March Hatch-Along Thread- Come Hatch With Us!!!!!

[SJ]

AAAAHHHH!!!!! 6 more quitters today

I know Im in lock down but something made me think I should candle. Im glad i did but why do so many of my eggs die off in that incubator??!!??!!?? When a hen sets on the eggs she gets like 90-100% to hatch. They are all eggs from the same birds so....WHY?

I'm at like 20% hatching rate lifetime with that incubator. I really thought I was doing better this time. The ones that hatch are always vigorous little peepers i just don't know anymore. Frustrated and bewildered.

 

[threadgeek]

Congrats everyone on the new pips!

Hey guys. I'm starting a new hatch tonight or tomorrow morning. I was trying to calibrate my cheap analog hygrometer between hatches but for some reason, it isn't working. I keep getting readings off the meter 80+%. Yesterday I tried it for 12 hrs and it wouldn't come down. I'm placing it in a sealed plastic bag with a milk cap full of salt and a couple of drops of water per the instructions on several humidor sites. I'm going to try to put it inside another, larger bag just to be sure it's sealed but other than that, I don't know what to do. It seemed to be reading decently during the last hatch but I wanted to be more accurate for this one. I guess I should have left well enough alone! What am I doing wrong? Any thoughts?

I have 5 of the cheapy ones and they all read completely different numbers ranging from 25 - 60%! They are all calibrated using the salt method. My opinion on those is that they are just garbage. I was driving myself nuts trying to find an affordable hygrometer, and hope others here have easy answers.
My DH (he's an electrical engineer) ended up getting the DHT22 sensor and followed this tutorial: http://learn.adafruit.com/dht/overview I know its overkill for most peoples' needs but I'm not going to complain if he went ahead and built it for me!

 

[ladyrsanti]

Congrats everyone on the new pips!

I have 5 of the cheapy ones and they all read completely different numbers ranging from 25 - 60%! They are all calibrated using the salt method. My opinion on those is that they are just garbage. I was driving myself nuts trying to find an affordable hygrometer, and hope others here have easy answers.
My DH (he's an electrical engineer) ended up getting the DHT22 sensor and followed this tutorial: http://learn.adafruit.com/dht/overview I know its overkill for most peoples' needs but I'm not going to complain if he went ahead and built it for me!

Uh-oh, I see a new project for my husband! He just finished overhauling the brake system on his car, never having worked on a car before. Mid-life crisis setting in. All I have to do is mention it and he'll be ordering parts. He's a programer so this will especially appeal to him. Thanks for the info!

 

[Atlantanna]

Day 20...I checked the incubator and found it was reading 102!! The entire period the temp has been solid at 99-100. Are my birds cooked? Gaaah! I'm using a Farm Innovators 4200 with fan and turner, with an Accurite external thermometer/hygrometer.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Hey guys. I'm starting a new hatch tonight or tomorrow morning. I was trying to calibrate my cheap analog hygrometer between hatches but for some reason, it isn't working. I keep getting readings off the meter 80+%. Yesterday I tried it for 12 hrs and it wouldn't come down. I'm placing it in a sealed plastic bag with a milk cap full of salt and a couple of drops of water per the instructions on several humidor sites. I'm going to try to put it inside another, larger bag just to be sure it's sealed but other than that, I don't know what to do. It seemed to be reading decently during the last hatch but I wanted to be more accurate for this one. I guess I should have left well enough alone! What am I doing wrong? Any thoughts?

I had trouble sorting out if my humidity was right too. I built a compete new incubator, and imported some parts from these guys (link below)

I also had a them/hyg meter add in. $19.95US I got the one on the top right and have found it to be very consistent and accurate to my known good thermometers

http://incubatorwarehouse.com/egg-incubator-accessories/incubator-temperature-measurement.html

 

[TheH Klan of 10]

They should be fine if it wasnt up too long.... it takes a few hours before it will change the inside temperature of the eggs!

hope those eggs all pop for ya!!

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

I was hoping to wake up to some pips this morning, but nothing. Oh well. Maybe I'll start seeing some action tomorrow.

 

[jhfamily5]

Around midnight I moved 13 out of my 14 silkie and showgirl eggs into another incubator for lockdown. I wasn't due until 9am but knew I had a crazy morning coming so I had to. 1 was a late quitter. No pips of any kind yet but they are still kicking. One more week until lockdown on my shipped silkie eggs. 20 of the 24 still going strong. I had 1 infertile at day 7, 2 blood rings at day 10 and 1 quitter day 14. Great for shipped eggs but it isn't over until it's over...fingers crossed! I also have 6 beautiful CCL eggs that arrived yesterday resting so they can jump on in tomorrow. I'm fast becoming a hatchaholic!

 

[FrankiesMom]

OMG ~ this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do!!! Sitting here, listening to little peeps, watching one little black beak as it pokes out to say hi every once in awhile and not being able to open the 'bator and smother them all with lovin's!

lol

Went into lock down last night and candled last thing (I dunno, I thought that's when I was supposed to

) and found SIX external pips!! Also found another couple of duds, but I've got 18 of 24 in lockdown, so

!!

This is just my second hatch of ducklings (or anything for that matter!) from an incubator. Three things I quickly learned:

1) It's addictive
2)When in doubt, turn to your BYC friends for their experiences, and
2) I don't have enough room in the master bathroom for more hatches!

LOL!!

Hubby was having a hard time with the bathroom makeover from my last hatch - and I only got three of 20 then!

So, SIX external pips before I went to bed. One more this morning (wrong end, duh-uck! lol) but I know from reading posts from my fellow addicts that this one should be just fine. I also had another six with internal pips and everyone else is moving. That was all as of 10 pm last night.

I have cayuga, sussex and pekin and who knows what kind of mixes of those as well! Can't wait to see what I get from my little box of chocolates...! lol

Now to sit back, swill coffee and ignore family for the next few days!!!

 

[FrankiesMom]

Oh, and BTW, I do try to keep up with everyone on here without adding clutter by commenting...but OMG! We've got hatches coming out like popcorn!
Wahoo!

It's impossible to keep up with everyone, but this thread is super supportive and I love reading up when I can.

I hope we move to the April hatch together (I'll have some goose eggs in for April!).

Congrats to everyone on the arrival of their little balls of fluffy joy!!