- Mar 1, 2013
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Would that make her a Bumble BEE..... sorry I couldnt help it....![]()
Deb, ur funny! LOL
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Would that make her a Bumble BEE..... sorry I couldnt help it....![]()
Bee, I think your humidity might be too high. The air cell needs to get bigger because when it comes time for the chicks to pip, they break into the air cell first and breathe the air in there while they rest. Then they pip the shell which is a lot more work and they rest longer. If the air cell is too small, when they pip into it they're going to get a flood of liquid from below the air cell and they will drown. Ask me how I know.That gives me hope that even when things go wrong the chicks can still progress, even in conventional incubators. I would like to do this same experiment again to see if I can get a better hatch rate.
I'm not keeping track of humidity and the air cells look great compared to many I've seen...perfectly round and centered on the tip of the eggs and very well defined on two of the eggs in development but for some reason one cannot be visualized. That egg is very dark and I'm not sure what is going on in it but it could be that egg is rotten instead of full of chick....I can't smell anything, so I'm leaving it in place.
This is the way I keep track of humidity....I lift up the nest material, feel the soil...if it doesn't feel like the ground outside to me, I'll take a cup of water and add it to the soil. That's it.For the last three days, I'll add even more water to the soil. I guess that's how you folks do in incubators that use a sponge..just add more water?![]()
Bee, RE: Humidity, I'd just watch air cells. If there's too much moisture in the nest, not much can be done about it at lock down. But, if the aircells are not growing well, you could stop adding moisture at this time. I wish you the best of luck, and hope this thread can move on in a positive direction, Your sister in Christ.
Don't go away.....come back to play when you can!I too would love to have enough property for all the different species birds you mention. I love birds. We only have 5 acres and neighbors so have to curb my desires. I do try so hard to find good homes for my chicks too. I discourage some from getting them. What I do to "discourage" is to find flaws in how they intend to keep them in which case they will get killed or die. I manage to word things where I can pull out of a sale by saying chicks are promised but I'll call them if buyer doesn't come through. I refuse to sell one chick by itself.....won't do it unless it's being put in with chicks it's own age. I'm pretty picky who I see to and stress again.....that's why I have too many peafowl now.
I'm so busy it's getting difficult to even scan all the postings coming in on this thread so I'm going to drop off it tomorrow. Have so enjoyed chatting with everyone and have learned some good things. Thank You!!!! Regarding the experiment. I hope it's profected to becoming an accepted new way of incubating eggs. Waaaaaaaaaa, I'm going to miss you all!!!
Hey Bee....have you set up your brooder heater yet....or are you going to use the same heating pad that is now incubating?
Thank you! That is so good of you to say... I was thinking the same thing. It's more the eggs than the method because it's working.....saw THREE CHICKS MOVING IN THOSE REMAINING EGGS TONIGHT!!!!!If embryos died every time a mama bird got spooked off a nest or had to lure a predator away, there sure wouldn't be as many birds out there. Nature allows for some random cooling. It's the artificial temperature spikes that are killers.
Happy to hear you may try a 4th time. From the beginning I've thought yours was a viability problem and that your incubating technique is quite good. (FoxValleyFarm is proving that too.) My 3-button heating pad is old and does not hold a steady temp well. Have to make the trip over to Walmart to look for a new one, unless I get a broody first!
Bee, I think your humidity might be too high. The air cell needs to get bigger because when it comes time for the chicks to pip, they break into the air cell first and breathe the air in there while they rest. Then they pip the shell which is a lot more work and they rest longer. If the air cell is too small, when they pip into it they're going to get a flood of liquid from below the air cell and they will drown. Ask me how I know.
The earth underneath a broody, I think is going to be a bit dryer than what it is out in an open field. She will shed the rain that falls on her and her body heat will keep the earth a bit dryer than what surrounds her so moisture seeping in from the sides will add just a little bit of humidity.
Just trying to help, not offend in any way.
Bee, I just read a fantastic blow-by-blow about chick development and assisted hatches. It was incredible... of course didn't mark it so I could find it again, but it even went into detail about changing arterial blood gasses and the effect on the chick, and how that initiates the hatching process. also mentioned was how the air cell starts out centered like you describe, and then takes on the slanty position, which can be an indicator of how soon the egg will hatch. (kind of a parallel to when a woman's pregnant uterus "drops") Yeah, your air cells sound good.