Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

I can't tell someone else how to run the incubators or hatchers, but we cannot get anything to hatch with the humidity that high. We run our incubator at about 30-35% humidity and hatch at about 60%. We have to run our incubators and hatchers on lower humidity to get our eggs to evaporate correctly. We drown too many chicks if we try to run a higher humidity. Hopefully, someone else will chime in later. I know that there are other breeders in this group who are very successful at hatching Marans chicks.

Just My Experiences,
Ernie Haire

I'm in the same boat as you Ernie with needing to keep the humidity lower even this far north for the first 18 days. Nothing more depressing than when you are really excited about a hatch and open the eggs only to find that they were perfectly formed, just drowned.

 

[pawtraitart]

I have a homemade incubator. But I've used it for 2 years now with great success. Temp stays 100* humidity in the 60% range. I've hatched ameraucana and bantam cochins without any problem. I have the BCM in the incubator at the same time as the others which hatch in the 97% range and on day 21.

I would suspect that your humidity is too high for your BCM eggs. If the egg doesn't evaporate enough, the chick gets too big inside and can't turn to pip/hatch. I run mine 30 to 35% for the first 18 days and then raise it to 55-60% in the hatcher. As they hatch it will go up a bit more, of course. Keep track of the air cell size during incubation to gauge what will work best for you.

 

[huntinwidow]

That could be my problem, which presents another whole different set of problems. I run my humidity high because I do staggered hatches and incubate and hatch in the same incubator. I almost always have eggs on lock down. Just as soon as one batch comes off the turner and goes into lockdown I have more to place in the turner. So if I lower the humidity, it might not be enough for lockdown.

 

[DMRippy]

That could be my problem, which presents another whole different set of problems. I run my humidity high because I do staggered hatches and incubate and hatch in the same incubator. I almost always have eggs on lock down. Just as soon as one batch comes off the turner and goes into lockdown I have more to place in the turner. So if I lower the humidity, it might not be enough for lockdown.

Might want to make a hatcher they are very easy to make or buy another incubator to use as a hatcher only. I have both an incubator and a hatcher and it works really well.

 

[GasMenagerie]

More pics

Pretty! I need to read up more on the breed standard myself. I want to start breeding my own, but want to do it right.

 

[huntinwidow]

Might want to make a hatcher they are very easy to make or buy another incubator to use as a hatcher only. I have both an incubator and a hatcher and it works really well.

Yea, been wanting a hatcher to make more room in the incubator for another turner. No room right now. Maybe next year.

 

[gilavina]

T Minus 3 days and counting, but if they do the same as previous hatches, should be about 2 days til chickers! Getting excited now!

 

[Zanna]

T Minus 3 days and counting, but if they do the same as previous hatches, should be about 2 days til chickers! Getting excited now!

Yay! Sounds like my 5th batch is on the same timing as yours! Switched cocks so two more weeks to go before I start collecting again. One more batch in the incubator due in another 9 days then about a two week reprieve to catch my breath Best of luck on the hatch!!!

 

[gilavina]

Yay! Sounds like my 5th batch is on the same timing as yours! Switched cocks so two more weeks to go before I start collecting again. One more batch in the incubator due in another 9 days then about a two week reprieve to catch my breath Best of luck on the hatch!!!

Same to you! It will be exciting to see what you get as well!

 

[LVMet]

Why?