Nevadans?

[Bloomie]

Quote:
rofl.. you didn't get the gist of my posts huh?? i don't monitor it at all....

half the time i'm lucky if there's water in there at all.....

and i usually add water at lockdown, but i just fill the things at the bottom and wait for pips...

this is gonna sound silly, but if i do want to check humidity, i put my face close to one of the larger vent holes and breath in through my mouth... i can feel the humidity... i don't know what % that would be, but i know if it's there and if it's too low... lol...

i don't even own a hywhateverdohickeythingy

ooohyeah I did git it!

Last time usin' the incubator, (mines an incinerator

) I used my hair as a humidity gauge!c

 

[Bloomie]

DANG!
I had the incubator all regulated, after adding the eggs the blasted temp has been swingin' up 'n down..... since 10:30pm.

How much damage does a swing of 4 degrees do?

 

[Penturner]

Bloomie, a 4 degree swing is okay... as long as it does not go above 102 or below I think 95. That is what I mean about don;t drive yourself crazy trying to get an exact temp.
Also the temp will likely stabilize. it is funny but when new (cool) things are added the temp seems to over shoot then fall back down then go back up sort of like a pendulum swing before it settles in. In actual practice my temp actually swings between 98 and 102 degrees for the entire 21 days.

As for humidity. I use a thermometer Humidity gauge from wal mart. I think it cost about 8 dollars. I then calibrated the humidity meter with the salt and water method. it actually reads 10% to low. This does nothing but give me a rough idea what humidity my incubator is near. I always say I have 45% humidity for the first 18 days then 55%. in actually practice I have 45% about half of the time. it will drop as low as 30 or even 20% at times. it really likes to get to 40% and then be stubborn. as for the reality of 55%. when I first add water it shoots way up to 60% or higher. if it actually reaches 75% the viewing window starts to collect moisture. this is the only certain humidity I have. I then open and close the incubator to keep the humidity down until it all stabilizes.

you can search the forms for how to calibrate the humidity gauge it is real easy.

As for your eggs. I store my eggs at room temps for up to 10 days before incubating. 100% development. if the hen did not set them at all I would give them a shot. It doesn't hurt that is for sure. If she did set them she may have started the embryo development but that still does not mean it will fail. it just means it needs to continue incubation now.

laceynoelle, I love your photographs. I need to have you come over and get some publishing quality pictures of my Seramas. I am thinking of doing a web site for them.
I don't think any of my birds have two tone eyes. pretty though.

Knemeyer, With my first hatch I don't think I ever made it to bed. well okay for all of two hours the entire night. not sure that counts when you where up at 4 a.m the morning before that. The moral of that story is the Obsession is relevant to the cuteness of the object of our obsession. With that I don't think it is possible to legitimately be considered obsessed with chicks. That is how I justify it anyway.

 

[Bloomie]

Quote:
Penturner, yer too late givin' that "dont drive yerself crazy" advice!
Can ya hear me now?

Seriously....
I did the calibration using the salt method 2 days ago.....think I got things purdy durn close, but then who knows fer sure.

As of today:
The digital temp/humi reader from WalMart ( brand name "Springfield" ) seems to be the most accurate of the 4 I purchased.....with the mercury temp/humdi coming in second.
I have both of them, and the thermometer that came with the egg turner, in the bater....one on each side and one on top of the eggs.
Between the 3 I have readings of 99.1, 99.5 and 100.... humidity 37% to 40%.

Yup, I agree with ya about the "rough idea" & have come to the conclusion thats all I'm gunna to git about whats up in the incubator today, soooo I'm headin' off to do laundry and work onna picture book with the granchickie, leavin' the incubator to its lonesome till day 7 when we candle the eggs....and git nutty all over again with temp flucuations!

Thanks for all the input.....jus dont git used to the "quiet" from Nomans Land......ya kin bet yer britches I'll be back for more of yer expertise, Gang!

 

[aubreynoramarie]

anybody interested in a cranky flighty bearded easter egger? shes eight weeks and has become the intigator. i think im going to start all new with my silkie and my nhr, since my nhr isnt picking on the silkie when the e.e. is around, plus i was going to get a barred rock from that woman on craigslist (or an orpington) and maybe since they are ALL new they will be forced to make friends, just like my e.e. and my nhr were.

anyways, heres darla, shes white with red bars and grey head with almost a lavender-y beard. i think she would just be happier in a bigger flock where she can either become the head honcho or can be knocked down a peg. let me know anyone. id rather give her to a bycer than anyone else

 

[Knemeyer]

Quote:
It's so hard to be laid back about them because they are so cute and they are your responsibility. Had friends over for the 4th and my friend PJ and my mom could not stay away from them. They were being so cute. Now when I walk into the room, they start jumping onto the top of the box to greet me. I guess I need to make a cover for it. One even jumped completely out to explore, but then got scared and started doing the "help me" call. They are also going through a crazy, fluffy stage. They've got a lot more feathers coming in with the fluffly stuff sticking out in all directions.

I'm also starting to get complaints from parents and husbands because of requests for chicks! They all want their own little flocks for their yards.

Hope you all had a fun and safe 4th of July!

 

[BoulderCityFoul]

We took advantage of the weekend to work on our coop. See the link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4466295#p4466295

 

[Peep_Show]

Quote:
BCF:

That's really innovative. I like it! I especially like the fact that coop cleaning will be easy just by opening up the doors.


Bloomie:

I veered away from electronic/digital hydrometers after and temp/hydro Springfield model I got from BigBox W cooked my eggs.... The thermometer said it was 99 and in reality the temps were 106. Eek! You can find non-battery spring/coil-operated ones at K-Mart attached to liquid thermometers. Not fancy, but very accurate. The combo one I got cost all of less than $5, I believe. It's not in the garden section, but over near where they keep flashlights and stuff. Cheap plastic, but uber-effective.

I didn't really pay attention to humidity until well into the second week of incubation when -- oops! Brainflash! -- I remembered about it. The humidity had been at maaaaaybe 20% up until then (desert air). The only real drawback was that the airspaces were a tad big due to dehydration. Kept on top of humidity levels (40-44% from then until lockdown, which was then boosted to 60-68%...got up to 85% during hatching, but only because chicks were drying and adding to the humidity.)

- - - -

I had given my sister the five Black Star henletts followed shortly thereafter by the "Chickens for Dummies" book. Sissie and family are truly going through a trial by error phase and a steep learning curve. They had originally asked for only three birds, but I knew there would be attrition involved in this "Let's raise our own eggs!" project. They're now down to three. One henlett escaped and the dogs got it. It was saved, but had prolapsed and despite being "stuffed back together," she didn't make the night. My sister was VERY worried that the remaining hens might be upset by witnessing the event. The second casualty stuck its head through a knot hole and one of the dogs quickly decapitated it. Oops!

Sister: "Do you know that chickens really do run around when their heads come off?"
Me: "And you were worried about the birds being tramatized BEFORE?"

As I've said, chickens is a learning experience. I think I'm learning my sister ain't no farmer.....

 

[aubreynoramarie]

no takers on Darla?

shes going on CL otherwise.

 

[laceynoelle]

Aubrey I would love to have Darla. I need to convince my ma to drive out and get her. If is a go I'll tell you and you can pm me the details.
And penturner, that sounds awsome. Im trying to get people to notice my mad picture taking skills. And ive been dying to see the seramas. Do you know when you want me to take pics?