She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[WVduckchick]

Initial results indicate success!  37.8 in the turner, 37.2 in the hatcher.  Much lower airflow in the hatcher trays, and much easier to raise humidity.  It's at 58% with just a small water pan.

I will make a frame covered with cheesecloth or burlap to separate the hatcher from the incubator trays, and I'll find a way to do low resistance filtration for the air intake as well.

For anyone who wants to build a 200+ egg incubator, this design, which is now much more like a GQF rather than a Farm Master, is a good basis for your own design.

Awesome!

 

[WVduckchick]

I guess I'm going to have to set up surveillance in the coop!!  I haven't noticead any signs of egg eating and lately I haven't seen anyone in the boxes.

Not sure what you use for bedding, but maybe you could strategically position a few pieces in the boxes, (or twigs, leaves, pieces of straw?) then see if those pieces are ever moved. Would tell you if they are even going into the box. ?? Good luck!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Not sure what you use for bedding, but maybe you could strategically position a few pieces in the boxes, (or twigs, leaves, pieces of straw?) then see if those pieces are ever moved. Would tell you if they are even going into the box. ?? Good luck!

Pine bedding and dried leaves.

 

[WVduckchick]

One of my polish eggs appears to have an itty bitty piece of shell that looks like it chipped off. No bump or pump-knot though. Its very small, maybe 1/16" round. Its right between my day 14 and day 18 pencil lines. I sure hope it is a beginning.

I'm having to leave the heat lamp on now to maintain temperature but it appears to be working well. DH got the light positioned just right for me. I guess I'm in for a sleepless night. Bator is in my spare bedroom though, so maybe I'll get to nap in there.

 

[WVduckchick]

Is anyone watching the National Geographic channel specials on the Titanic? I find it fascinating!

 

[Fowling around]

Good evening everyone hope all is well. Gonna try and do some catching up unless the wonderful Amy can do cliff notes for me.
Update on my hatch. Turkeys are developing under the hen and should hatch on the 25th or there abouts. She has pushed two eggs out of the nest. I did not try to put them back under her, figure she knows best. She still has 8 cooking, and is still trying to add more eggs to her clutch and steal them from the chickens laying in the nest box beside her.
Ducks eggs are cooking will candle next week. Added a sponge to up my humidity some as I read duck eggs require more and that you can not run "dry". This sucks because it means I have to be more hands on than I wanted to be, but I want baby ducks so it will be done. Also have turkey eggs in with the ducks so time will tell on those.
Hope everyones hatch goes well, I will be building a cooler bator/hatcher this week or this weekend. I will try and remember to post pics.

 

[RubyNala97]

I wasn't trying to scare anyone, and it certainly doesn't mean shrink wrap, but it is more likely if the chick, I'm assuming duck would follow the same characteristics is presenting solely in the bottom (top being void of veining) that the membranes are or have shrunk around the chick. When you turn the egg, there won't be normal movement of chick or liquid because it's being compressed by the membrane. A true shrink wrap literally packages the chick in a tight ball. The pics below are from my two silkies that shrinked wrapped in myy Easter hatch. Day 18 they looked good, day 20, this is what I found. As you can see they are wrapped tight. There was no question when I candled that there was no life. Literally what you saw was the dark mass compressed in the bottom. The rest of the egg was clear and void of any vessels or movement. These pictures were taken during the eggtopsy. They were not opened and left to dry. Many people mistake glued/sticky chicks for shrinkwrapped. Graphic pics below: As long as you are seeing movement there is hope. If you are seeing good veining, I wouldn't worry. If there is absolutely no visible veining above/around the bird, then there's reason for concern, but not a whole lot you can do at that point. If you feel your egg is loosing too much moisture and air cell is growing too large but the other eggs are good, you go with what's good for the majority. You can try to put the one closest to the source of humidity (wet sponge, on wet paper towel) and hope for the best, but ultimately you adjust for the majority and not a lone egg.

Amy, was there any liquid in the membrane, in these photos? I'd really like to see what a normal membrane looks like compared to those. I did my eggtopsys today and they kind of looked like that but all were filled with an amber-colored, super-stickey substance. Do you know if that is normal or not?

Ruby, don't kick yourself if you can't do an eggtopsy. Some folks can't process their roos. Some folks can't eggtopsy. That does not make either group less capable as a flockster. We all do what we are able to do. I still don't know where to find that option... but then again... it takes me hours to figure out how to post a pic, even with constant tutoring from my better half. I agree with SC. I'd just leave that broody to her own devices, and not even try to candle.

Lazy! I wanted to tell you that I fermented feed this weekend and my older chicks went crazy over it!! The newborns, not so much but they get scared over everything that's new! Thank you so much!! And thanks for the kind words. I asked my oldest son to sit with me and help with the eggtopsys. After the second one, I was okay with doing it. But I needed support to get through the first two. It was very interesting. Now I will take my findings and do some research to see if any of the deaths were incubation issues and apply it from there.

You should be able to hover your over each of the buttons and it should pop up a description of what the button is for. When you hover over this one, it says "Spoiler - Hidden text which users can opt to see". Its the 3rd button on the bottom row in the pic below. Of course, yours may be in a different position, but it should still be between the paper clip and the "</>" buttons. I've always called it a "callout" bubble.

Thank you for this!! ^

Ok, so someone tell me what is going on with my hens!! When I got the first coop finished and moved the first ones out I put a couple eggs in the nesting boxes to show them that's what they were for. After a couple days they started laying and used the box (notice I said box....because they would only use one) beautifully. About three weeks or so later I took the 3 silkies from my sister. I was worried about how this was going to affect the flow especially since I had to chase the news one out and put them on the roost the first couple of nights so they wouldn't lay in the boxes. It took them quite a few days before the resumed laying, but when they did they started using the box (the same ONE box). Then a couple weeks ago I would find a couple in the box and one here and one there. I figured it was because the ONE box was occupied and they are too stubborn to use another. In this last week I have had to play hide and seek to find the eggs and seldom do I have any in the box anymore. This afternoon when I opened the door I had three eggs sitting in the corner in front of my door. Nothing in the box. I cleaned out the boxes and put fresh bedding in them but that hasn't mattered. So why?? Why have they decided to hide them all around the coop??

I have read about some other people having this same problem. They figured out it was because they were using the same bedding/substrate in the nesting boxes and on the floor. So the hens decided to drop eggs all over. When they used a different bedding in the boxes then on the floor, the hens only used the nest boxes. Not sure if this would apply to your coop or setup. Just thought I'd share that with you incase it does.

One of my polish eggs appears to have an itty bitty piece of shell that looks like it chipped off. No bump or pump-knot though. Its very small, maybe 1/16" round. Its right between my day 14 and day 18 pencil lines. I sure hope it is a beginning. I'm having to leave the heat lamp on now to maintain temperature but it appears to be working well. DH got the light positioned just right for me. I guess I'm in for a sleepless night. Bator is in my spare bedroom though, so maybe I'll get to nap in there.

Yay!!! Sounds like a pip to me!! It's gonna be a long night for you! Try & get some sleep because they fun will really kick in tomorrow & possibly into tomorrow night, like it did for me! Congrats!! You have to give updates every time something happens!!

 

[Fowling around]

Hey SC whats that behind you

Just felt like you may have been short on those

where did that come from lol

 

[WalnutHill]

I did my eggtopsys today and they kind of looked like that but all were filled with an amber-colored, super-stickey substance. Do you know if that is normal or not?

The amber-colored, super-sticky substance is not normal.

I keep really good records of my eggs, from date of lay through storage and through incubation.

I've found that eggs over 10 days old, and especially those more than 14 days old, are generally some degree of sticky where fresh eggs from the same hens are not. It's not always a death sentence for the chicks/poults, but it doesn't help their chances. It does not seem to be moisture related as I've done controlled humidity storage, but it seems to be a change in the protein itself. I think that this change leads to the increase in early deaths and the overall low success rate of old eggs, though I have hatched a 21 day old egg successfully. That poult got a bath because it was stiffening up.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

One of my polish eggs appears to have an itty bitty piece of shell that looks like it chipped off. No bump or pump-knot though. Its very small, maybe 1/16" round. Its right between my day 14 and day 18 pencil lines. I sure hope it is a beginning.

I'm having to leave the heat lamp on now to maintain temperature but it appears to be working well. DH got the light positioned just right for me. I guess I'm in for a sleepless night. Bator is in my spare bedroom though, so maybe I'll get to nap in there.

Sounds like a pip to me.

Good evening everyone hope all is well. Gonna try and do some catching up unless the wonderful Amy can do cliff notes for me.
Update on my hatch. Turkeys are developing under the hen and should hatch on the 25th or there abouts. She has pushed two eggs out of the nest. I did not try to put them back under her, figure she knows best. She still has 8 cooking, and is still trying to add more eggs to her clutch and steal them from the chickens laying in the nest box beside her.
Ducks eggs are cooking will candle next week. Added a sponge to up my humidity some as I read duck eggs require more and that you can not run "dry". This sucks because it means I have to be more hands on than I wanted to be, but I want baby ducks so it will be done. Also have turkey eggs in with the ducks so time will tell on those.
Hope everyones hatch goes well, I will be building a cooler bator/hatcher this week or this weekend. I will try and remember to post pics.

I'm assuming by now you've caught up...lol

Amy, was there any liquid in the membrane, in these photos? I'd really like to see what a normal membrane looks like compared to those. I did my eggtopsys today and they kind of looked like that but all were filled with an amber-colored, super-stickey substance. Do you know if that is normal or not?
Lazy! I wanted to tell you that I fermented feed this weekend and my older chicks went crazy over it!! The newborns, not so much but they get scared over everything that's new! Thank you so much!! And thanks for the kind words. I asked my oldest son to sit with me and help with the eggtopsys. After the second one, I was okay with doing it. But I needed support to get through the first two. It was very interesting. Now I will take my findings and do some research to see if any of the deaths were incubation issues and apply it from there.
Thank you for this!! ^
I have read about some other people having this same problem. They figured out it was because they were using the same bedding/substrate in the nesting boxes and on the floor. So the hens decided to drop eggs all over. When they used a different bedding in the boxes then on the floor, the hens only used the nest boxes. Not sure if this would apply to your coop or setup. Just thought I'd share that with you incase it does.

Yay!!! Sounds like a pip to me!! It's gonna be a long night for you! Try & get some sleep because they fun will really kick in tomorrow & possibly into tomorrow night, like it did for me! Congrats!! You have to give updates every time something happens!!

No. The membranes were dry and leathery. The chicks themselves still had a degree of moistness when I "uncurled" them, but not overly so. No, they shouldn't have an amber colored stickiness.
Good for you on the eggtopsies. It can be hard especially in the beginning. Pat yourself on the back, but remember if it's too hard to do them, don't make yourself do it.
Yes, I use the same bedding in the boxes as the floors, that's a good place to start. Thanks for the thought. I wanted to use straw, but there was none to be found when I moved them out, maybe now I can find some, and try that.

I've found that eggs over 10 days old, and especially those more than 14 days old, are generally some degree of sticky where fresh eggs from the same hens are not.

That's interesting.