***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[HeyBigRhondaq]

I dry hatch- it doesn't necessarily mean no water, but it can in a humid area like Oklahoma.  I fill the water well about once a week, it runs dry about day 4-5.  I make sure the night before the hatch is supposed to start that it is full again and I add a "wick" to increase the surface area for the duration of the hatch.  In the winter I don't dry hatch though, I keep the wells dry but no wicks until lockdown.  My wicks are cut sections of pads meant for a humidifier, caught them on a great clearance at Lowe's once.  They are approx 5"x7" and sit on end so they stick up out of the water tray in my cabinet incubator.  The wick up the water and increase the humidity by increasing the surface area of wetness.

Going by my multi weather thingy, I'm running about 20-30 percent humidity during the incubation and 45-55 humidity during the hatch.  That is WAY lower than recommended for standard hatching but it works GREAT for me with chicken eggs.  It did not work with duck eggs though.  I think they need higher humidity overall.


Shavings are great.  Sometimes I use shavings, sometimes straw, a few of my coops have carpet scraps or pieces of those rubbery kid's floor pads.

I've hatched duck eggs, and they need lots more humidity, misting, etc. It was fun.

 

[Kyzmette]

About dry hatching; I'm planning to do this with mine and I know some people add some amount of water but the humidity has been reading a pretty steady 35% all day without water. Do you think any water is necessary until lockdown?
Edited to add: That's a general question for all you dry hatchers out there. Also I just checked and my humidity jumped to 42 so I opened the vent completely.

I've gone to a totally dry hatch and my hatch rates have jumped to almost 100%. I incubate them in the brinsea until lockdown then move them to the only styrofoam bator I've bought that managed to keep a steady temp. I haven't unplugged that thing in three months because once I do I'll have to recalibrate it all over. Since I switched to dry hatching I don't even have to assist any more. You'd think they would get shrinkwrapped every time, but the shrinkwrapping stopped when I stopped adding water.

 

[ashtree]

I've gone to a totally dry hatch and my hatch rates have jumped to almost 100%. I incubate them in the brinsea until lockdown then move them to the only styrofoam bator I've bought that managed to keep a steady temp. I haven't unplugged that thing in three months because once I do I'll have to recalibrate it all over. Since I switched to dry hatching I don't even have to assist any more. You'd think they would get shrinkwrapped every time, but the shrinkwrapping stopped when I stopped adding water.

Wow. That's incredible. I'm so nervous to try tho......was it nerve wrecking the first time? I like the idea tho because I stress out over details and that sounds pretty laid back! I think for my first go at it I'll start off totally dry then add water and try for 65% humidity. We shall see! thanks everyone for feedback. I've been reading up on it all day. I get the eggs tomorrow morning. Then the real countdown begins!

 

[ashtree]

I dry hatch- it doesn't necessarily mean no water, but it can in a humid area like Oklahoma.  I fill the water well about once a week, it runs dry about day 4-5.  I make sure the night before the hatch is supposed to start that it is full again and I add a "wick" to increase the surface area for the duration of the hatch.  In the winter I don't dry hatch though, I keep the wells dry but no wicks until lockdown.  My wicks are cut sections of pads meant for a humidifier, caught them on a great clearance at Lowe's once.  They are approx 5"x7" and sit on end so they stick up out of the water tray in my cabinet incubator.  The wick up the water and increase the humidity by increasing the surface area of wetness.

Going by my multi weather thingy, I'm running about 20-30 percent humidity during the incubation and 45-55 humidity during the hatch.  That is WAY lower than recommended for standard hatching but it works GREAT for me with chicken eggs.  It did not work with duck eggs though.  I think they need higher humidity overall.


Shavings are great.  Sometimes I use shavings, sometimes straw, a few of my coops have carpet scraps or pieces of those rubbery kid's floor pads.

Neat wick idea. So when people talk about stuffing sponges and paper towels those are their "wicks"?
Curious as to why so many people use 2 incubators; 1 for hatching, 1 for incubating? I keep reading about folks doing this.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Neat wick idea. So when people talk about stuffing sponges and paper towels those are their "wicks"?
Curious as to why so many people use 2 incubators; 1 for hatching, 1 for incubating? I keep reading about folks doing this.

Yes that is the purpose- to increase the surface area of the water will increase the humidity.

2 incubators are really nice if you stagger hatch- you leave one with the humidity setting and egg turner for incubating, and keep the other one set up with humidity and no turner for hatching. Then you aren't affecting the younger eggs while hatching the older ones. You just move the eggs over at day 18 and you are good to go. When they are done hatching you disinfect the hatcher and it is ready to go, you don't have to clean the other incubator as often or as vigorously because it never had chicks in it.

 

[SharkmanDan]

Okay,
So last week, sometime, I posted about our experience, seeing a "Tyson Chicken" that a fellow is trying to nurse back to health.
The more I read about it, I think he should harvest her, and simply move on. She's not meant to live long, and her existence, will not improve, like that of normal chickens. I also mentioned that due to this experience, we want to build a large coop, and raise a lot of meat birds. I'm not yet dead set, on what we're going to raise yet! as meat birds! but I can say I am leaning towards a Heritage Breed, called a Dark Cornish. Does anyone know of anyone who breeds Dark Cornish chickens? Preferably, in E. Oklahoma, or W. Arkansas. I'd even travel as far as SE Kansas or SW Missouri. But, from the description, they sound like the perfect bird for us, to raise several, as meat birds.
And, for the folks who gave me encouragement, on the baby, with the bad sinus infection. Thank you. Someone in that forum, really gave me the info I needed. The eye wasn't saved, but, as best I could tell, when she went up for the night. She likely to make it, and will be much more comfy, until it heals. I guess my next step, is to follow @Kassaundra 's instruction, and start caponizing.

 

[NanaKat]

Okay,
So last week, sometime, I posted about our experience, seeing a "Tyson Chicken" that a fellow is trying to nurse back to health.
The more I read about it, I think he should harvest her, and simply move on. She's not meant to live long, and her existence, will not improve, like that of normal chickens. I also mentioned that due to this experience, we want to build a large coop, and raise a lot of meat birds. I'm not yet dead set, on what we're going to raise yet! as meat birds! but I can say I am leaning towards a Heritage Breed, called a Dark Cornish. Does anyone know of anyone who breeds Dark Cornish chickens? Preferably, in E. Oklahoma, or W. Arkansas. I'd even travel as far as SE Kansas or SW Missouri. But, from the description, they sound like the perfect bird for us, to raise several, as meat birds.
And, for the folks who gave me encouragement, on the baby, with the bad sinus infection. Thank you. Someone in that forum, really gave me the info I needed. The eye wasn't saved, but, as best I could tell, when she went up for the night. She likely to make it, and will be much more comfy, until it heals. I guess my next step, is to follow @Kassaundra 's instruction, and start caponizing.

I did the same surgery on one of my birds with great success. I used neosporin on the incision for several days to keep it soft and as a protective barrier . Hopefully there will still be vision or the socket will heal quickly on your bird. One eye is not as big a handicap as some think.

 

[SharkmanDan]

I did the same surgery on one of my birds with great success. I used neosporin on the incision for several days to keep it soft and as a protective barrier . Hopefully there will still be vision or the socket will heal quickly on your bird. One eye is not as big a handicap as some think.

Thanks. I wasn't certain about using the Neosporin, on a bird, until I read your post. As soon as I get out of PJ's and get some work clothes on, I'll take some with me, to check on her. That eye may not be physically gone, but, I am quite certain that I'll claim "miracle" status, if she ever shows signs of seeing through it again. I won't get descriptive, but, it was fairly obvious how badly damaged the eyeball itself is.

 

[Kyzmette]

Wow. That's incredible. I'm so nervous to try tho......was it nerve wrecking the first time? I like the idea tho because I stress out over details and that sounds pretty laid back! I think for my first go at it I'll start off totally dry then add water and try for 65% humidity. We shall see! thanks everyone for feedback. I've been reading up on it all day. I get the eggs tomorrow morning. Then the real countdown begins!

Yeah, at first I was skeptical, but it's hard to argue with results. I wouldn't have done it with purchased eggs... I tried test hatches on my own eggs. I started because I'd read so much about it, then missed a lockdown date on some eggs and came home to find chicks trying to maneuver over the turner. I'd been having to assist almost all my hatches and I it occurred to me that eggs don't hatch in that unnaturally high humidity in the nest, but here these chicks were, not a drop of humidity, and I hadn't had to peel a bit of stuck membrane off them. My theory now is that the external humidity contributes to shrinkwrapping if conditions in the bator aren't kept just right.

As for using two bators, since I only hatch certain eggs (legbar, brahma or super jumbo), which I don't get lots of yet, I toss them in the brinsea when I find a good candidate. I keep the rubber shelf liner in the foam bator, so I can pull it out, wazine the bator, put a fresh liner in while I wash and disinfect the previous lining, and it's good to go without losing much of its temp. I give the bottom a good scrubbing when there's a lull in hatching and I know it won't be needed for a few days. Without all the humidity and damp, there's actually less bacteria... my hatched chicks even seem healthier, because I haven't had to add one to the ziplock baggie in the freezer in several months... I hate those baggies. Also, the brinsea has a fan, which contributes to shrinkwrapping during lockdown, so I move the eggs into the fanless bator. And a bonus is that you don't have to worry about a newly hatched whirling dervish cracking an egg that wasn't ready for hatch.

 

[Kyzmette]

Thanks. I wasn't certain about using the Neosporin, on a bird, until I read your post. As soon as I get out of PJ's and get some work clothes on, I'll take some with me, to check on her. That eye may not be physically gone, but, I am quite certain that I'll claim "miracle" status, if she ever shows signs of seeing through it again. I won't get descriptive, but, it was fairly obvious how badly damaged the eyeball itself is.

I had a chicken with an eye injury very similar. I thought the eyeball had abscessed and was totally gone, but once the swelling went down and healed, she was another chicken miracle. Chickens amaze me every day with how resilient they are.

As for the Tyson chicken dilemma... I think of it like this... as humans we assign our own perspective to the value of another person's or another creature's life, but who are we to assume that any other life would let go on its own without us to do it for them? Every life has a drive to live, and will fight tooth and nail through the worst circumstances to hold on to its life. If you lived in a prison your entire life and then finally got to taste sunshine and feel grass, you might think the quality of your life was just fine, no matter your physical state.