Sexlinked Silkies??

[Poulets De Cajun]

What do you incubate at if not at 99.5 then?

 

[chicklady63]

Usually ranges from 97-98 in a styrofoam (so not a top quality machine at all) incubator, forced air, with auto turner and the regular, suggested humidity levels. Strict sanitation is one rule I do stridently follow though. I use ozine or clorox bleach. I prefer ozine.
I have not tried it this year at all as I have been hatching (or attempting to) expensive shipped eggs. My hatch rate has been miserably poor.

I have used the normal recommended incubating temps as I said before.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

I think we should make an experiment out of this idea... Get a bunch of people together, set some eggs, have half incubate at normal temperatures, and half incubate at lower temperatures and see who comes up with more pullets...

 

[chicklady63]

It could be an interesting adventure. I have to get a new incubator though as I want a nicer model.
I think you'll find you have a pleasant surplus of little girls. Good luck!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

What is your hatch rate, based upon fertile eggs (ignore any that were infertile in calculating the percent that hatch)?

 

[Smoky73]

I also have a high percentage of females every year, the last three years about 75/25 in favor of females it seems. (Just a guess at percentages.) Just a few examples of what I mean, all from last year- I hatched 4 mixed breeds, 1 was a roo the other three hens, I hatched out 7 mixed breed Dutch bantams from a friends eggs, 1 was a roo the other 6 were pullets, I hatched 3 RIR chicks from another friends eggs and all three were females, and another time 2 eggs from pure Dutch bantams and both were females. I had a total of 2 white silkie females last spring to breed from and at the end of the season, I had about 30 pullets and had sold down to 16 for culls and sold about 10 roosters. I use Lyon incubators, which are much different than the styrafoam ones, and I have all my incubators with glass thermometers, and I do not have them quite up to 100°F. I do not know if the temp is the reason, but I tell my friends I have Female hatching incubators LOL.

 

[chicklady63]

With my very own eggs I usually get a 98-100 percent hatch rate. It has not been that way with me this year on the shipped eggs, so I just want to clarify. If you have your own eggs and maybe an extra incubator - give it a try. What can you lose? Good luck.
If you meant rate of males to females - to keep it very simple (for me). Out of two dozen eggs I would usually get three to four males to 18 or 19 females. I never really counted as when it first occurred I didn't realize the connection, then about the third time I definately saw the correlation of hatching temp to females.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
You would also have to find a way to have some sort of control eggs, so that the eggs would also be equal in quality and fertlization.

AL

 

[tazcat70]

Quote:
How much longer did the hatch go on? 22 days or 23 days?

This is a very interesting thread.

 

[chicklady63]

I have to be honest and say I really don't remember exactly. OE Gamebirds being such small bantams they usually hatch out early as a rule, anyway, (day 19 often), so I think they were mostly out by the evening on 21 days. I don't remember being really anxious about when or if they were going to hatch, so it must not have overly long. (I was mostly concerned with getting the chocolates that I wanted, so that was more my main focus than exactly when they hatched

). The cochins as I remember went a bit longer - until about the evening of day 23 before everyone was out. I usually set my eggs in the mornings.