May 2020 Hatch-A-Long

[LadiesAndJane]

The conflict comes from everyone's location. I live in the high desert at 5300 ft above sea level. I incubate at 60 percent for the first week mid to high 50's the second week and hit 70 Percent for lockdown. Due to my conditions, anything else ends up with dead mummified chicks.

Where are you located?

in Hawaii at 2500 feet. Humidity currently between 40-60%

 

[chickiebaby1]

Today is another hatch day!!!

 

[matlock585]

I had 2 hatched and several pips this morning when I got up. I went to Walmart for our groceries for the week and got the car serviced. Came back home and it's a mad house in the Bator. 7 hatched, one zipping, and a bunch of pips. It's hard to tell what's going on because the humidity is spiked high enough to fog some of the glass and the ones moving around are getting the other eggs dirty and rolling them around.
All my hatched ones are nice n healthy looking.

 

[Jehri]

So here is today’s question. I should go to lockdown tonight. My incubator is small and doesn’t seem to be holding humidity well I’m wondering if I should maybe move them back to the bator to hatch Out? My hovabator style is still air though and is terrible to keep steady temp like I’m totally up in arms. Best I’ve got the humidity in the Bator full base of water is 40% the small one I can get to 60-70% but it drops quick

 

[CindyinSD]

How is 50% humidity inside an incubator at sea level different than 50% humidity inside an incubator at 5000' above sea level?

I am guessing, but I suspect this is the case because:

As the altitude increases, air pressure decreases. This causes moisture to evaporate more rapidly. (This is why water boils at a lower temperature in higher altitudes.)

Fifty percent humidity means that the air is holding 50% of the water it is capable of holding at its current temperature (and altitude). Mile-high air holds less water, so 50% humidity translates to less moisture in the air/more evaporation from the eggs. At higher altitudes, where the air can't hold as much water anyway, and the moisture in the egg can evaporate more rapidly, one is likely to need a higher humidity to keep eggs from evaporating too rapidly.

 

[CindyinSD]

So here is today’s question. I should go to lockdown tonight. My incubator is small and doesn’t seem to be holding humidity well I’m wondering if I should maybe move them back to the bator to hatch Out? My hovabator style is still air though and is terrible to keep steady temp like I’m totally up in arms. Best I’ve got the humidity in the Bator full base of water is 40% the small one I can get to 60-70% but it drops quick

Try adding some small damp sponges in little bowls. If you haven't calibrated your hygrometer, it may be wrong, so do keep in mind that if you have condensation in the lid, your humidity is too high.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Umm...I may have seriously made some mistakes while marking dates for this months hatches.

I checked the incubator and it said 2 days to hatch, so I quickly set up a hatching incubator and put the 6 Marans eggs in it. My calendar says they're due in 4 days but one already has the air cell pulled down...to make things worse I had two hatch dates in the incubator and the turner shuts off automatically, which is great when your don't miscalculate everything but now the eggs that are only on day 8 haven't been turning for a day and a half.

Oops!! Hopefully no real damage was done to any of the hatches. Lol, We shall see when I have chicks hatching. I'm never this disorganized!

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Oh no! A mal positioned scissor beak. Hatched a lot of babies, but none with this issue. It doesn’t look to be ready for help, as it’s still absorbing the yolk. Air cell is at the other end.

Two questions for the long time hatching peeps or people that have dealt with scissor beaks before... do they survive? Can they get out on their own? Obviously don’t want to help if it’s not needed.

It pipped through the bottom of the egg, I pulled some of the shell back to get a better look at its position, time until ready to actually hatch and what was wrong with it. It still looks fairly liquidy in there. I have NO idea what day it’s on Air cell looked like day 20 like the other two chicks that hatched at the time.

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Umm...I may have seriously made some mistakes while marking dates for this months hatches.

I checked the incubator and it said 2 days to hatch, so I quickly set up a hatching incubator and put the 6 Marans eggs in it. My calendar says they're due in 4 days but one already has the air cell pulled down...to make things worse I had two hatch dates in the incubator and the turner shuts off automatically, which is great when your don't miscalculate everything but now the eggs that are only on day 8 haven't been turning for a day and a half.

Oops!! Hopefully no real damage was done to any of the hatches. Lol, We shall see when I have chicks hatching. I'm never this disorganized! View attachment 2143523

Glad I’m not the only one this hatch! Shoot, I always have a notebook with dates, eggs numbered, lock down day and hatch day. Hehe, not this time!

 

[Jehri]

Oh no! A mal positioned scissor beak. Hatched a lot of babies, but none with this issue. It doesn’t look to be ready for help, as it’s still absorbing the yolk. Air cell is at the other end.

Two questions for the long time hatching peeps or people that have dealt with scissor beaks before... do they survive? Can they get out on their own? Obviously don’t want to help if it’s not needed.

It pipped through the bottom of the egg, I pulled some of the shell back to get a better look at its position, time until ready to actually hatch and what was wrong with it. It still looks fairly liquidy in there. I have NO idea what day it’s on Air cell looked like day 20 like the other two chicks that hatched at the time.
View attachment 2143553

That little one def looks like it didn’t mean to pip through yet. I’ve only had one do this it was a cockatiel not a chicken it didn’t have the added complication of scissor beak but I think what happened after I got a better look at what was going on (unfortunately after the chick passed) was that the original pip through the shell was actually intended to be an internal pip into the air cell and not an external pip that it was definitely way too early and the chick hadn’t done the internal conversion from breathing liquid to air and perished. I hope this isn’t the case for your little one. I think my guy had his directions wrong. Got lost