MARCH Hatch-A-Long 2015: Please Read the First Post to JOIN the H-A-L

[mymilliefleur]

I look at it this way....one of our broody hens has a special hiding place where she will go and lay an egg every day or so until she feels she has a big enough clutch to try and hatch out. Then she disappears. Three weeks later she re-appears from her hiding place with over a dozen new chicks. So that means at least one of those eggs was at least two weeks old before she started to sit on them. I've had successful hatches out eggs that were 14 days old, as well as from eggs that have been "accidentally" refrigerated over a week-end.
My reasoning is that when in doubt, just look at how it's done in nature...chances are, you'll find your answer there.

I look at it the same way!

 

[KittyKat3756]

The biggest issue with hatching old eggs is moisture loss. If not for that, you should still get reasonable hatch rates even from 3 week old eggs. Some people wrap their eggs in something and keep them in a cool place to slow the drying out process, but it is important to remember to turn the stored eggs occasionally!


I had set 11 Light Sussex, 12 white Leghorns and 12 Cream Legbars. So far 10 Light Sussex, 8 Leghorns and 11 Cream Legbars are developing on day 7! I'm using two incubators as I'm testing how well they compare. One is a cheapy model which I am manually turning and the other is a Brinsea with all the bells and whistles. So far so good in both.

Random facts (keeping in mind that these eggs are all mixed throughout the incubators):
The Light Sussex eggs weighed an average of 64g and lost 5% of their weight by day 6.
The Leghorn eggs weighed an average of 63g and lost 6% of their weight.
The Cream Legbar eggs weighed an average of 50g and lost 4% of their weight.

Which leads me to conclude that the evaporation from each egg depends very much on how much pigment is deposited on the surface. The Leghorn eggs are white, so do not have any pigmentation cover (and are very easy to candle), the Light Sussex eggs have a light coating of brown pigment while the Cream Legbar eggs are green/blue and have are coated in so much pigment that some are difficult to candle (depending on which hen laid the egg). Given that ideal weight loss is not dependent on egg colour, it makes me thing that ideally the eggs should be incubated at quite different humidities. In practise, it may make little difference though.

And here's how I manually turn the eggs (click for larger photo):

 

[mymilliefleur]

The biggest issue with hatching old eggs is moisture loss. If not for that, you should still get reasonable hatch rates even from 3 week old eggs. Some people wrap their eggs in something and keep them in a cool place to slow the drying out process, but it is important to remember to turn the stored eggs occasionally!


I had set 11 Light Sussex, 12 white Leghorns and 12 Cream Legbars. So far 10 Light Sussex, 8 Leghorns and 11 Cream Legbars are developing on day 7! I'm using two incubators as I'm testing how well they compare. One is a cheapy model which I am manually turning and the other is a Brinsea with all the bells and whistles. So far so good in both.

Random facts (keeping in mind that these eggs are all mixed throughout the incubators):
The Light Sussex eggs weighed an average of 64g and lost 5% of their weight by day 6.
The Leghorn eggs weighed an average of 63g and lost 6% of their weight.
The Cream Legbar eggs weighed an average of 50g and lost 4% of their weight.

Which leads me to conclude that the evaporation from each egg depends very much on how much pigment is deposited on the surface. The Leghorn eggs are white, so do not have any pigmentation cover (and are very easy to candle), the Light Sussex eggs have a light coating of brown pigment while the Cream Legbar eggs are green/blue and have are coated in so much pigment that some are difficult to candle (depending on which hen laid the egg). Given that ideal weight loss is not dependent on egg colour, it makes me thing that ideally the eggs should be incubated at quite different humidities. In practise, it may make little difference though.

And here's how I manually turn the eggs (click for larger photo):

I've heard that before. I've read that Maran eggs can be incubated dry (with out any water added) Because of their dark shells.

 

[313759]

Hi

 

[whattheduck]

Looks like you have the same or very similar incubator as I do. What are the jars of water for?

Probably heat sinks, they help stabilize the temperature

Yep - last year I had a difficult time maintaining a consistant temperature. I read that sterile rocks or jars of water absorb heat and help keep the temperature more consistant. Incubator has been at a STEADY 102 with 104 one day and a 100 here and there.

Having a digitial thermometer has also been a HUGE help.

 

[whattheduck]

Hello everyone!

I sat my eggs Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015. They are farm flock mixed with RIR, Easter egger, black Australorp, cinnamon queen, golden comet, and several unknown. They are not purebred but whomever wanted to love whomever. I set 53 eggs. I have a little giant incubator. They should hatch on march 08, 2015. I am posting a picture also.

I am having a heck of a time trying to get the temp stable with the freezer weather we just had. I hope I have it spot on now. Good luck to everyone.

cray4en

I had the same issue last year with a still air incubator similar in appearance to that one. This year I put small jars of water in with the eggs and the temp has been much more stable (even through weather changes from 50* to 10* with rain/snow). I have a picture I posted (I think on page 2 or 3?) if you'd like to see our set up.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[313759]

I have the farm innovators pro series circulated air incubator model 4200. I'll tell you it was an awesome hatch I got from it too.

 

[ChickyChickens]

1. @jbkirk with chicken eggs
2. @HugHess with chicken eggs
3. @OzarkCountryGirl with chicken eggs
4. @fireman0298 with chicken eggs
5. @rainbowchick with chicken eggs
6. @whattheduck with chicken eggs
7. @ducky 13 with chicken eggs

We have some new members!! Please welcome them!!

Thanks, ChickyChickens!

 

[313759]

Is the with chicken eggs thing what we are hatching?

 

[HugHess]

Thank you for the add!
Wishing everyone here a happy, healthy hatching!