November/December "Hatch-a-Long"

[Kylie A]

1:30am and I am finally in bed! Six babies so far and due to the stampede and the fact that there are still 13 eggs in the incubator, I moved three to the brooder! Now I am stressing they are too hot! The brooder is big though so they can move away from the heat... Can't they? I would rather that than be cold.

I didn't stress this much when I had my own daughters!

Looking forward to lots of photos of all your babies when I wake up!

 

[Chuckfriedrice]

My Runner Duck eggs went into lockdown yesterday ! This is the part that sucks ! LOL

Out of 12 that were shipped 9 made it to lockdown . They are suppose to hatch on the 31st! The wife wants to give any that hatch halloween type names! When im at work I make my wife come look at the window and send me updates! LMAO! I think i might have a problem!

 

[Kylie A]

I didn't see any movement until this morning and then only one egg. I think one has passed in the shell as there is a bit of blood and nothing happening. I will leave it be for now. Mother Nature is what it is. Although I hope my girls don't notice when they wake up!

 

[Kylie A]

We can help with Halloween names ;-)

 

[MrsJenSmith2007]

Hi everyone! I have been reading this thread and can't leave my chair. I am afraid someone's chicks will hatch and I won't be here to see them! I tried my first hatch ever (game chickens) in September and out of 13 eggs (had 14 but dropped one putting it in the bator) I went into lockdown with 8 and hatched 7 on the 12th of this month. They are in the house in a brooder box on my freezer. I don't know how it happened but my incubator has 36 eggs inside it and it is day 3. What was I thinking?! I am chicken obsessed! Hoping everyone here has great hatches and I'm so sorry for the losses you have had. Can I hang out and share your hatch dates until mine gets close?

I'm pretty sure we are all obsessed! LOL I have an incubator full and already planning on the next hatch as soon as I work out all the kinks from this one! Looking forward to hearing all about your babies soon!

 

[my sunwolf]

What do you use to clean your incubator between hatches? I use bleach water, but since you can't scrub or wipe it down very well I was just wondering if there was anything better.

I'm interested in this too... what does everyone else use to clean and disinfect the bator between uses?

 

[Farmer Viola]

Tuesday on the left and Paris on the right

OMG so exciting!! I love the name Tuesday! Keep posting pictures!

Yes, and they are the bluest blue eggs I've seen - I put them in my avatar. Bought them on here from Lark Rise https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741027/12-wheaten-blue-wheaten-ameraucana-buy-it-now

Wow, those ARE beautiful! Saving that thread for later... future hatches.. mwahahaha!


DeannaA Max is so precious, what an awesome personality! I love how curious he is.. just hanging out with mom lol

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
That is a great article as are all the links - especially the assisted hatching one - if you haven't already it's worth a read

Oh man.. I have tried to look at it. I really hope I don't have to assist It looks extremely scary and high pressure to me. I hope I can identify anyone with malpositions before hatch day so I know what I'm in for. I have gotten about halfway through the how-to before I convince myself I won't have to do it! AHH! But here you are saving all your chicks because you can see they have internally pipped. I will do my best!

 

[Farmer Viola]

I'm interested in this too... what does everyone else use to clean and disinfect the bator between uses?

I use bleach and water to clean most of my chicken dishes (feeders, waterers, rubbermaids, etc)

but I used Lysol kitchen spray (anti-bacterial) and paper towels to clean my incubator for the first time...


edit: 2 posts in a row, sorry!!

Bator update: Humidity dropped to 25% overnight woohoo!!! Sitting between 99.5-100 degrees consistently, without vent plugs in

Can anyone give me advice on the best way to handle the humidity from here on? You said I should keep the humidity low for a while to compensate for the 3 days of high humidity. How long should I keep it low at 25%? And then should I slowly increase 35-45-55? or where is the sweet spot I should stay until hatching? 45%? I have so much conflicting information in my head, I could really use some help clarifying this part!

 

[Heidisgran]

Hi everyone! I have been reading this thread and can't leave my chair. I am afraid someone's chicks will hatch and I won't be here to see them! I tried my first hatch ever (game chickens) in September and out of 13 eggs (had 14 but dropped one putting it in the bator) I went into lockdown with 8 and hatched 7 on the 12th of this month. They are in the house in a brooder box on my freezer. I don't know how it happened but my incubator has 36 eggs inside it and it is day 3. What was I thinking?! I am chicken obsessed! Hoping everyone here has great hatches and I'm so sorry for the losses you have had. Can I hang out and share your hatch dates until mine gets close?

lol it's called chicken math

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote: 25% is great for now up to 35%...then by day 18 65%...slight variations are fine...just not below 25% ! your going to do great