Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[lynnc1120]

Groan 26 weeks and STILL no eggs! From any of them! I can't stand it!!!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Groan 26 weeks and STILL no eggs! From any of them! I can't stand it!!!

Hang in there! The shorter daylight hours will cause some delay.

What kind of birds do you have?

 

[ronott1]

Was this the thread with the ovation question?

Sometimes I spend a lot of time helping someone and do not get an ovation. I posted one today that took 20 minutes to post with added research. I may not get an ovation for it, but hopefully it will be found for many years by people researching incubation and temperature.

This was the post:

I had a Black Copper Marans cockerel, you guys may remember...he was crowing at 8 weeks. Like you said, not very good at it, but still crowing!

I will make a thread in the meat birds section soon, about my cockerels and when we should process them.

I have the Hydrofarm Digital Thermostat for Heat Mats. It's made for heat mats because it has a plug that you plug the heat mat into to keep the temp of it stable, but it still works like a regular thermometer when there's no heat mat plugged in. It has over 500 reviews and is at 4.5 stars. Will this work fine for telling the temp?
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPRTC-Digital-Thermostat-Heat/dp/B000NZZG3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413521838&sr=8-1&keywords=hydrofarm+digital+thermostat

I spent time looking at the specs for this thermometer and did not find a sensitivity value. My guess is that it is not sensitive enough for incubation.

Here is the tldr on thermomters and why an incubating one is different.

2 expensive things need to be on an incubation thermometer. One is the sensivity and one is how often it checks to tell you. You need a thermometer that will tell you 99.5 then when it goes up .1 degrees. Even when calibrated most thermometers are not sensitive enough to tell these changes.

On top of that it does not think it needs to tell you as soon as it notices a change it might only post a difference at a full degree or worse a full c degree.

In fact most thermometers are +/- 3 degrees so might only change every 3 degrees. For almost all things 3 degrees are close enough. But not incubating.

The parts to do those things are pricy and a cheap thermometer won't have then very sensitive.

But your eggs id guess the issue is temperature fluctuation. My little serema just.had a 1 out of 10 hatch she is just too small to hold.stable.temps the weather swings were too much for her.

This is one of the best, most concise explanation of thermometers I have seen yet! I have gotten some gripes when I posted that it made little sense to spend a lot of money on hatching eggs and not spend money on a real incubation thermometer like the Brinsea Spot check.

@BCollie

Redding is very similar to a desert with huge fluctuations of temperatures from day to night. Even in Woodland we were going from a low of 60 to a high of 105 this fall. Styrofoam incubators cannot adjust quickly enough under those conditions.

Give all of this information on thermometers, we can actually come up with conclusions based on the hatching history at your place.

1. The less than 21 day hatches in the summer says the average temperature of the incubator was a bit high--likely 100.5 ish.
2. The longer than 21 days for the last hatch says that the average temperature was too low, 98 to 99ish. The too low temperature is why the chicks were sticky and got stuck. It also makes them sluggish and not to healthy at hatch.

Incubator location is very important. The place it is kept needs to be

1. away from windows
2. Temps in the room need to stay in the 60 to 80 temperature range and the temps should not vary more than 10 degrees during the day
3. No heater or air condition drafts should touch the incubator
4. It should be a quiet place, for example not on the kitchen table on a dresser
5. There should be an air exchange in the room to make sure there is not dead or stale air.

Ways to help:

Add some clean rocks to the incubator if it is not filled to capacity with eggs
Use a space heater in a small room that has a thermostat to keep the temperature stable

I have my incubators in a walk in closet. I have a little electric heater that has a thermostat. I open the door to the room and pull it shut and open several times once a day to allow for more air exchange.

I hope this helps with the next hatch!
edited to add: I did get an ovation for this post on the original thread!

 

[chickenlindz]

Was so upset cause earlier this year I lost one of my two white copper marans. Well yesterday morning when I went out in the an she was wondering the yard which means she didn't go to bed the night before. Last night same thing but I tried looking for her. This morning however she wasn't wandering so I assumed she was lost to the jowls of a predator.

But guess what hubby found after work today??

The ironic thing was I WAS looking in the general area for eggs the past couple weeks and never saw any so I stopped looking in that shed. Now something must have changed cause she must have a gazillion eggs she's covering (or trying to). I do have a young rooster so there is a chance some might be fertile. I have to move her to the coop cause my luck won't hold leaving her there for 3 weeks exposed. I think I'll move her tonight to a nestbox and candle the eggs to see if I have anything going. If so I'll let her sit and see what hsppens.

 

[ronott1]

Was so upset cause earlier this year I lost one of my two white copper marans. Well yesterday morning when I went out in the an she was wondering the yard which means she didn't go to bed the night before. Last night same thing but I tried looking for her. This morning however she wasn't wandering so I assumed she was lost to the jowls of a predator.

But guess what hubby found after work today??


The ironic thing was I WAS looking in the general area for eggs the past couple weeks and never saw any so I stopped looking in that shed. Now something must have changed cause she must have a gazillion eggs she's covering (or trying to). I do have a young rooster so there is a chance some might be fertile. I have to move her to the coop cause my luck won't hold leaving her there for 3 weeks exposed. I think I'll move her tonight to a nestbox and candle the eggs to see if I have anything going. If so I'll let her sit and see what hsppens.

How long has she been setting on the eggs? It is has been a week she may be ok to move. If not, they will often break. IF you have a pet kennel that you can move her into along with the eggs to protect her in the shed for several days it may work better.

If she accepts the kennel or pet carrier, then move it with them in it later.

 

[chickenlindz]

I think she's only been there for a couple of days. I do have a kennel I could move but I wouldn't be sad if she broke. I'm not sure my rooster is fertile yet and she's got do many eggs under her I'm not certain she's kept the same ones so in all likely hood they aren't developing even if fertile. I'll candle and if I see development I think I will try the kennel first. Tho there isn't much room where she has wedged herself.

 

[ronott1]

I think she's only been there for a couple of days. I do have a kennel I could move but I wouldn't be sad if she broke. I'm not sure my rooster is fertile yet and she's got do many eggs under her I'm not certain she's kept the same ones so in all likely hood they aren't developing even if fertile. I'll candle and if I see development I think I will try the kennel first. Tho there isn't much room where she has wedged herself.

That is a great plan!

 

[BullChick]

Dear Roger,
I just spoke to DH. It looks like I will be leaving Pennsylvania, and heading your way in about three weeks. Maybe two. If you think you can listen to me, I will let you free-range at every truck stop from here to the west. If you don't listen to me, Perdue is more than willing to fit you into their freezer. I checked!


Dear people that I have grown fond of,
When OK began this thread, I remember reading it, and laughing at him. My girl (she had five brothers) was 16 weeks-old, and I wasn't expecting any eggs for another month. I then went to the coop to tell her about this crazy man. And found her first egg. Guilt ridden, I read this thread for a long time before posting one day.
It is with a heavy heart that I have to say that it looks like I am leaving the chickens and turkeys behind (along with the cow I was planning on this summer, and mini goats soon to come). I really am glad that I had them. It has made me so much wiser about so many things. I really am sorry to go, but there are good things about this too. I am alone in a house that is not secure. I don't have any protection. My generator is just now fixed (today!) but I live where we can lose power for 2 weeks or so. Last winter I went without water, electric and heat for over a month. I don't drive, so I can't go anywhere. In the truck, I will have heat, water, electric, and socialization. Not civilization though.

For those of you that are new, I will share my favorite truck story from 2006-2008. I fell asleep in Colorado where the temps were below zero. I was wearing long johns and sweats. DH woke me calling out, "Bathroom stop!" I thought I had just fallen asleep, and the heat hadn't kicked in yet. I was still freezing!!! I pulled on my coat, boots, hat and gloves. I went to my door bleary eyed, and turned around to climb out of the truck. My feet nestled into powdery... SAND!!! We were in Arizona, and the temp was 117*. DH had the A/C cranked in the truck.

I ripped off my coat and hat, and got some mighty odd looks from all the other truckers. Apparently they never forgot to tell their sleeping wives that they were in another state before getting out of the truck.

 

[chickenlindz]

MC best of luck on this new adventure for you! Maybe chickens and such will be in your future! And while it's bye bye to chickens for now I sure hope it's not bye bye to this thread!!! Check in and keep us posted! Esp around funny truck incidences!!!!

 

[BullChick]

MC best of luck on this new adventure for you! Maybe chickens and such will be in your future! And while it's bye bye to chickens for now I sure hope it's not bye bye to this thread!!! Check in and keep us posted! Esp around funny truck incidences!!!!

Like when I get my DH a standing ovation in a restaurant?

Maybe when he (DH is 21 yrs older, but looks more like 30 or 40 yrs older) tries to kiss me in a truck stop, and I say, "Daddy! You shouldn't kiss me like that!" in a loud voice?

I will pop in to share, I promise!
There is an idea floating around that I can stay at the house for two months during the summer (when I can keep them outside without relying too much on heat lamps) to raise CRX.