons like this.



These are the hatched chicks



I hope you have better hatches with shipped eggs

Ron

Quote:

 

[Debbi]

Thanks Ron. Are you Ron P.? Just want to make sure who I am talking to here.

I use a King Suro 20 incubator, that has the auto humidity pump. Here in MO., the humidity can get quite high, so I set the pump at 25% and let it fluctuate with the ambient humidity. I leave the vent wide open, unless the outside humidity is too high, then close the vent to maintain what I have inside. The problem seems to be with the Marans eggs, and it doesn't matter if they are shipped or from the backyard coop; my largest Marans hatch has always been FIVE! I found too, like Vicki, that the higher humidities at lockdown were drowning fully formed chicks, so I set it for 53% and let it ride higher if it wants to, like when a chick hatches. That usually bumps it up to between 60-65%. With the Silkies, my best hatch was 14 out of 17 eggs that went into lockdown, and those were shipped eggs. When hatching Marans eggs, do you sand off some of the color on the egg? I tried with my last batch, but it didn't seem to even make a scratch in the color, so I let it go. Problems with humidity arose with the last hatch, and they were in a Little Giant bator, which I am considering throwing out the window! Too much flucuation in humidity towards the end as I was not able to closely monitor it. After an egg-topsy, I found 3 fully formed chicks that should've hatched but never even pipped. I had tried the egg carton trick before, but saw no improvement. This King Suro does not give a lot of head room when using the egg cartons, it's pretty much the size of a Brinsea bator. I am at my wits end. For as many eggs that I've incubated, I only have gotten as many as some people get with one good hatch! Totally disgusted...

 

[Debbi]

For shipped eggs I have read people do that and put them in the fridge to firm up the air cell.

Funny you should say that. I had one Silkie egg this past winter that was just about frozen solid when I found it. I marked it as "COLD" and stuck it in the bator anyway. Darn thing hatched, and wouldn't you know, it was the largest chick in the hatch! He still is, and at 16 weeks old now, he is the same size as one of my 8 month old roos!

I know Kim has good luck with hatching those "fridge" eggs too!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
I don't think I have ever tried to hatch a refrigerated egg, but I would not hesitate to try. What do you have to lose?

 

[heath_elisha]

I don't think I have ever tried to hatch a refrigerated egg, but I would not hesitate to try. What do you have to lose?

last year we hatched 19 out of 20 eggs that were in the fridge. this year my hatching guy yelled at me and told me not to put your eggs in the fridge lol. I have them in the basement where it is 65*...... just to be safe

 

[stoopid]

I hatch out fridge eggs alot.
I even have a hen named Frosty.
And Pink does, too. It works.

 

[ronott1]

Hi Debbi,

I am Ron Ottman and live in Woodland CA., which is 25 miles from the State Capital-Sacramento.

Marans eggs are tough. I put 13 into lockdown and hatched 7. It seems that the biggest problem is evaporation of the egg. The moisture has to lessen inside the egg and the air cell has to get to the proper size. It is supposed to be 1/3 of the bottom of the egg. I hate to say it, but Marans eggs probably need to be hatched more scientifically. You need to use an air cell chart and a very strong candler. I am using the Brinsea high intensity candler and I can see veins and air cells in Dark Marans Eggs.


In Missouri, you may need to use a dehumidifier and not add any water to your incubator.

Another way to figure if the moisture is evaporating correctly is to weigh the egg and make sure it loses the correct amount of weight during incubation. I have seen this on different forums. You will have to have a digital scale and a system of marking each egg and charting them individually throughout the hatch. You would need to adjust the humidity based on weight loss.

This all leads up to a point I am trying to make. The chicks are not drowning because of the humidity during lock down. They are drowning because the moisture did not get out of the egg. Also, if the air cell is not big enough, they will either drown at internal pip or will not have enough air to breath until external pip. Humidity can read 90% or more at lock down and you will not drown the chicks. They drown because the water left in the egg rushes in to the air cell space.

Having too low humidity at lockdown will make the chicks stick or shrink wrap. Put the humidity up at lock down. It seems for most people 67 to 75% works best. I don't think sanding them is the best way to make them evaporate correctly.

I hope this helps you all with hatching.

Ron

Thanks Ron. Are you Ron P.? Just want to make sure who I am talking to here.

I use a King Suro 20 incubator, that has the auto humidity pump. Here in MO., the humidity can get quite high, so I set the pump at 25% and let it fluctuate with the ambient humidity. I leave the vent wide open, unless the outside humidity is too high, then close the vent to maintain what I have inside. The problem seems to be with the Marans eggs, and it doesn't matter if they are shipped or from the backyard coop; my largest Marans hatch has always been FIVE! I found too, like Vicki, that the higher humidities at lockdown were drowning fully formed chicks, so I set it for 53% and let it ride higher if it wants to, like when a chick hatches. That usually bumps it up to between 60-65%. With the Silkies, my best hatch was 14 out of 17 eggs that went into lockdown, and those were shipped eggs. When hatching Marans eggs, do you sand off some of the color on the egg? I tried with my last batch, but it didn't seem to even make a scratch in the color, so I let it go. Problems with humidity arose with the last hatch, and they were in a Little Giant bator, which I am considering throwing out the window! Too much flucuation in humidity towards the end as I was not able to closely monitor it. After an egg-topsy, I found 3 fully formed chicks that should've hatched but never even pipped. I had tried the egg carton trick before, but saw no improvement. This King Suro does not give a lot of head room when using the egg cartons, it's pretty much the size of a Brinsea bator. I am at my wits end. For as many eggs that I've incubated, I only have gotten as many as some people get with one good hatch! Totally disgusted...

 

[Debbi]

Hi Debbi,

I am Ron Ottman and live in Woodland CA., which is 25 miles from the State Capital-Sacramento.

Marans eggs are tough. I put 13 into lockdown and hatched 7. It seems that the biggest problem is evaporation of the egg. The moisture has to lessen inside the egg and the air cell has to get to the proper size. It is supposed to be 1/3 of the bottom of the egg. I hate to say it, but Marans eggs probably need to be hatched more scientifically. You need to use an air cell chart and a very strong candler. I am using the Brinsea high intensity candler and I can see veins and air cells in Dark Marans Eggs.


In Missouri, you may need to use a dehumidifier and not add any water to your incubator.

Another way to figure if the moisture is evaporating correctly is to weigh the egg and make sure it loses the correct amount of weight during incubation. I have seen this on different forums. You will have to have a digital scale and a system of marking each egg and charting them individually throughout the hatch. You would need to adjust the humidity based on weight loss.

This all leads up to a point I am trying to make. The chicks are not drowning because of the humidity during lock down. They are drowning because the moisture did not get out of the egg. Also, if the air cell is not big enough, they will either drown at internal pip or will not have enough air to breath until external pip. Humidity can read 90% or more at lock down and you will not drown the chicks. They drown because the water left in the egg rushes in to the air cell space.

Having too low humidity at lockdown will make the chicks stick or shrink wrap. Put the humidity up at lock down. It seems for most people 67 to 75% works best. I don't think sanding them is the best way to make them evaporate correctly.

I hope this helps you all with hatching.

Ron

Thanks, and nice to meet you! Do you happen to remember the amount of weight they should lose? I think I recall reading about it being like, 11%?? No dehumidifier here, but for the incubation period, I'm thinking I could use the Little Giant, that can't hold onto humidity, and for hatch I could use the King Suro that does! Bingo! That's one recipe I haven't tried yet. I do have a digital scale, so will try weighing my next batch. In the meantime, I will have to get a good candler! Thanks again..