Michigan Hatchers! What'cha got cookin?

[ijon]

What is your stats on that dry hatch?

 

[Candy442]

lazy - emily is 12, she has done this 7 times, and i really dont have to check on eggs everyday because i know she watches them also.. she knows what to do in every situation.. we have been hatching partners and always worked as a team.




I had a wierd situation in the incubator.. i checked on the eggs, and i had a chick zip way at the bottom of the egg, and the egg was opened a little bit, i saw the back of his legs.. was not what i was used to seeing.. took me a minute to figure it out.. so i reached in incubator as fast as i could and lift top of egg off, and the baby chick zipped the shell and lifted it upside
down.. so i turned it right side up.. what a strong buggar.. he is doing good.. havent seen him walk but will see how it does.. you never know whats going to happen from egg to egg.. wonder if because i did a all dry hatch that that made him have more room to work his magic..

I hope it makes it! was that a situation of reverse in the egg hatch?

I have veining in my d'unclle eggs. Yippy!

First time hatching ever. I hope it works out good. I have read every thread I swear on incubator hatching. My girls are in 4h and hope to take our own feathered friends this year.

Congrats downrangechick! Good luck with the hatch! we just had our very first hatch and sold all the healthy bouncy babies from that. We are hooked now if we do not have any broody hens that is

 

[naglady]

@downrangchick - congrats on veining, what kind of incubator are you using,whats your temp and humidity.. what day are you on,what breeds are you hatching.. how exciting..



My hatch is done, 9 chicks out of 17.. the other 8 were shrinkwrapped.. i did this hatch all dry up till day 18..

 

[Candy442]

What is your stats on that dry hatch?

We used the dry method for our very first attempt after reading as much as we could. Our actual humidity was low, 16 percent in the house. We quasi-calibrated two hydro/thermometer units and one bulb therm to unit gages. Used a Farm Innovations circulated air fan/auto turner Styrofoam incubator model 4200.

Out of 15 eggs to lock down, 13 hatched (we started with 21 and eliminated 3 at day 14, clear or blood ring...and three quitters at day 18). The two that had no movement or noise at day 24 were dead-in-shell (DIS). They both were somewhat shrink wrapped but the inner membrane was moist where they should have been able to pip through it to the air sac. Both were not in a good position in the shell to pip properly.

Our humidity for first 18 days was around 20-25 percent and it was difficult to keep it there. But we did add a few ML of water through clear tubing and a syringe hooked to it. Then, we added cool mist room humidifier to get room to 35 percent. Then at lock down, the humidity was 65-80 depending on if chicks were hatching. We added rolled up washrags in the channels and filled with water. I removed the red plugs at lock down to allow for more oxygen. Probably could leave them out completely but did not have any affect on inside humidity the first 18 days. Just would try to drop below 20 all the time no matter what the room said.

The temp consistently held at 99-100 the entire incubation time. We went by the portable hygrometer/thermometer unit inside the 'bator sitting level with the turner. As we have read on other threads, the unit gages were WAY off and HIGHER than the digital unit and the bulb thermometer.

We feel it was successful and will use dry method based on our first attempt, used old eggs that sat on the counter for three weeks and added 11 fresher ones....so I expected a big ZERO to hatch really

 

[naglady]

Candy- i had still air incubator, kept temp steady 101-103, humidity stayed around 15-25%, no water added till day 18 lockdown, filled all the resivoirs, humidity went up to 69 for lockdown..
chicks started hatching day 20.. out of 17 eggs that went into lockdown, 9 hatched.. there was no activitie from the other 8 eggs, so i decided to check because they were not pipped either.. and with my incubator, usually by the now if no hatching they are dis.. I dont wait till day 25 but i have enough experience that this is how my incubator works..

out of the 8 they were all full term, 3 made it thru membrane.. they looked shrinkwrapped but wasnt dry still pretty moist, i think they were just maybe to big to get into position.


I never checked the humidity in the room.. doing that now. maybe next time will have to keep a eye on that

 

[Chickens R Us]

I'm separating my flock to get ready for breeding in three weeks, I have also ordered a doz eggs from Northwoods poultry, 6 Black Copper Marans and 6 Blue Splash Marans. They are close by so I can do a farm pick up. I'm really looking forward to doing a May hatch.

 

[jlynnet]

I have the bator filled again for an Easter hatch. Hoping for Partridge Orps this time to hatch. The Jubilees that have been hatching are big and strong. Really liking them.

 

[downrangechick]

@downrangchick - congrats on veining, what kind of incubator are you using,whats your temp and humidity..  what day are you on,what breeds are you hatching.. how exciting.. 



My hatch is done, 9 chicks out of 17.. the other 8 were shrinkwrapped.. i did this hatch all dry up till day 18.. 

I am using a little giant still air. My temp is staying at 99.5 to 100.5. I am on day 6. I am hatching mille fleur d'unclles. I was going to do dry hatch but haven't read enough about it and chickened out last minute. I can't wait to have little chicks chirping around the farm.

 

[lazy gardener]

Dry hatch is not an all or none proposition. Is this your first hatch? If not, how have your previous hatches been? Do you have a hygrometer? What is the humidity in your house, and what is it in your incubator? I do a modified dry hatch: a little piece of sponge in a little cup, that gets about an ounce of water every 2 - 3 days keeps the humidity around 25%. I wait until the humidity drops below 20% before adding more water. Air cell size is the deciding criteria about how much water I add. When I need to increase the humidity for hatching, I'll add a larger piece of sponge and drop in a moist paper towel if I need to. Take a few minutes to read some of the threads, and it will convince you that "dry hatch" will give you a higher percentage of living chicks.

 

[naglady]

downrangechick - if this is your first hatch, and you caliberated your thermometer, you may want to up temp to 101-102 degrees, because its still air, and if you have your plugs out you can ad your plugs to up temp.. try not to touch your thermostat, if you have both plugs in already you can put a towel over your incubator to warm it a little.. all dry hatch is, is not adding water.. less to worry about, my last hatch i didnt ad any water at all till lock down and my humidity stayed around 15%-25%.. if you humidity drops under 15 ad a couple tbsp of water to resivoir.. try not to open your incubator unless you have to.. good luck

My first couple hatches were not, then i discovered dry hatch, and i have alot better results.. even the dis in shells were full grown and most were not positioned right. i have alot better hatches this way