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

[scflock]

My first experience with the Brinsea standing them up with eggs > 64g led to 2 cracked eggs during incubation. The rails were too constraining with the larger eggs in a row. Even this hatch with them on their side I had to be so ginger with them I felt uncomfortable candling day 7 and 10. Now I know, I should be able to avoid those candling days, but...maybe if I put the eggs in according to size this time??

I read somewhere that nature made a fat end and a thin end so there would be a natural tilt to the egg with the larger end up...can't we just go with that? So far in this setting, I have only had 1 egg hatch from the end I didn't mark. Anyway, if I try to get to 96 eggs, it only means I will end up with more large eggs.

What size of egg do you consider too big to set?

I have never had one that I considered too big to set, the only ones I won't set are the oddly shaped ones. If they are long and Oval, then I won't set them, but if their shape is similar to the smaller ones I have had good luck. Don't you think your cracked eggs were more result of your frustration when trying to load it the first time? I have my best luck loading when I put all eggs of similar size in the same row. That usually means six eggs per row with a small gap at the end of the row. I space the bars where there is just a little bit of free play in the eggs. I would rather them slip just a little than have the rails tight against the eggs

 

[RubyNala97]

Lolz, well I said up front with this hatch that those were the last lousy eggs I was using, so you are preaching to the choir. I had hoped I didn't degrade the survivability of the eggs to that extent, but I'm ready to admit I did.

Now the funny thing will be to see whether the health of the eggs aren't the only thing that matters...;-] But the next 80 will be set on their side as I did in these settings, to ensure there's enough room for them to do their pip and zip stuff. Any issues with that? (honestly, just asking, not confronting)

Are you planning on hand turning? I've read, especially with larger fowl eggs, that having them on their sides gives a better hate rate.

I have never had one that I considered too big to set, the only ones I won't set are the oddly shaped ones. If they are long and Oval, then I won't set them, but if their shape is similar to the smaller ones I have had good luck. Don't you think your cracked eggs were more result of your frustration when trying to load it the first time? I have my best luck loading when I put all eggs of similar size in the same row. That usually means six eggs per row with a small gap at the end of the row. I space the bars where there is just a little bit of free play in the eggs. I would rather them slip just a little than have the rails tight against the eggs

That's interesting. On this current batch I received an egg that was a perfect torpedo shape. I'm surprised the breeder even sent it. It did not start to develop.

 

[scflock]

Are you planning on hand turning? I've read, especially with larger fowl eggs, that having them on their sides gives a better hate rate.
That's interesting. On this current batch I received an egg that was a perfect torpedo shape. I'm surprised the breeder even sent it. It did not start to develop.

I never set those myself, and would never send one to someone else

 

[FridayYet]

I've read that the only eggs where it is important to set them upright/fat end up are shipped eggs. For local eggs, it's optional.

 

[scflock]

I've read that the only eggs where it is important to set them upright/fat end up are shipped eggs.  For local eggs, it's optional.

Like I said, I have no definitive proof that that has had anything to do with my successful hatches. That's just the way I have always done it, and it has worked

 

[NTBugtraq]

All naturally hatched eggs are hatched on their sides. I read that nature made the fat end of a chicken egg to ensure their was a slant while brooding.

I can say that the eggtopisies of this hatch aren't going to tell us much, if we assume the viability of the eggs are the issue. Janoel expects eggs on their side. Brinsea doesn't say, but quite frankly, 48 are tight on their noses. I really don't want this to be the issue for the next hatch. Way better eggs are going to lead to way better results, no matter how I place the set. No matter my issues with my first hatch, or the fact I hate metal bars, let me just set them on their side and see, in this next setting, if I don't get great results.

 

[scflock]

All naturally hatched eggs are hatched on their sides. I read that nature made the fat end of a chicken egg to ensure their was a slant while brooding.

I can say that the eggtopisies of this hatch aren't going to tell us much, if we assume the viability of the eggs are the issue. Janoel expects eggs on their side. Brinsea doesn't say, but quite frankly, 48 are tight on their noses. I really don't want this to be the issue for the next hatch. Way better eggs are going to lead to way better results, no matter how I place the set. No matter my issues with my first hatch, or the fact I hate metal bars, let me just set them on their side and see, in this next setting, if I don't get great results.

I won't argue at all whether it is better to set upright or on their sides. I can't say that one is better than the other. The instructions said upright, I set upright, and it has always worked, until this last hatch. Setting upright will actually allow you more room before lockdown, because the eggs will take up less surface area. 24 eggs in one tray for me always leaves small gaps at the end of the rows that I fill with paper towels folded. If you're more comfortable setting them on their sides, I won't argue with you about that. I agree, I don't think that should be the issue for this hatch. I really feel that your egg issues were the main culprit, and it sounds like you have a much better grip on that. I would say that the humidity hurt you this time, but it could also still be the eggs. I would at least crack a few to see if you had fully developed chicks that never pipped. If that is the case, then it points more toward the high humidity than the eggs.
For some reason, I always thought you were at a much higher elevation than me. Given that our elevations are similar, I really think 40% humidity is going to work wonders for you. I've hatched 7 batches with that humidity this year, and the only sub 85% hatch I had was the last one, the BCM eggs. I think that failure was due to humidity, because I had fully formed, unpipped chicks, that's why I'm running at 30% this time. If this hatch fails, I will be forced to start weighing eggs on the next one. If I do have to weigh, I had already decided that I would weigh just like Friday suggested; weigh the entire tray.

 

[NTBugtraq]

I have never had one that I considered too big to set, the only ones I won't set are the oddly shaped ones. If they are long and Oval, then I won't set them, but if their shape is similar to the smaller ones I have had good luck. Don't you think your cracked eggs were more result of your frustration when trying to load it the first time? I have my best luck loading when I put all eggs of similar size in the same row. That usually means six eggs per row with a small gap at the end of the row. I space the bars where there is just a little bit of free play in the eggs. I would rather them slip just a little than have the rails tight against the eggs

Well, I just stole the up to 67g eggs from my eggs for sale, and I am now 71 eggs collected for the next hatch. Its so funny cause I am now crating X-Large and Jumbo 50/50, I am getting so many Jumbos.

Meanwhile, I have 1 chick who cannot stand. Its toes stick up in the air so it was getting pecked at in the brooder, so I moved it to its own brooder and gave it a syringe full of electrolyte water 3 times so far today. Its not doing any better so far, but I won't cull it till tomorrow daytime.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Warning, I have pictures of struggling chicks on their backs below, you may wish to scroll carefully if you don't want to see them.

I have had 30 eggs hatch so far, 12 in the Janoel and 18 in the Brinsea. When setting, I tried to keep the same number of each day's eggs in both bators to make the comparison better. Eggtopsies tomorrow will give me the final number of clears so I can figure out the actual mortality rates. I have, so far, only had one chick die post hatch, but I have 7 now in the brooder that I put the guy in whose toes were sticking up. They are all struggling to stand even though they've been dry since early this morning...and there are 2 still in the Brinsea drying off. I've been moving chicks from the Janoel, which is now running at 32.2C, and letting them dry in the Brinsea.

It's very clear that my high humidity has caused much later hatches than I had wanted. Couple that with my egg quality issues, and the fact that 2 of the last 3 hatches were from eggs that were 21 and 20 days old, and its no wonder I have some struggling. I have been giving them as much electrolyte water they will take, but they're not terribly interested in it. At least, however, they're not getting picked on. We'll see where they are at in the morning.

FWIW, I got 19 hatches out of the Brinsea in my first hatch, and 18 this time despite very different parameters. Only 1 died in the brooder the last time, so the number that die this time will tell the tale I think.



This little healthy guy has the cutest tuft on the side of his neck, its really strange. I have several tufted chicks this time.

These are the strugglers...







Any suggestions about the strugglers would be appreciated.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Fertility rate was a big issue this time. 67.5% in the Janoel, and 65% in the Brinsea. I expect there's some correlation between that and the nutrition issues. 33 hatches, 2 post-hatch deaths, 8 struggling chicks (including one that is still in the bator, I was doing eggtopsies and mistakenly thought it was dead and when I cracked the egg, it moved a lot!) Assuming all the strugglers die (which I expect most will), then this hatch is a 47% success rate.

Its hard to make a comparison between the Janoel and the Brinsea. Clears were roughly equal in both. 7 pre-hatch deaths in the Brinsea, 13 in the Janoel...but I'd have to see that through several more settings to say its a bator thing. Only 5 of the bator deaths were late deaths, but of course that number could go as high as 13 if the strugglers all die.

Resetting the bators later today.