Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[ChicagoClucker]

my dark thick penedesenca eggs hatch well at 30-35% with 65% lockdown

I am going to try and stick to 30% too. Wish me luck!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

If it was beginners luck, I need some! I am hoping it will go better this time around and congrats on a great hatch!

Thanks lol. It was a great Marans hatch but the other breeds we're so so. I only got 2 out of 10 rhodebars, 3 of 5 ameraucanas, 1 of 3 CCL, and 1 of 8 welsummers but then again, the guy I got eggs from said that his rhodebars and welsummers are only hatching at about 50% for him and that's not being shipped so I guess that's still considered great good luck on your hatch!

 

[Rocky64]

Dry hatching is when you use very little water during hatching. Some recommend it for darker shelled eggs. This is  one of the places where I got my info from when I was looking. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-incubate-hatch-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method

Thanks for the info

 

[Olive Oil]

On the hatch rates - I've noticed a huge difference in percent hatched based on the age of the hens the eggs came from. I've had many eggs in the same incubator, but could tell them apart by color. Last time only 2 of 9 of my EE eggs hatched (where she has had much higher rates in the past) while 12 of 12 of my Olive Eggers from 6 month old hens hatched. I had a couple of other hens eggs in there too which were in between those 2 as far as age and the hatch rates were in between as well.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Ok going to try and hatch some maran eggs again since my last hatch of 7 eggs only produced 2 roos and 1 has sprigs. I think I am going to try a dry hatch this time. Has anyone tried a dry hatch? Any advice?

We do all our eggs in a dry incubation method. You of course don't want to dry hatch or none of the chicks would make it out. It is very important to know what your location's relative humidity is when making the choice to dry incubate. The only accurate way to do this is with the wet/dry bulb method. The digital hygrometers are just not accurate for the most part; if you have three of them you will likely get three different readings. Your RH can be vastly different in the basement vs. main floor of house vs. attic! Here in NW Oregon we do well year around with dry incubation, as this is the much moister side of the mountains (1 hour from the beach) with moderate temperatures. Our humidity regularly runs 80+% in the room where the incubator and hatcher are running, so with the heat and forced air that brings it down to the 25-30% RH inside the incubator. We go to 75% RH at lockdown...at 65% we were having sticky chicks that couldn't make it out of the shells.

We have GQF cabinet models with automatic turners, and do hatch upright in cartons as well. Hope this is helpful.

If anyone from a very dry desert area uses dry incubation, I'd like to hear your experience with that.

 

[ellymayRans]

We do all our eggs in a dry incubation method.  You of course don't want to dry hatch or none of the chicks would make it out.  It is very important to know what your location's relative humidity is when making the choice to dry incubate.  The only accurate way to do this is with the wet/dry bulb method.  The digital hygrometers are just not accurate for the most part; if you have three of them you will likely get three different readings.  Your RH can be vastly different in the basement vs. main floor of house vs. attic!  Here in NW Oregon we do well year around with dry incubation, as this is the much moister side of the mountains (1 hour from the beach) with moderate temperatures.  Our humidity regularly runs 80+% in the room where the incubator and hatcher are running, so with the heat and forced air that brings it down to the 25-30% RH inside the incubator.  We go to 75% RH at lockdown...at 65% we were having sticky chicks that couldn't make it out of the shells.

We have GQF cabinet models with automatic turners, and do hatch upright in cartons as well.  Hope this is helpful.

If anyone from a very dry desert area uses dry incubation, I'd like to hear your experience with that.

In regards to upright hatching, is it ok to just unplug the egg turner in the upright position or is there value in removing to place upright in a carton?? I've never attempted upright hatching but with this batch of shipped eggs I've been considering it.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

We do all our eggs in a dry incubation method. You of course don't want to dry hatch or none of the chicks would make it out. It is very important to know what your location's relative humidity is when making the choice to dry incubate. The only accurate way to do this is with the wet/dry bulb method. The digital hygrometers are just not accurate for the most part; if you have three of them you will likely get three different readings. Your RH can be vastly different in the basement vs. main floor of house vs. attic! Here in NW Oregon we do well year around with dry incubation, as this is the much moister side of the mountains (1 hour from the beach) with moderate temperatures. Our humidity regularly runs 80+% in the room where the incubator and hatcher are running, so with the heat and forced air that brings it down to the 25-30% RH inside the incubator. We go to 75% RH at lockdown...at 65% we were having sticky chicks that couldn't make it out of the shells.

We have GQF cabinet models with automatic turners, and do hatch upright in cartons as well. Hope this is helpful.

If anyone from a very dry desert area uses dry incubation, I'd like to hear your experience with that.

I am testing it and have found that even though my readings for my room were at 48% humidity, the reading inside my little brinsea was only at 14%. I am making adjustments and adding some water to try to get it to 30% humidity. I was doing some reading about the wet/dry bulb method from an article someone else recommended. I will have to give it a try to get a true reading before I get my eggs. Thank you for your help. I really want some maran hens for my small backyard flock.

 

[ladycat]

In regards to upright hatching, is it ok to just unplug the egg turner in the upright position or is there value in removing to place upright in a carton?? I've never attempted upright hatching but with this batch of shipped eggs I've been considering it.

That's a good question. I want to see the answer, too.

 

[jbkirk]

In regards to upright hatching, is it ok to just unplug the egg turner in the upright position or is there value in removing to place upright in a carton?? I've never attempted upright hatching but with this batch of shipped eggs I've been considering it.

I would probably do it in a paper egg carton rather than the egg turner, that way you can just throw it away!

 

[Jungleexplorer]

You can leave the eggs in the turner, but when the chicks hatch there is a risk of injury because they can get their legs caught in the cracks and holes. Also, hatching is messy and it is difficult to clean a turner. Since bacterial contamination in the bator is of great concern, it is advisable to use disposable materials during lockdown and hatching to facility cleaning. I line the bottom of the bator with paper towels and use egg cartons for hatching. This helps greatly during post hatching clean up.