March 2017! Hatch with us!

[lilwildrabbit]

That's about what I did last time and with eggs hat wer doubtful at best all over a month old and some the same age out of the fridge so I hatched about 25% great for them odds!!

 

[MontainBourbons]

Have you tried dry hatching yet? When I first started hatching I kept the humidity way to high and got a lot of lockdown deaths. Do they seem to be in the correct position to hatch? I also got a lot of mal-positioned and wrong end pippers until I finally broke down and got an egg turner. You may just need to try different things until you find what works for you environment. Once you figure it out it's like riding a bicycle.

Dry hatching during lockdown??? Wouldn't they get stuck?

 

[lilwildrabbit]

Sometimes and different areas do better with a lower lockdown humidity like lamanca posted you have to experiment with the hatch to find that golden rule for you and your area and incubator. Everyone varies just to get the most out of what they have some have it simple some have it hard but in the long run everyone gets that one point that they get the best results and sware by their own methods

 

[lilwildrabbit]

Temp is the most constant in hatching chicks

 

[WVduckchick]

Okay. So I have results from the eggtopsy. I didn't get any pictures but I can describe it. It looks like all of the chicks died during lockdown. The yolk wasn't completely absorbed but mostly were. The only thing that was odd that there was a lot of liquid around the chick. I think that the problem was that the humidity was too high and was turned on too early. It was at around 75% and I turned it up 3 days before the hatch. Is this the problem? I can't think of anything else.

Were these turkeys? Have you looked into misting them like ducks? Seems I remember something about it when I did a turkey hatch, but can't remember. Just a thought... And I agree with everyone else. Start lower and watch the air cells. But high for the last 3 days.

My power is back on. 100% hatch rate. All the chicks did just fine thanks to some hand warmers I got from the feed store. The two that were still just pips when the power went out had some major sticky-chick issues, but I was able to assist them out and give them baths. I'm not sure how the eggs are doing yet. I didn't want to open the incubator to candle until the temp got back up to normal. Will candle tonight and see how they are doing.

That's flippin awesome! Wonder about sticking the hand warmers to the sides? (I remember someone using maxi-pads stuck to the sides of the Bator, soaked with water for increasing humidity! Lol)

Everybody does it differently. You experiment until you find what works best for you. Start with a dry hatch and keep an eye on the size of the air cell. If it isn't changing the way you want it to, then increase or decrease the amount. My houses runs around 35%. That works for me. When you get to lockdown then everything changes. I like to run mine between 65 and 70%. As the chicks hatch - your humidity will jump to 85% . Just leave it alone. Try not to let it drop too low. But during the first 18 days, just keep an eye on your air cells and adjust as needed.

x2!

Dry hatching during lockdown??? Wouldn't they get stuck?

Only thing I've seen run dry successfully thru hatch are black copper Marans. I still can't imagine it, but a friend of mine did it by suggestion from the breeder and had a great hatch! But those dark dense shells are different!

 

[orrpeople]

Everybody does it differently.  You experiment until you find what works best for you.  Start with a dry hatch and keep an eye on the size of the air cell.  If it isn't changing the way you want it to, then increase or decrease the amount.  My houses runs around 35%. That works for me.  When you get to lockdown then everything changes.  I like to run mine between 65 and 70%.  As the chicks hatch - your humidity will jump to 85% .  Just leave it alone.  Try not to let it drop too low.  

But during the first 18 days, just keep an eye on your air cells and adjust as needed.

The other thing I've noticed is that different breeds seem to like different settings. - that's one of the reasons to candle. But also know that you won't be able to please all of the eggs all of the time.

 

[WVduckchick]

The other thing I've noticed is that different breeds seem to like different settings. - that's one of the reasons to candle. But also know that you won't be able to please all of the eggs all of the time.

Very true!

I tried hatching dark, golden comet mutt eggs several different times with other "more important" eggs and never did get any of them to hatch. They needed much lower humidity. But my broody had better luck with them!

 

[WVduckchick]

Unreal. Since I skipped a weekend of hatching last weekend, I almost forgot to turn on my hatcher for tomorrow's day 18!

 

[orrpeople]

Unreal. Since I skipped a weekend of hatching last weekend, I almost forgot to turn on my hatcher for tomorrow's day 18!

I'm at day 18 today!! Wahoo! One thing about my hovabator Genesis is that it takes me almost the entire day to get it to a good lockdown humidity. And I have two of them and they both are slow that way. But, once they're up, they seem to stay up pretty well. Anyway, I've never hatched cream legbar babies and I am so excited!
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[HenLeia]

I'm at day 18 today!! Wahoo! One thing about my hovabator Genesis is that it takes me almost the entire day to get it to a good lockdown humidity. And I have two of them and they both are slow that way. But, once they're up, they seem to stay up pretty well. Anyway, I've never hatched cream legbar babies and I am so excited!
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Good luck! Please post pics when they hatch