Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Cynthia12]

Yeah, I'm puzzled too. And why the local eggs I incubate together --like mixed in with them -- do fine and then the SFHs die. I'm stumped.
I know I can get chicks from GFF, but anyone ever tried Jordan? They have a photo of a gray hen I love.
I'm totally bummed.

So sorry, I have this happen with Silkie/showgirl eggs..do well until lock down, but I found that it was because I was trying with the same breeder..same area shipped to me.

I had 9 Swedish Flower go into lock down, and all 9 hatched. 12 Faverolle bantams in the same bator, only 6 hatched..not too bad for shipped small eggs. I have the temp up around the 99 to 100, the humidity I don't even worry too much about during incubation, but keep it around mid to high 30's most of the time. During lock down, I only go up to 60 to 64, usually try to stay at 62. I hope this next batch does as well. I got my eggs from Charm1704. They are very fertile..(evidently) All that she sent this time were viable but one. Same as last batch, had some quitters, happens. Try getting her eggs..very fertile. I have found that certain places I've gotten eggs from, just won't work. So, I know not to buy eggs from that area again..P.O. handling just isn't making it from there to here. Make sense? They really do get handled differently on different routes. And, some, will x-ray the boxes, no matter what is printed on the box. We just never know. Have to watch and see who's eggs do well from where. Like, I know, that eggs just don't do well from New York and up in that area..but I have great hatches from Georgia and Florida. I live in Utah. Even from the west side out here..I know which part of CA..is a no no..and Texas. Ha, can't tell I hatch eggs can ya? I'm actually getting ready to sell my bators. Have been doing this long enough, close to three years. I have a few hatches to finish up, then, just broody girls for me. I know I will miss it. :/

 

[Bulldogma]

Yeah, I'm puzzled too. And why the local eggs I incubate together --like mixed in with them -- do fine and then the SFHs die. I'm stumped.
I know I can get chicks from GFF, but anyone ever tried Jordan? They have a photo of a gray hen I love.
I'm totally bummed.

So sorry for your losses! That is very disheartening!

 

[SunnySkies]

So sorry, I have this happen with Silkie/showgirl eggs..do well until lock down, but I found that it was because I was trying with the same breeder..same area shipped to me. 

I had 9 Swedish Flower go into lock down, and all 9 hatched.  12 Faverolle bantams in the same bator, only 6 hatched..not too bad for shipped small eggs.  I have the temp up around the 99 to 100, the humidity I don't even worry too much about during incubation, but keep it around mid to high 30's most of the time.   During lock down, I only go up to 60 to 64, usually try to stay at 62.  I hope this next batch does as well.  I got my eggs from Charm1704.  They are very fertile..(evidently)    All that she sent this time were viable but one.  Same as last batch, had some quitters, happens.  Try getting her eggs..very fertile. I have found that certain places I've gotten eggs from, just won't work.  So, I know not to buy eggs from that area again..P.O. handling just isn't making it from there to here.  Make sense?  They really do get handled differently on different routes.  And, some, will x-ray the boxes, no matter what is printed on the box.   We just never know.  Have to watch and see who's eggs do well from where.  Like, I know, that eggs just don't do well from New York and up in that area..but I have great hatches from Georgia and Florida.  I live in Utah.   Even from the west side out here..I know which part of CA..is a no no..and Texas.  Ha, can't tell I hatch eggs can ya?   I'm actually getting ready to sell my bators.  Have been doing this long enough, close to three years.  I have a few hatches to finish up, then, just broody girls for me.  I know I will miss it.  :/  

This batch was from KYTinpusher. Very fertile, looked great, then died at lockdown. I don't know why. Very weird.

I had the bator at 60% RH for lockdown, 30-35% for days 1-18, and 100 degrees. It is super stable in its location, like never varies other than to 99. And the local eggs always do well.

I'm rather disheartened. I'm tired of spending $20-40 on eggs and getting nothing for it. At this point, I could have bought 6-8 chicks from GFFand called it a day, lol.

I'm starting to feel very lucky I got the three I did hatch! What fun birds they are. One lets my 5 year old son cuddle it, one is more skittish, and all three are fabulous foragers.

 

[KYTinpusher]

This batch was from KYTinpusher. Very fertile, looked great, then died at lockdown. I don't know why. Very weird.

I had the bator at 60% RH for lockdown, 30-35% for days 1-18, and 100 degrees. It is super stable in its location, like never varies other than to 99. And the local eggs always do well.

I'm rather disheartened. I'm tired of spending $20-40 on eggs and getting nothing for it. At this point, I could have bought 6-8 chicks from GFFand called it a day, lol.

I'm starting to feel very lucky I got the three I did hatch! What fun birds they are. One lets my 5 year old son cuddle it, one is more skittish, and all three are fabulous foragers.

I am so sorry your eggs did not hatch! I am wondering if perhaps the eggs were x-rayed and that weakened them so that they did not have the strength to hatch. I know you said you want to order chicks now. I wish I were closer to you, I would hatch some for you.

But if you would like to try an experiment, I can ship you some new eggs at no cost. My SFH are not laying at the moment, but when they start up again (I think (hope) it will be soon) I am willing to send some more. I would like to try wrapping them in mylar gift wrap like a present. I think there is enough metal in the mylar that it would protect the eggs from the x-ray. My other thought was putting them in metal cookie tins. Maybe I would try both just to see if it helps. Let me know if you would like to try this.

 

[SunnySkies]

Funny that you say that, as I was sitting here contemplating the photos I took at eggtopsy. I kind of want to try again. I know i can hatch local eggs, as i have a dozen chicks of various ages running around I hatched in the same incubator alongside SFH eggs.. The shpping seems to be the problem for me. Maybe they were zapped by X-ray, as I was slightly surprised by the number of clears too, knowing your fertility is excellent.

I wonder what the PO would say about the metal, lol.

Gorgeous chicks who never even pipped. Entire yolk sac was present. I feel terrible for them.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I don't think it would be the x-raying. Most P.O's do x-ray packages, so why would only yours be affected? I don't have any ideas, but it just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[KYTinpusher]

Funny that you say that, as I was sitting here contemplating the photos I took at eggtopsy. I kind of want to try again. I know i can hatch local eggs, as i have a dozen chicks of various ages running around I hatched in the same incubator alongside SFH eggs.. The shpping seems to be the problem for me. Maybe they were zapped by X-ray, as I was slightly surprised by the number of clears too, knowing your fertility is excellent.

I wonder what the PO would say about the metal, lol.

Gorgeous chicks who never even pipped. Entire yolk sac was present. I feel terrible for them.

It's getting close enough to Thanksgiving and Christmas that metal cookie tins are going to be sent all over the country soon, not to mention gifts wrapped in mylar gift wrap. I would bet they won't blink an eye about it. I think even if it does set off the metal detector somewhere, they probably would just have a bomb-sniffing dog check it out and then send it on it's way. I think worst case scenario is they put it aside to open it and inspect it and it gets delayed. I would include a note inside to use caution that it is hatching eggs. I have wondered, too, if sealing them inside a metal can would help protect them from rapid pressure changes when they go in a plane that can mess up the air cells.

 

[KYTinpusher]

I don't think it would be the x-raying. Most P.O's do x-ray packages, so why would only yours be affected? I don't have any ideas, but it just doesn't make sense to me.

It may not be x-ray is responsible, but it is possible that some sorting centers have newer technology and equipment than others that could affect the eggs more. I have had really good hatches on shipped SFH eggs, but that was last year. Many people seem to have trouble lately. That is one of the reasons I want to try shipping with some kind of metal shield around the eggs - just to see. Now if I can just get my SFH girls to cooperate!

 

[SunnySkies]

I dunno why I can't seems I get shipped eggs to hatch. Local eggs are fine.

I am PRAYING I have at least 1 of each gender, even though the three I have are at least half sibs and could be 100% sibs. The only variation is the shipping. I even let some sit and some went right to the turner of another batch, and none of those made it either, even though I got some local eggs at the same time, and they were nice babies.

I live very near DC, and they are security-mad around here. Radiation during the early stages of gestation is a known risk for miscarriage and birth defects; I'm very careful at work, especially after I had a baby with a birth defect that could have been caused by radiation exposure. But it doesn't explain why it's just me, because packages are radiographed all the time.

Could these be super sensitive to humidity? That is the other thing I am wondering about. Maybe they would do better if I tried 50-55% instead of 60-62%.

 

[Cynthia12]

This batch was from KYTinpusher. Very fertile, looked great, then died at lockdown. I don't know why. Very weird.
I had the bator at 60% RH for lockdown, 30-35% for days 1-18, and 100 degrees. It is super stable in its location, like never varies other than to 99. And the local eggs always do well.
I'm rather disheartened. I'm tired of spending $20-40 on eggs and getting nothing for it. At this point, I could have bought 6-8 chicks from GFFand called it a day, lol.
I'm starting to feel very lucky I got the three I did hatch! What fun birds they are. One lets my 5 year old son cuddle it, one is more skittish, and all three are fabulous foragers.

I have been thinking about you all day. I wish we lived closer, I would soo share some baby chicks with you..I feel bad that this happened. Been there done that..nothing after going into lock down with lively babies. We just can't know for sure, when just a hatch ago, we had a 50% or higher hatch rate with other eggs.