Setting eggs on FEB 10

[my sunwolf]

Question......again lol. When I take out the turner here in a few moments, the eggs will be laying lower so the temp will be a little lower. One post somewhere said either put them in egg cartons to keep them the same position and height, one said raise the grate on the bottom and lay flat, one said not to worry lay them flat and dont adjust temp because they're bigger and generating some heat themselves and that hatchery bators do this as a cool down function. What do I do? Also, should I mist to keep up humidity if need be? That's the only thing I've done to be able to see condensation on windows. Also, of the 3 breeds I have in the bator (lemon cuckoo orps, swedish hens and coronation sussex) will I be able to tell them apart when they hatch?? LOCK DOWN FOR EASTER TODAY YAY!

Hatching eggs 101 actually says that it's good for eggs to be a little cooler during lockdown, so I would not worry about it!!

I would definitely keep misting to keep humidity up, but keep in mind it really only needs to be around 55-60%--in my experience, you really don't want to see much condensation on the windows.

You should be able to tell them apart. The lemon cuckoos will be buff, the sussex will be light yellow, and the swedish will be very colorful, sort of mottled. I'd be most concerned telling apart the first two, but under a good light they should look different.

I am so excited about lockdown!!! Going to do it early today because I won't be home until this evening and I've got banties in there. Very excited, going to give it a few hours and candle and then set everyone up nice and humid

 

[CowgirlHC]

Quote:
Sounds great! Thanks so much, looking forward to lockdown in just a few moments!!

 

[my sunwolf]

Okay, did candling and lockdown...

Had to toss 5 LF eggs because they weren't fertile, at all, since the beginning, and never did develop. They were all from 2 girls who had bad fertility in the eggs, I think because the roo didn't jump one at all and jumped the last girl too late for many of them to be fertile for my hatch. If that makes sense. Took photos of the eggtopsies, literally no blood spots, meat spots, blood rings, no nothing, they just were not fertile. So that's a relief.

So far the banties look good! One of them I am a little concerned about, its air cell looked undefined, but I set it anyway.

Marked the top of everyone's air cell. Ended up with 9 LF (4 blue and 5 brown eggs) and 9 bantams going into lockdown.

On another thread we've been talking about Ameraucana eggs (and possibly EEs) needing lower humidity than other breeds. I don't know about the truth in this, but my blue eggs had much smaller air cells today than my brown eggs. I am not sure if that's because they have thicker shells and needed lower humidity to lose moisture, or if it's because they had lower weights to begin with and so lost less moisture proportionally than the larger brown eggs. Either way, it was very interesting, and since I'll be getting some Ameraucana eggs next week, definitely something I have to think about.

I've learned that my cat knows when the eggs are about to hatch better than any calendar. As we approach Day 18, she starts sitting under the incubator table meowing like crazy, almost like she can hear their little peeps. She definitely wants to eat them, but she is so fat she can hardly jump to reach the bed (she literally jumps about a foot into the air, grabs hold of the blankets, and claws herself the rest of the way up).

<--- They're gonna be cute!

 

[CowgirlHC]

hahaha your cat story made me laugh so hard! I just locked down, got my humidity up to 60 and now it's already down to 56. ACK stinkin' humidity issues! I tossed the one with the seepage 2 days or so ago (it was a swedish hen) and opened it to nothing. it didn't even start so I'd rather see that than a blood ring or peep, like you said. I also just candled the last 7 before lockdown and feel VERY confident about and one was quite porous and no air sack could be seen, so out it came, put it in a baggy and opened it. Nothing either. I'd say infertile or damaged during shipping. That left 6. Of those, 1 am a little questionable as to whether it died early on or what, but 5/8 are DEFINITELY on track and going strong! Even with 5/8 I find that a good ratio for shipped eggs and a newbie hatcher. I went ahead and set the last 6 just in case to see what goes. These last days are the WORST!

 

[my sunwolf]

And wanted to show the eggtopsies. All the shells cracked very easily. One had a little gass buildup and tried to squirt me, but the others were just like cracking open a raw egg.



So you can see... no signs of fertility for these 4. The 5th I tossed at Day 14 because it was extremely clear, and that had no signs either. So of the 14 LF eggs, 5 were just not fertile, 9 have been set. Of the 9 bantam eggs, 9 have been set.

My flu got in the way of meticulous record keeping right in the middle of this hatch, so I'm trying to make up for it this week

 

[my sunwolf]

hahaha your cat story made me laugh so hard! I just locked down, got my humidity up to 60 and now it's already down to 56. ACK stinkin' humidity issues! I tossed the one with the seepage 2 days or so ago (it was a swedish hen) and opened it to nothing. it didn't even start so I'd rather see that than a blood ring or peep, like you said. I also just candled the last 7 before lockdown and feel VERY confident about and one was quite porous and no air sack could be seen, so out it came, put it in a baggy and opened it. Nothing either. I'd say infertile or damaged during shipping. That left 6. Of those, 1 am a little questionable as to whether it died early on or what, but 5/8 are DEFINITELY on track and going strong! Even with 5/8 I find that a good ratio for shipped eggs and a newbie hatcher. I went ahead and set the last 6 just in case to see what goes. These last days are the WORST!

Definitely agree with that! The last 3 days are killing me. I will bet that this gets easier... after the 20th time or so. Oy.

And 5/8 is great!

You know, last time, my eggs never rocked around. This time, a few are just going like crazy. I wonder if there really was just something wrong with that last batch of eggs (of course, the chicks from that batch are about to outgrow their little brooder and are super healthy).

 

[CowgirlHC]

OK I locked down, temps were stable and are now reading 94-97 because of lowering the eggs and thermometers. I have all wells full, 2 shallow lids and a sponge and can't get above 53% humidity. Should I do plugs in or out? I know air flow/ventilation is important.

 

[bugglesmommy]

I quickly moved the rest of the easter eggs for their lockdown. There are still 8 quail eggs
that are still in there with no pips. I couldn't even successfully candle them all with some darker really blotty shells so maybe those aren't even fertile. I have 11 quail so far and lost 1 that didn't make it out. I'm leaving one plug in. Quail are the cutest things! So tiny!

 

[bugglesmommy]

Well I am done with the quail portion of my hatch. 10/21 alive and well... not great numbers. 11 hatched but one died. I had 5 infertile, I think the temp spike killed 3- they died at about that time and 2 that just couldn't hatch. I hope my chickens fair better.

 

[CowgirlHC]

Oh my they are SO dang cute!! OK here is probably a dumb question lol. What do you do with your quail? I have to back up my obsessions with a purpose, and if its not a good one the hubsy kind of gets a little.....well.......against the idea lol. If I can find some justification for having something so darn cute I sure will! The quail you hatched, do you own the breeding stock or were they shipped? If shipped, isn't that hatch rate pretty good?!