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

[scflock]

I thought I might find that annoying, but it's very beautiful in it's own way. Impressive the way these folks know the breed and poultry in general. It was also very entertaining to read.

The first time I got picked apart it was a little off putting, but I asked for honest opinions and got them. There are some serious breeders on that thread, and reading it I have found out just how difficult it is to get good BCM, and how the breed is constantly getting diluted by people just breeding for the dark brown eggs. It's tough for me, because even though I will never be showing, I would like the personal satisfaction of knowing I have good birds. I swear I think BCM are the most heavily culled breed. Those guys even know which chicks to cull. I think it is a large step to go from backyard enthusiast to full blown breeder

 

[cppeace]

Yeah the only two breeds I'm considering really and primarily just one, is Light Brahmas and maybe Silkies. I sincerely doubt Silkies at this point. My family raised several breeds when I was younger and the light Brahmas were always my favorite. I would like to breed those as close to SOP as possible Just like I want to have much prettier Swedish ducks than I currently have

 

[RubyNala97]

You are showing way too much blue girlfriend!!   lol

(I kinda agree with you here^) LOL

When I move my chicks to the brooder I dip the beak (when I remember) in the water. (I really don't think it's neccessary, but I do it anyway...lol) and let them go. Some of them don't show any interest for a while. Some do. Usually once they are fluffed and moving well they make their way to the starter crumbles and will peck and eventually make their way to the water too.

I keep my vents open for the whole incubation. When they start hatching they need those open to keep fresh air coming in the bator.  If you talk to those hands off people that like to scare the beejeezus out of new hatchers, they would say that opening the bator during hatch is death to the chicks. No. No no no no and again no!! If you have adequate humidity to begin with and you make sure you are timely and the bator recupes the humidity once you close it, it's improbable that it will effect anything. Even with a lower humidity, opening the  incubator holds a low risk. Membranes do NOT just up and shrinkwrap in 30 seconds.  If anything, opening the incubator during hatch is more likely to cause any exposed membranes to dry and become "sticky" causing them to glue the chicks in. There is a BIG difference between the membrane fully drying and shrinking around the chick than spots of the membrane drying causing them to stick to the chick. You said you did not open the bator at all and you had chicks not make it out. If you had opened the bator for 30 seconds all those hands off self righteous ones would immediately blame the opening of the bator for the reason why. What would be their excuse now that you did it the way they said? I believe that when someone doesn't know the explaination for a death and find out the hatcher opened the bator they automatically use that as an excuse and the fear is put into people. We don't always have the answer to why they die, but the need for an answer makes us place the blame on the wrong reason.  That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.  So, in answer to your question in my opinion, yes, the vents need to be open and no, if you are taking the right preautions opening the bator is not a bad thing either. I'm not saying everone should open as much as me (I really am bad...lol) but neither should they be scared to death to open  if they need to, or if they want to remove their chicks. 

I would love to see you try the low humidity method from day one, using the air cells for guidance, and moving the chicks to the brooder as you feel comfortable doing and seeing what the results are. Not to make light of the deaths of chicks, but you can't do much worse than what's happening now.  I would definitely use the spot check and do a salt check on the hygrometer.

This was great, Amy. Well said. It's so true. I still let my kids have that fear that I had in the beginning....So they don't open the incubator! Lol. But it's true. I feel so much better knowing I can, quickly open it, if need be, then thinking I will kill them all. I am currently trying dry incubation on my peafowl eggs! Someone on the peafowl thread made a comment saying, "talk to Amylynn, on the chicken hatching board, about humidity"! You really are the humidity queen!

 

[RubyNala97]

I've now read up on how to test the hygrometer, but mine is screwed into the top of the bator...and I have eggs in there on Day 1. The salt test takes, some say, 6 hours which would mean my bator would not be providing heat or forced air during that time. Is it worth it to perform the test now, or should I wait till the bator is empty? I am running a dry incubation and currently the humidity says 35%.

The test really does take at least 5 hours. I have the small Brinsea incubator and I bought this cheap hygrometer. I bought 2 actually. One was 6% off and the other was dead on. I would buy an extra one and do the test then put that one on the incubator as a calibrated one to see how yours is reading. You can get it on amazon, 2 day shipping does not cost a lot.
http://www.lakesideliquidation.com/exo-terra-hygrometer/?gclid=CL7U8rjDlMYCFdCRHwodrE4A0w

 

[scflock]

The test really does take at least 5 hours. I have the small Brinsea incubator and I bought this cheap hygrometer. I bought 2 actually. One was 6% off and the other was dead on. I would buy an extra one and do the test then put that one on the incubator as a calibrated one to see how yours is reading. You can get it on amazon, 2 day shipping does not cost a lot.
http://www.lakesideliquidation.com/exo-terra-hygrometer/?gclid=CL7U8rjDlMYCFdCRHwodrE4A0w

My two favorite things: Brinsea and Amazon Prime

 

[sideWing]

I've now read up on how to test the hygrometer, but mine is screwed into the top of the bator...and I have eggs in there on Day 1. The salt test takes, some say, 6 hours which would mean my bator would not be providing heat or forced air during that time. Is it worth it to perform the test now, or should I wait till the bator is empty? I am running a dry incubation and currently the humidity says 35%.

If you can't unscrew it I would not do the test in the incubator, but I might consider getting another one to put in there.

Here is a great article on how to check egg temps with a temp gun if you decide to go that route.
http://www.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_...ow_Tos/03HowTo3MeasureEggShellTemperature.pdf

 

[NTBugtraq]

The test really does take at least 5 hours. I have the small Brinsea incubator and I bought this cheap hygrometer. I bought 2 actually. One was 6% off and the other was dead on. I would buy an extra one and do the test then put that one on the incubator as a calibrated one to see how yours is reading. You can get it on amazon, 2 day shipping does not cost a lot.
http://www.lakesideliquidation.com/exo-terra-hygrometer/?gclid=CL7U8rjDlMYCFdCRHwodrE4A0w

I just ordered 4 different thermo/hygro units, each costing less than $1.50, with the plan of finding one that is spot on...;-]

 

[sideWing]

I can't wait to see how it goes. I hope you have a much better hatch this time!

I haven't see it in years. I so need to get the dvd.



Ok, Our weather for the next 7 days...rain, with the exception of one day-tomorrow. That is not condusive to getting my coop finished!

Everyone should own an copy. Good luck with the rain. No garage to build in? Or is the coop going to be too big for that?

If you really want to breed BCM to SOP, then there is no better thread on BYC to get advice. You just can't have a thin skin. If you ask for honest opinions, you will get them. I have learned a ton on that thread. 95% of the pics posted on that thread are picked to pieces, and I have only seen one or two birds that were called "promising", but those guys really know what they are talking about

The first time I got picked apart it was a little off putting, but I asked for honest opinions and got them. There are some serious breeders on that thread, and reading it I have found out just how difficult it is to get good BCM, and how the breed is constantly getting diluted by people just breeding for the dark brown eggs. It's tough for me, because even though I will never be showing, I would like the personal satisfaction of knowing I have good birds. I swear I think BCM are the most heavily culled breed. Those guys even know which chicks to cull. I think it is a large step to go from backyard enthusiast to full blown breeder

I can see the reasoning behind working to the SOP. There are breeds that are unrecognizable now or extinct from years and years of crossbreeding.

 

[sideWing]

The first time I got picked apart it was a little off putting, but I asked for honest opinions and got them. There are some serious breeders on that thread, and reading it I have found out just how difficult it is to get good BCM, and how the breed is constantly getting diluted by people just breeding for the dark brown eggs. It's tough for me, because even though I will never be showing, I would like the personal satisfaction of knowing I have good birds. I swear I think BCM are the most heavily culled breed. Those guys even know which chicks to cull. I think it is a large step to go from backyard enthusiast to full blown breeder

Is this the thread to post Marans in for feedback?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/383387/marans-thread-breed-discussion-pictures-are-welcome

 

[scflock]

Everyone should own an copy. Good luck with the rain. No garage to build in? Or is the coop going to be too big for that?



I can see the reasoning behind working to the SOP. There are breeds that are unrecognizable now or extinct from years and years of crossbreeding.

It's so hard to find quality BCM around here. I drove 2 hours to buy mine straight run after seeing the pictures of the eggs, and the eggs at the breeder's were gorgeous. At the time, that's all I knew about BCM, that they laid the chocolate eggs. As soon as my chicks started showing color, I couldn't wait to post pics and get opinions. That was a rude awakening

One of them had yellow feet, and one of the first responses was "If they were mine, I would eat them and start over"