Staggered hatch: **UPDATE** All finished. Final results on page 5

[macdoogle]

Thanks Gypsy07 for all your great posts and incouragement on the LG. So far so good on temp and humidity. But what is the float test exactly? I get that you place the eggs in warm water, about 100 degrees and look for movement, but are the eggs floating if they are developing and alive or do they sink? What's the deal?

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Hey Macdoogle! I only really paid attention to other posts about float testing a couple of weeks ago and since then I've used it three times with very accurate results. There are probably better descriptions elsewhere on BYC of what the egg might do, but basically - sinking is bad, floating really high out of the water is bad, and just bobbing for a bit then floating low with no wriggling is bad. What you're looking for is for it to float low in the water with just a small bit of the fat end of the shell above the surface, then obvious movement in the egg that shows you the chick is still alive in there and is getting ready to pip. If you've had your eggs sitting upright in cartons, the egg should float straight up and down. If it's been lying on its side it will probably float at a slanty angle.

I think you can only try this from about day 20 onwards, as I think it only works once the chick is almost fully developed and struggling to get out of the shell.

First time I did it I couldn't decide if I could see movement or not. Every time I moved my feet on the floor the water in the pan rippled slightly and I thought that was the egg wriggling. D'oh! Two days ago when I did it with a 'live' egg it was bouncing and rocking all over the place! A few hours later it pipped and hatched normally, with no help from me.

 

[JustAChickenLittle&More]

Well in that case Gypsy....you'll probably get all nine, so you better make some room.

 

[pdsavage]

2 hatched so far first to pip was a black one first one to pip and zip was a lavender.
6 more go into lockdown today.

 

[DrRob]

I do not know if this will help some people, the lady I purchased my R-Com 20 from said that she never adjusts her humidity at all during what you call " Lockdown " and she was incubating pure chocolate orphington's and could not afford a bad hatch.
Her temperature is set at 36.7 (Degrees Centigrade) and her humidity is 45 percent. Being that not turning is advised she did say that there have been times when this has been forgotten and this pipping chick has been turned with the rest and everything has still worked out fine.

This may help someone, somewhere who also has the same incubator. Please accept my apologies if this should not have gone in this topic but I did think it was relevant to staggered hatches.

Regards
Dr Rob.

 

[pdsavage]

Quote:
Another black one hatched.

 

[goatsoap]

Ok, then, we will just put it down to beginner's luck. Did not know about Polish being any different. They are just the only eggs I have ever tried to incubate. So far they have all hatched out alive. Have lost a couple of chicks due to stupidity. They were able to get out of the brooder (a huge dog kennel with cardboard on the sides), and my cats thought Christmas had come early.

I really hope I can find people looking for WC blue and splash Polish this spring. I got 5 hens and a rooster last summer, figuring on hatching out a few eggs. Up to about 40 now.

But they are just so cute - how do you stop incubating? LOL

 

[critterranch]

the polish are cute! gald to here everyones hatches are doing good.

i stuffed my LG with 40 call duck eggs on thursday. thinking about starting some craziness again. was thinking about doing a staggered again. i was thinking about candling on day 14 and pulling all the infertile ones. and putting in some new ones for a staggered hatch. so they woul be 2 weeks apart. i do have a nother incubator now i have 2 LG still airs. i think i could get up to 50-60 call duck eggs in there. mine are pet quailty so they usually hatch pretty good.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
I saw another post here on BYC where someone who had done a few successful staggered hatches recommended keeping humidity at 50% throughout.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Another black one hatched.

So... how many did you end up with then????