September 2016 Hatch-A-Long

[nanasacres]

And I'm now in lockdown e 2 of the 12 eggs I don't think were still good but as they had no smell I have left them in just in case. I suspect they were mid-late quitters based on the size of the mass inside but Id hate to remove a viable egg at this stage. I marked these 2 so I will know if I am correct or not once the eggs hatch. This is going to be a long few days On a side note I have started building my grow-out coop. It was going to be smaller but as I'm using wood from pallets it ended up bigger (internal dimensions 1m x 1m (39" x39")). I don't plan on putting in nesting boxes just roosting sbars. It will have 3.5 sides with one on hinges for cleaning access. I haven't put a floor in as I will have deep litter anyway/ it will get moved once the chicks can join the others.

Looks good. Love those pallet projects! Much success with your hatch.

 

[pamperedamber]

Hopefully tomorrow will start my day one (if I can figure out this incubator). What should my humidity be at high and low?

 

[harmesonfarm]

And I'm now in lockdown

2 of the 12 eggs I don't think were still good but as they had no smell I have left them in just in case. I suspect they were mid-late quitters based on the size of the mass inside but Id hate to remove a viable egg at this stage. I marked these 2 so I will know if I am correct or not once the eggs hatch.

This is going to be a long few days

On a side note I have started building my grow-out coop. It was going to be smaller but as I'm using wood from pallets it ended up bigger (internal dimensions 1m x 1m (39" x39")). I don't plan on putting in nesting boxes just roosting sbars. It will have 3.5 sides with one on hinges for cleaning access. I haven't put a floor in as I will have deep litter anyway/ it will get moved once the chicks can join the others.

That looks like it's going to be a great home!! how exciting!

LOL we have similar looking dogs...she/he is a cutie!

our dog's name is olive

Hopefully tomorrow will start my day one (if I can figure out this incubator). What should my humidity be at high and low?

 

[ladyargentum]

LOL we have similar looking dogs...she/he is a cutie!

our dog's name is olive

That was Zeus, he's a bitsa (aka staffy/ lab/ german shepherd/ American bulldog). I also have a dark brindle staffy (English staffy x American Staffy) called Hera. The animals always keep an eye on any activity being undertaken.

Gotta love the animals

 

[pamperedamber]

@harmsonfarm thank you. I live in So Cal so it's not very humid here. I am having a herd time getting the humidity above 40% right now. I will try adding water from different spats and see how it affects the humidity and temp. Thank you for your quick response and the help.

 

[TurkenMomma]

Yay!!! Congrats!

We have our first pip!!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

@harmsonfarm thank you. I live in So Cal so it's not very humid here. I am having a herd time getting the humidity above 40% right now. I will try adding water from different spats and see how it affects the humidity and temp. Thank you for your quick response and the help.

40 should be fine. I do dry incubation (no water added usually) at about 35-40% for days 1-18. I up my humidity day 18 if my air cells look right but if they are still a little small I easier until first pip. Then I up it to 65-70%. What incubator are you using?

 

[Maeschak]

Ive got a weird problem... I dry incubated through days 1-14 hoping to keep track of progress via weighing my eggs. At day 7 about 25% of my eggs were a tad too light and at day 14 about 50% of my eggs were too light. So I upped my humidity but also noticed that my air cells seemed a bit small, particularly for losing more weight than they should have lost. Today is day 18 (lockdown) and I candled a bunch of eggs last night and the air cells still seem smaller than what is shown on most air cell egg charts. (My 17.5 day candling seemed to show air cells the size of a normal 14 day air cell).

Anyway, long story short- my eggs have lost more moisture than they should by lockdown (via weighing method) but the air cells look too small. Should I lockdown and up the humidity only a small amount for the next day (until day 19) and then bring it up to the 65-70% humidity for the remainder of lockdown?

Any help appreciated!

 

[pamperedamber]

40 should be fine. I do dry incubation (no water added usually) at about 35-40% for days 1-18. I up my humidity day 18 if my air cells look right but if they are still a little small I easier until first pip. Then I up it to 65-70%. What incubator are you using?

I am using an Arksen. It had mixed reviews. After playing with it I figured out what I was doing wrong and now my temp is steady and so is the humidity. So I am setting the eggs this morning!!

 

[KeyFlock]

I am using an Arksen. It had mixed reviews. After playing with it I figured out what I was doing wrong and now my temp is steady and so is the humidity. So I am setting the eggs this morning!!

Good luck!

I checked on the bator this morning, and we have 6 out of 13 eggs pipped and chirping! Now I just have to pull on some shoes and go check on my sweet little broody. I'll try to post pictures later, but it's not loading very well right now.