Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Blarneyeggs]

qball: Thank you for the goat info. I appreciate it.

I wish I knew where this poultry show is that Roberta has her birds in. Isn't Delmarva, Delaware, Maryland Virginia? I seem to be right in the middle of that....

Green Dragon was a bust for us /COLOR]

 

[KNAndrs]

I just got 3 Blue Maran Peeps!!! So excited!!!

Hopefully they are all hens, otherwise I will need to find homes for them...

 

[Hens and Roos]

I'm getting ready to set some Marans eggs in a couple or three days. I've been searching for the correct humidity during incubation and lock down, but I'm getting answers from 40% up to 65%. So, what's correct? Also, I'm using an egg turner during incubation and have read where some folks use a different tray. If I just unplug the turner tray and leave it alone will it hurt anything? Is lock down humidity different? Sorry, but I've read so many different ideas I'm fairly confused.
Nice eggs! Hope you have a successful hatch.

When we start out day 1-18 we keep humidty no higher than 35%, it will drop and even read low over night and the next day we add some. At day 18 we remove the egg turner and set the eggs out on a shelf or tray and add a sponge in our water container and add water to bring the humidity up to 50-55%, we try hard to keep in this range and as the chicks start hatching they will raise the humiditly up too. For us, I found that as long as we don't go above 60-62% we are okay. We try hard to keep the temp between 99.5 and 100.5. This last hatch that we just finished Wed- we had a hard time keeping the temp stable it had a bigger swing then I like to see but we ended with 11 chicks out of 13 eggs that made it to day 18. Good luck with your hatch. Depending on how you weather is you will probably have to play with the humidty and temp to get it to what works best!

 

[Hens and Roos]

I just got 3 Blue Maran Peeps!!! So excited!!!

Hopefully they are all hens, otherwise I will need to find homes for them...

Awesome- did you hatch these out?

 

[slick4591]

When we start out day 1-18 we keep humidty no higher than 35%, it will drop and even read low over night and the next day we add some.  At day 18 we remove the egg turner and set the eggs out on a shelf or tray and add a sponge in our water container and add water to bring the humidity up to 50-55%, we try hard to keep in this range and as the chicks start hatching they will raise the humiditly up too.  For us, I found that as long as we don't go above 60-62% we are okay.  We try hard to keep the temp between 99.5 and 100.5.  This last hatch that we just finished Wed- we had a hard time keeping the temp stable it had a bigger swing then I like to see but we ended with 11 chicks out of 13 eggs that made it to day 18.  Good luck with your hatch.  Depending on how you weather is you will probably have to play with the humidty and temp to get it to what works best!

Thanks! I've been trying to narrow my temp range and the best I can come up with is 98.8 to 100.2. It falls much slower than it climbs. I can push it a little either way if you think I should. One problem I think I'm going to have is my incubator is in an out building that's not climate controlled. Our humidity today is 82% and with no H2O on the inside it was 44% in the bator. When I added a wet sponge it climbed to 59%.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Thanks! I've been trying to narrow my temp range and the best I can come up with is 98.8 to 100.2. It falls much slower than it climbs. I can push it a little either way if you think I should. One problem I think I'm going to have is my incubator is in an out building that's not climate controlled. Our humidity today is 82% and with no H2O on the inside it was 44% in the bator. When I added a wet sponge it climbed to 59%.

if you can turn it a very small amount to try and get the temp closer to 99.5* that would probably be good. Do you have plugs that you can remove from the bator to help the humidity escape? What is your outside temp. like this time of year? If the outside temp is pretty steady it might do okay with holding as long as you can keep it protected from drafts and sudden temp drops. You might not need to add a wet sponge if your humidty is higher, I just know for our climate I have a hard time getting the humidity to stay up.

 

[yoie]

qball: Thank you for the goat info. I appreciate it.
I wish I knew where this poultry show is that Roberta has her birds in. Isn't Delmarva, Delaware, Maryland Virginia? I seem to be right in the middle of that....
Green Dragon was a bust for us

/COLOR]

I love reading this thread it is so informative, only have one marans though

. But about the show, if it is the same one I'm going to this weekend it is the Delmarva Poultry Show in Harrington, Delaware. I think it's at the state fair grounds.

 

[slick4591]

It's 80F today and will fall in the mid 60's tonight. I can bump it up, but the upper end also goes up along with it. That's not so bad? I have only one vent hole that is in the back wall of the incubator. I can cut one in the top if necessary.

 

[Debbi]

Hi Slick,

Lord knows my hatches stink, but maybe you could run a fan inside the shed in the daytime to help dispurse some of the humidity? It would also keep the shed from getting too hot too. I know here today, the ambient humidity is like 60%, so I turned on the ceiling fan in the room. My humidity is running between 20-32% in both bators. I haven't had to add any water to either one of them yet. When I go to lockdown, I bump it up to between 54-60% and let it flucuate between the two, but it usually stays around 56%, until a chick hatches. I'm usually here on hatch days, so if it gets too high I open vents. Good luck. I'm still working on my magic recipe!

ETA: Try to keep the temps as near to 99.5 as possible. High temps and high hunidity really do them in. I would rather see a lower temp reading, than one over 101.5. Supposedly, the temps are fine in between 99.5-101.5. A lower temp held steady may also slow down the hatch, so be patient!

 

[Hens and Roos]

It's 80F today and will fall in the mid 60's tonight. I can bump it up, but the upper end also goes up along with it. That's not so bad? I have only one vent hole that is in the back wall of the incubator. I can cut one in the top if necessary.

At this point you are running it empty-correct? Once you put the eggs in that might change your humidity and temp. swing as well. Do you find that your temp stays on the low end or the high end for long periods of time or does it seem to go up and down? The one thing that comes to mind is that with it staying on the lower side of the temps, your hatch might be delayed by a day or so- which might be better than the potential of cooking them if the temp goes to high. You might just have to play with a batch or two of eggs and see what you get to hatch.