Heyall --
I have six bouncing (or at least wobbling) baby fuzzballs this morning. But I think I could have had more. So I need y'all's input, for the sake of future hatches!
This is the very same hatcher as for my previous cochin hatch. The cochins had no problem hatching. This batch was wheaten Marans. Incubator humidity was kept 45-50%, with the occasional drop into the 20's when the tray went dry. Hatcher humidity was kept above 65%. The hatcher hygrometer has been calibrated by the wet salt method, and it actually reads 3-4% low. I kept it READING at least 65%, so actual humidity was probably above 68%. Temps in both incubator (Sportsman) and hatcher (Hovabator with fan) were kept as close to 100 as possible.
Here's my results:
I started with 15 eggs.
2 were broken in shipping.
2 didn't develop.
2 pipped and hatched on their own.
The rest, I had to help. Even the first ones I opened had dry membranes, which I don't really understand given that the humidity in the hatcher was reading at least 65% at all times.
The first chick pipped on the morning of day 21, and hatched overnight. Two more chicks pipped on the morning of day 22. One of those hatched on its own in the afternoon.
I started opening eggs around mid-morning day 22. I only opened three eggs at that time. One had pipped internally, one had not, and the third turned out to be one of the undeveloped eggs. I started opening the rest of the eggs during the afternoon and evening.
Of those I helped:
1 was malformed (only one eye).
2 quickly died in shell.
1 died after long attempts to finish hatching.
1 never did resorb his umbilical blood overnight although he had come out of the egg, and died this morning (day 23). This is the only one who bled to death (I finally detached him from the egg this morning, but he was already very weak). The others had only minimal bleeding.
The last four hatched successfully with my help, and appear to be healthy little fuzz balls.
So the development rate was great, especially given that the package was handled roughly enough to break two eggs. And I know that Marans are well known for hatching problems. But I want your input -- what did I do wrong or right here? Why was the hatch so spread out? What should I try differently in the future?
I have six bouncing (or at least wobbling) baby fuzzballs this morning. But I think I could have had more. So I need y'all's input, for the sake of future hatches!
This is the very same hatcher as for my previous cochin hatch. The cochins had no problem hatching. This batch was wheaten Marans. Incubator humidity was kept 45-50%, with the occasional drop into the 20's when the tray went dry. Hatcher humidity was kept above 65%. The hatcher hygrometer has been calibrated by the wet salt method, and it actually reads 3-4% low. I kept it READING at least 65%, so actual humidity was probably above 68%. Temps in both incubator (Sportsman) and hatcher (Hovabator with fan) were kept as close to 100 as possible.
Here's my results:
I started with 15 eggs.
2 were broken in shipping.
2 didn't develop.
2 pipped and hatched on their own.
The rest, I had to help. Even the first ones I opened had dry membranes, which I don't really understand given that the humidity in the hatcher was reading at least 65% at all times.
The first chick pipped on the morning of day 21, and hatched overnight. Two more chicks pipped on the morning of day 22. One of those hatched on its own in the afternoon.
I started opening eggs around mid-morning day 22. I only opened three eggs at that time. One had pipped internally, one had not, and the third turned out to be one of the undeveloped eggs. I started opening the rest of the eggs during the afternoon and evening.
Of those I helped:
1 was malformed (only one eye).
2 quickly died in shell.
1 died after long attempts to finish hatching.
1 never did resorb his umbilical blood overnight although he had come out of the egg, and died this morning (day 23). This is the only one who bled to death (I finally detached him from the egg this morning, but he was already very weak). The others had only minimal bleeding.
The last four hatched successfully with my help, and appear to be healthy little fuzz balls.
So the development rate was great, especially given that the package was handled roughly enough to break two eggs. And I know that Marans are well known for hatching problems. But I want your input -- what did I do wrong or right here? Why was the hatch so spread out? What should I try differently in the future?
