Operation Dry Hatch

[wholewheatchicken]

Out of my 14 shipped eggs so far 4 are living don't know if all are going to make it but I have my fingers crossed. They seem to be getting a little spunk. I lost my calico's, mottled, and 1 silver laced that I was really hoping hatched.

I hope that I got a rooster I have 2 female cochins had 3 but hawk just recently killed one. The other 13 eggs were my sister in law from her chickens so not shipped other than the drive to my house and some of them did same thing, 4 waiting on 2 have heads out and 1 of them my chick pecked at and I see yellow liquid inside don't think it's gonna make it very weak. And 2 still pipping. The rest died right before or during lockdown. I have my own duck eggs in due next week I'll see how that turns out. Was debating on whether to turn off fan or keep in on during lockdown to see if that does anything different.

I think you are supposed to turn off the fan at lockdown. I think leaving it on will dry out the membranes. If you incubate and hatch in the same box, you can put a switch on the fan and just turn it on and off like a lightbulb, if you know how to do such a thing. My husband installed on on my incubating box so if I want to use it as a hatcher I can turn the fan off. Mohillbilly said you should turn the fan off to turn the eggs and I thought that was good idea. Seems like it would help keep the humidity and air more still while you're in there working. I kept forgetting to do it and this time around I am not turning eggs by hand, rather I am tilting the entire box on a thick book to keep air cells as stable as I possibly can while trying to keep the chick from sticking to the sides. It sounds like you will have to open them up as soon as you are able and try to investigate what went wrong. I find that tricky to understand when they are alive at lockdown and then die
what exactly they died from. Everything I read said it was a humidity issue: too low, too high. That really helped, LOL!

 

[immyjay54]

I think you are supposed to turn off the fan at lockdown. I think leaving it on will dry out the membranes. If you incubate and hatch in the same box, you can put a switch on the fan and just turn it on and off like a lightbulb, if you know how to do such a thing. My husband installed on on my incubating box so if I want to use it as a hatcher I can turn the fan off. Mohillbilly said you should turn the fan off to turn the eggs and I thought that was good idea. Seems like it would help keep the humidity and air more still while you're in there working. I kept forgetting to do it and this time around I am not turning eggs by hand, rather I am tilting the entire box on a thick book to keep air cells as stable as I possibly can while trying to keep the chick from sticking to the sides. It sounds like you will have to open them up as soon as you are able and try to investigate what went wrong. I find that tricky to understand when they are alive at lockdown and then die
what exactly they died from. Everything I read said it was a humidity issue: too low, too high. That really helped, LOL!

I'm not saying to turn off or not to turn off but think about this. In the Hova Bator Incubators there is one power cord and if you use the auto turner it has it's own plug. Now, if you unplug the power plug it turns off the fan but also the heater so it don't seem to me that they are to be turned off. I know there are some without the fans so I guess you just do what you think is right. I have never turned mine off. One thing I can say is I've never had a shrink wrapped peep unless they are to weak to come out of the shell on their own and that will cause shrink wrap even without a fan. The air itself will dry the membrane. I have also found that most chicks that I helped when I first started incubating do not make it or end up being sickly chicks in the end. Not all but some. I truly do believe in the survival of the fittest. If they aren't strong enough to come out of the shell on their own, I let nature take it's course. I've learned quite a bit in the last couple of years with these. They have to be awful expensive eggs for me to help at all. Even then, if I have enough hatching I will not help any. As the old saying goes, we're never to old to learn. I was ready to give up last year and thank God I didn't because I've gotten some really lovely chicks in the past few months from my incubators. lol
Good Luck to all of you. Be thankful for each one that you hatch and hope for better rates the next time. Nothing like a good ole broody hen. lol
Jim

 

[wholewheatchicken]

Yes, thank goodness for broodies. They do so much hard work sitting there so patiently. My girls are treated very, very, very well. I have a huge amount of respect for them and love them very much! They are good mommas.

 

[mohillbilly]

I think you are supposed to turn off the fan at lockdown. I think leaving it on will dry out the membranes. If you incubate and hatch in the same box, you can put a switch on the fan and just turn it on and off like a lightbulb, if you know how to do such a thing. My husband installed on on my incubating box so if I want to use it as a hatcher I can turn the fan off. Mohillbilly said you should turn the fan off to turn the eggs and I thought that was good idea. Seems like it would help keep the humidity and air more still while you're in there working. I kept forgetting to do it and this time around I am not turning eggs by hand, rather I am tilting the entire box on a thick book to keep air cells as stable as I possibly can while trying to keep the chick from sticking to the sides. It sounds like you will have to open them up as soon as you are able and try to investigate what went wrong. I find that tricky to understand when they are alive at lockdown and then die
what exactly they died from. Everything I read said it was a humidity issue: too low, too high. That really helped, LOL!

I don't turn my fan off for lockdown I only turn it off when I need to open the door on the incubator.

 

[immyjay54]

This may not have to do with the title (Operation Dry Hatch) but there may be some real newbies on here that would like to read this. Back in the day, lol, when most old time farmers had a few of this a and a few of that there was always an old shed somewhere with a bunch our feathered friends. We (our family) had a large lot for them to run in but in the evening we always would let them out to run in the yard and fields just as a special treat. I can remember one time when we had this old barred rock hen and every day she was out of the pen from the other chickens. Dad clipped her wing etc and still she got out. What it was was that she was starting to go broody. After a while dad realized what he thought was happening so one morning he watched her really close and followed her around for a couple of hours till I guess she couldn't wait any longer to lay and she took off out in the field and he followed and found her on her nest in the high weeds. She had already had 8 or 10 eggs in there. Now, after each egg was laid, she would leave the nest until the next day. Those eggs weren't turned until she went the next day to lay her next one. She probably had 15 eggs in there when she started to set. In the early morning hours, we would see her leave the nest when the dew was on the ground and go around picking bits of grass, dirt and bugs. She would go back to the nest and turn her eggs and settle in for a couple or so days till she decided to leave the nest again. Usually every 2 - 4 days. The last couple or so days before the babies started to hatch you couldn't force her off the nest. Dad always said she could hear her babies yeeping in the eggs. Oh my, at the end of the 3 weeks, dad would have a little triangle box thing fixed up and when she came off the nest with the little ones following close behind he would catch her and put her under this little house and have it where the little ones could go in and out but not be dragged to death by the mom. He would leave her under there till the babies were a week or so old then he would just let her run around. Those were the days and the old hens would hatch almost every egg. Sometimes they would set in the nest in the coop so dad would mark every one of her eggs once she started to set then each day he would raise her up and remove any eggs that another hen would go in there an lay if she was off the nest. Gee, writing this is sure bringing back a lot of childhood memories. We had an old mixed dog that stayed with the chickens all the time and when one was out (like this setting hen) he would guard them really close so we never worried about anything getting them. He sure was a good old dog. Just a medium sized Heinz variety but we all loved him just the same.
I hope you folks enjoyed reading this.
Jim

 

[destin0709]

So sad to loose all those babies.

I just can't find the bantam cochins colors I want in my area so my only choice is to have them shipped. Maybe I'll give another try with my sister in laws mille's then order more cochins.

 

[wholewheatchicken]

I don't turn my fan off for lockdown I only turn it off when I need to open the door on the incubator.

Well, that's nice to know. You have so much useful information....I wish I could carry you around in my pocket! I thought it dried the eggs out, LOL.
I hope you've seen my post that I've hatched a few babies this time. I'm glad I finally figured out the humidity for myself. I was worried as I thought my air cells were a little too big, but if they were the chicks were able to deal with it. Nobody has been a sticky chick!
Thank you for all the help you have given me to this point. You've played a big role in my success also

 

[wholewheatchicken]

This may not have to do with the title (Operation Dry Hatch) but there may be some real newbies on here that would like to read this. Back in the day, lol, when most old time farmers had a few of this a and a few of that there was always an old shed somewhere with a bunch our feathered friends. We (our family) had a large lot for them to run in but in the evening we always would let them out to run in the yard and fields just as a special treat. I can remember one time when we had this old barred rock hen and every day she was out of the pen from the other chickens. Dad clipped her wing etc and still she got out. What it was was that she was starting to go broody. After a while dad realized what he thought was happening so one morning he watched her really close and followed her around for a couple of hours till I guess she couldn't wait any longer to lay and she took off out in the field and he followed and found her on her nest in the high weeds. She had already had 8 or 10 eggs in there. Now, after each egg was laid, she would leave the nest until the next day. Those eggs weren't turned until she went the next day to lay her next one. She probably had 15 eggs in there when she started to set. In the early morning hours, we would see her leave the nest when the dew was on the ground and go around picking bits of grass, dirt and bugs. She would go back to the nest and turn her eggs and settle in for a couple or so days till she decided to leave the nest again. Usually every 2 - 4 days. The last couple or so days before the babies started to hatch you couldn't force her off the nest. Dad always said she could hear her babies yeeping in the eggs. Oh my, at the end of the 3 weeks, dad would have a little triangle box thing fixed up and when she came off the nest with the little ones following close behind he would catch her and put her under this little house and have it where the little ones could go in and out but not be dragged to death by the mom. He would leave her under there till the babies were a week or so old then he would just let her run around. Those were the days and the old hens would hatch almost every egg. Sometimes they would set in the nest in the coop so dad would mark every one of her eggs once she started to set then each day he would raise her up and remove any eggs that another hen would go in there an lay if she was off the nest. Gee, writing this is sure bringing back a lot of childhood memories. We had an old mixed dog that stayed with the chickens all the time and when one was out (like this setting hen) he would guard them really close so we never worried about anything getting them. He sure was a good old dog. Just a medium sized Heinz variety but we all loved him just the same.
I hope you folks enjoyed reading this.
Jim

I do enjoy reading it. I didn't grow up around chickens and that would have been a lot of fun. I do remember the other animals, though, and how much ours added to my life!

 

[wholewheatchicken]

So sad to loose all those babies.

I just can't find the bantam cochins colors I want in my area so my only choice is to have them shipped. Maybe I'll give another try with my sister in laws mille's then order more cochins.

Good luck. I'm sorry your babies didn't make it. Do you have a good idea what went wrong?

 

[wholewheatchicken]

I know I could look, but what major city is Poland, Ohio close to?