Setting 41 on 6-15, 7-8, 7-31, and 8-23 feel free to join in at any time

[NTBugtraq]

How old were your layers when you collected those eggs, and how old are they now? Just wondering if maturity has something to do with egg numbers and size.

Half my layers were 36+ weeks old, and the other half are "in their 3rd season". I say only that because the turn-around happened so quickly I believe the feed may have much to do with it.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Lost a 5 week old overnight, and the 4 week olds are getting out of my run...hrmph. I found the dead 5 week old lying at the front of the coop, stretched out completely, but no signs of any blood or harm. We haven't had a thunderstorm or any event that should have killed it, and it wasn't where some external predator could have scared it. Worse, it was one of my really nice brown varieties. That makes 7 of that hatch that died post hatch. I wonder if the position of a dead bird can tell you anything?? I accept that death happens, but I sure wish I could get a better grip on why, I kinda feel like I am flailing when I don't see obvious signs.

As to why the 4 week olds are getting out of the run, well, that's an equal mystery. When I approached the ones that were outside they tried to get back into the run, but couldn't...lolz...so how'd they get out? Luckily I was able to manage the dogs to prevent them from killing the youngun's till they were all back inside. Boy did they want to kill...

Been pretty quiet lately, I hope that means everyone's hatch is going well. I'm on day 19 today, and I am happy to report no pips. That was a goal with these hatches, nothing on day 19. I hope to see some pips late tomorrow, and of course hatches in the next 2 days. Today I put the temp up 1F, and tomorrow I drop the temp by 11F. I think I will wait to drop the temp until I see more than a few pips.

 

[WalnutHill]

Lost a 5 week old overnight, and the 4 week olds are getting out of my run...hrmph. I found the dead 5 week old lying at the front of the coop, stretched out completely, but no signs of any blood or harm. We haven't had a thunderstorm or any event that should have killed it, and it wasn't where some external predator could have scared it. Worse, it was one of my really nice brown varieties. That makes 7 of that hatch that died post hatch. I wonder if the position of a dead bird can tell you anything?? I accept that death happens, but I sure wish I could get a better grip on why, I kinda feel like I am flailing when I don't see obvious signs.

As to why the 4 week olds are getting out of the run, well, that's an equal mystery. When I approached the ones that were outside they tried to get back into the run, but couldn't...lolz...so how'd they get out? Luckily I was able to manage the dogs to prevent them from killing the youngun's till they were all back inside. Boy did they want to kill...

Been pretty quiet lately, I hope that means everyone's hatch is going well. I'm on day 19 today, and I am happy to report no pips. That was a goal with these hatches, nothing on day 19. I hope to see some pips late tomorrow, and of course hatches in the next 2 days. Today I put the temp up 1F, and tomorrow I drop the temp by 11F. I think I will wait to drop the temp until I see more than a few pips.

That hatch temp profile concerns me. I look forward to learning your result.

I lost one of my two project poults that hatched last week. It looks like he flipped on his back under the heat source and just dehydrated. The surviving female is now alone and very stressed. Stuffed animal and a mirror aren't helping. I may have to try to find a chick for company if she doesn't perk up.

 

[NTBugtraq]

That hatch temp profile concerns me. I look forward to learning your result.

I lost one of my two project poults that hatched last week. It looks like he flipped on his back under the heat source and just dehydrated. The surviving female is now alone and very stressed. Stuffed animal and a mirror aren't helping. I may have to try to find a chick for company if she doesn't perk up.

Aw...that's sad, but I have to admit the wording is funny...;-]

My first, and only hatch so far is a 17 day-old egg who, at lockdown, had lost 14.08% egg weight. Started out a 54.39g egg, and is now a completely dry black chick with black legs. It looks very healthy, but lonely in the Brinsea. 4 other pips in that bator, the oldest being a 6 day-old egg that had lost 11.18%. 2 pips in the Janoel so far.

 

[WVduckchick]

Aw...that's sad, but I have to admit the wording is funny...;-]

My first, and only hatch so far is a 17 day-old egg who, at lockdown, had lost 14.08% egg weight. Started out a 54.39g egg, and is now a completely dry black chick with black legs. It looks very healthy, but lonely in the Brinsea. 4 other pips in that bator, the oldest being a 6 day-old egg that had lost 11.18%. 2 pips in the Janoel so far.

Perfect weight loss! 17 day old egg is amazing! Congrats on getting this party started.

 

[NTBugtraq]

So my day 21 actually began at noon today, and different eggs haven't even come to the beginning of their day 21 yet...despite this, I have 8 hatches. So far, however, the 17 day-old egg is the only older egg that has hatched. After that hatch; age of eggs that have hatched at set time has been: 6, 6, 5, 8, 7, 5, 2. I have 5 hatches in the Brinsea, and 3 in the Janoel. Unfortunately, this theory of setting eggs 1/2 hour apart per day age of eggs at set time has seemingly not panned out in a big way...don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there isn't something in that theory, but I followed that idea to the tee and I'm still seeing staggered hatches. Of course it will be interesting to see what happens overnight. It would be awesome if I awoke and found the majority of the 57 "sure" live chicks at lockdown hatched.

I think my first observation from this attempt is that I kept the humidity too high throughout day 1-18. I ran between 60-70% throughout in the Brinsea. The Janoel, not having a humidity pump, did drop from 65% to 25% between days 10 and 14, at which point I topped it up to 60% till lockdown. Next hatch I will try to run closer to 50% throughout. I can't say anything atm about the temperature profile (98.5F 1-18, 99F 19-20, and 88F 21->).

I have opened the bators 3 times each to remove shells. Each time they recovered within seconds, so I don't think that has had any impact. Tomorrow morning I will move the driest chicks into the brooder. Oh, speaking of which, I now have 3 new brooders in my living room (haha, can you tell I live alone?).





Since I started properly feeding my layers good food, they've responded with lots of eggs, but more interestingly, bigger eggs. I am now getting 15-20 eggs a day, of which a minimum of 4 Jumbo's a day, and all but 4-5 a day are X-Large. In trying to collect eggs for my next set of 80, I've had to include 63g and 64g eggs to be able to get the 80. I think its great I am getting so many X-Large or bigger eggs (which I sell for C$6/dozen, so ty layers), but its funny its hard to get good sized hatching eggs.

Oh, and finally, I found a wonderfully dark egg in my nests today. It has to be from one of my, now 12-week-old project hens, but it was only 20g...lolz. Cute, but utterly useless. I just think its awesome that these project birds are laying at such a young age...bodes well I think.

 

[scflock]

So my day 21 actually began at noon today, and different eggs haven't even come to the beginning of their day 21 yet...despite this, I have 8 hatches. So far, however, the 17 day-old egg is the only older egg that has hatched. After that hatch; age of eggs that have hatched at set time has been: 6, 6, 5, 8, 7, 5, 2. I have 5 hatches in the Brinsea, and 3 in the Janoel. Unfortunately, this theory of setting eggs 1/2 hour apart per day age of eggs at set time has seemingly not panned out in a big way...don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there isn't something in that theory, but I followed that idea to the tee and I'm still seeing staggered hatches. Of course it will be interesting to see what happens overnight. It would be awesome if I awoke and found the majority of the 57 "sure" live chicks at lockdown hatched. I think my first observation from this attempt is that I kept the humidity too high throughout day 1-18. I ran between 60-70% throughout in the Brinsea. The Janoel, not having a humidity pump, did drop from 65% to 25% between days 10 and 14, at which point I topped it up to 60% till lockdown. Next hatch I will try to run closer to 50% throughout. I can't say anything atm about the temperature profile (98.5F 1-18, 99F 19-20, and 88F 21->). I have opened the bators 3 times each to remove shells. Each time they recovered within seconds, so I don't think that has had any impact. Tomorrow morning I will move the driest chicks into the brooder. Oh, speaking of which, I now have 3 new brooders in my living room (haha, can you tell I live alone?). Since I started properly feeding my layers good food, they've responded with lots of eggs, but more interestingly, bigger eggs. I am now getting 15-20 eggs a day, of which a minimum of 4 Jumbo's a day, and all but 4-5 a day are X-Large. In trying to collect eggs for my next set of 80, I've had to include 63g and 64g eggs to be able to get the 80. I think its great I am getting so many X-Large or bigger eggs (which I sell for C$6/dozen, so ty layers), but its funny its hard to get good sized hatching eggs. Oh, and finally, I found a wonderfully dark egg in my nests today. It has to be from one of my, now 12-week-old project hens, but it was only 20g...lolz. Cute, but utterly useless. I just think its awesome that these project birds are laying at such a young age...bodes well I think.

OMG, I have to get to the big computer to respond to this... 60-70%? Why in gods name...

 

[NTBugtraq]

OMG, I have to get to the big computer to respond to this... 60-70%? Why in gods name...

Well, the idea came from nothing but early hatches on day 19, so more humidity might prevent early hatches.

 

[WVduckchick]

Well, the idea came from nothing but early hatches on day 19, so more humidity might prevent early hatches.

Early hatches are usually because of too high temps. Not too low humidity.

 

[scflock]

Well, the idea came from nothing but early hatches on day 19, so more humidity might prevent early hatches.

My first reaction is to go all SC on you, start smacking and being my usual obnoxious self, but I'm not going to do that...yet...
You have such an analytical mind, focus so much on studies and numbers, why are you changing so many variables at one time? I have been following this, but not posting. It really looked like you were headed for a great hatch, and I will be the first in line to congratulate you when you do, but some of the things you are trying baffle me. I thought the 30 minute stagger was reading too much into it, but I was curious to see the results, so I said nothing. I really thought there was a shot that you might prove something that would be useful to me in the future. In my experience, every hatch is staggered over about 48 hrs, and I don't think it is due to the age of the eggs, but rather the development of the chick. Some just develop faster than others.
To be perfectly honest, I didn't even read your whole post about changing temps at the end because it was just so unnecessary that there was nothing constructive I could say about it.
But 60-70% humidity for the first 18 days? There are hundreds of threads on BYC that say over and over again that people's hatches fail because of high humidity. The air cells don't grow and the chicks drown. I was prepared for you to state that the University of California did a study to prove that higher humidity is the answer, but you said "the idea" and "might prevent". That sounds like me, not you. I'm the throw caution to the wind guy and see what works. You have to have the data to support your decisions. I'm not being a dick, I am honestly shocked that you ran a humidity that high. I hope you have a great hatch, I really do, but if you don't my guess is that you will have fully developed chicks that never hatch. That's what happened to me on my last batch. They developed, then they drowned, because the air cells weren't big enough.
I really don't understand why you don't address your issues one at a time. When you change so many variables with every batch, there is going to be no way to pinpoint the main obstacle.
It sounds like you are well on your way to getting more viable eggs from your layers, but if this hatch fails, I'm 99% sure that it will be from the high humidity the first 18 days

Early hatches are usually because of too high temps. Not too low humidity.

Absolutely