Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[wildhorseannie]

Maybe some of you who have had success hatching shipped eggs could share your methods.
I have asked several folks what they do, besides let the eggs rest after shipping. I was surprised to learn that incubating without turning the eggs for the first 7-10 days improved the hatch rate.
Any other 'secrets'?

Thanks all!

 

[ki4got]

Maybe some of you who have had success hatching shipped eggs could share your methods.
I have asked several folks what they do, besides let the eggs rest after shipping. I was surprised to learn that incubating without turning the eggs for the first 7-10 days improved the hatch rate.
Any other 'secrets'?

Thanks all!

I dry incubate, 20% or less humidity usually, don't turn for the first 3-5 days, after that turning is important for proper blood vessel development IMO. and I hatch at 55-65% in egg crates so the newly hatched don't scramble their hatchmates.

 

[TxFlowers]

I dry incubate, 20% or less humidity usually, don't turn for the first 3-5 days, after that turning is important for proper blood vessel development IMO. and I hatch at 55-65% in egg crates so the newly hatched don't scramble their hatchmates.

I got into hatching shipped eggs nearly a yr ago. I started off doing it just like the incubator instructions said and that was to have the humidity about 45 to 55 % all along. when the eggs were about one wk from hatching, I was comparing the air cell size to those pictured in that hatching 101 thread on here and realized that my air cells were still nearly as small as what is normal for eggs only a week in incubation. My eggs hadn't lost enough moisture. I had to take out all water and turn up the heat slightly to get those air cells to the right size before hatching.
Like ki4got, I am now a dry hatcher. Dry hatching has been especially important in hatching darker shelled eggs like the welsummer eggs. Those eggs don't lose moisture easily and without dry hatching, I do not get many of those to hatch. I think weighing the eggs at beginning is very helpful. Lighter colored shells and shells that are porous will lose moisture more readily, maybe too fast if your dry incubating humidity is consistently really low. I am dry incubating right now and it's staying about 20 to 25% but in summer when outdoor humidity was very low, I had it go down to like 15 and SFH eggs, I found, are some of those that lose weight more easily. In my case, humidity that low was causing them to lose weigh too fast and I did have to add small amts of water at times with those to bring humidity up a bit. This is when the scale was so helpful to monitor everything
As for what is helpful for shipped eggs specifically, I do let them rest 12 to 24hrs with lg end up before putting in incubator. Eggs that look the worst get the most rest time. With shipped eggs I don't incubate on their side. I put them in an auto turner but wait two or three days before I let them begin to turn.
I read about hatching in cartons and it sounded like a great idea but I had one very valuable chick try to pip small end, where the egg was up against the carton. That chick was trapped and by the time I realized what happened, the chick had died so I don't do cartons anymore. I do get crazy when hatching chicks are banging around the unhatched eggs even though others say it's just fine. In a nest, eggs wouldn't be rolling all over, hitting each other. I will make little "corrals" with paper and put a few eggs in each and that helps limit the area that they will roll around in.
I know we are not suppose to open the incubators in "lockdown" but I had instances were eggs were being too harshly knocked around or had newly hatched chicks get stuck upside down and other chicks would start pecking at it's delicate abdomen. I couldn't wait to see if the new chick got eviscerated! I had to get chicks out. I got one of those hand held clothes steamers from walmart and when I want to remove chicks while others are still hatching, I open, grab chicks quick and give a puff of steam into the incubator before I close. That steam is pretty hot so I take care not to shoot it directly at the chicks or eggs and not release it really close but it has allowed me to open the incubator for removing chicks while others are still hatching.

 

[SunnySkies]

I just wonder if perhaps SFH are a little more delicate and react more to the rigors of shipping. I have tried every which way, involved other people in my shipping experiments, etc, and the results with SFH were dismal. Yet other breeds have done OK and hatched alongside the SFH that did not. Totally weird. Very expensive gamble. So frustrating to open dozens of eggs and find chicks that were almost developed dead.

 

[TxFlowers]

I just wonder if perhaps SFH are a little more delicate and react more to the rigors of shipping. I have tried every which way, involved other people in my shipping experiments, etc, and the results with SFH were dismal. Yet other breeds have done OK and hatched alongside the SFH that did not. Totally weird. Very expensive gamble. So frustrating to open dozens of eggs and find chicks that were almost developed dead.

I recently talked to a lady that has Basques and she told me that when she ships those, people get much better hatch rates with those than with other breeds she ships. No known reason why but the proof is in the high hatch rate for those eggs. So, there may be something to some breeds, or at least that breed, having eggs that better tolerate shipping. If some handle it better, seems reasonable that some don't handle it as well. I got some Basque eggs myself and my result with those shipped eggs was very good. Not all hatched but 75% did.

 

[SunnySkies]

I recently talked to a lady that has Basques and she told me that when she ships those, people get much better hatch rates with those than with other breeds she ships. No known reason why but the proof is in the high hatch rate for those eggs. So, there may be something to some breeds, or at least that breed, having eggs that better tolerate shipping. If some handle it better, seems reasonable that some don't handle it as well. I got some Basque eggs myself and my result with those shipped eggs was very good. Not all hatched but 75% did.

Exactly.

 

[TxFlowers]

I have also had excellent results with shipped Australorp eggs. My first shipped eggs were 16 australorps and all but one of those hatched! In other batches of Australorps, I have gotten like 75% to hatch in two other shipments. I have had luck like that with only the basque ( one shipment ) and the Australorps.

It was funny, after that FIRST hatching of shipped eggs where nearly all hatched, I thought hatching shipped eggs wouldn't be that difficult! What was the big deal?? Well, my next batch hatched one out of 24. These were Buckeyes. I learned my lesson right then!

 

[SunnySkies]

LOL, I had the same experience! First lot, which included Silkies and SFH plus a ton of Australorpe mixes, all hatched! And then I branched out, ordered a lt of eggs, and crashed and burned. The Aussies always hatch, even if ignored.

 

[Kyzmette]

Do you guys ever have large portions of your incubated eggs die off at the same time? I candled 18 eggs at the 7 day mark and had 17 strong embryos. When I candled at the 14 day mark, 6 of the eggs looked like they'd all quit right around the same point, with the same amount of growth.

 

[HaplessRunner]

I recently talked to a lady that has Basques and she told me that when she ships those, people get much better hatch rates with those than with other breeds she ships. No known reason why but the proof is in the high hatch rate for those eggs. So, there may be something to some breeds, or at least that breed, having eggs that better tolerate shipping. If some handle it better, seems reasonable that some don't handle it as well. I got some Basque eggs myself and my result with those shipped eggs was very good. Not all hatched but 75% did.

I recently talked to a lady that has Basques and she told me that when she ships those, people get much better hatch rates with those than with other breeds she ships. No known reason why but the proof is in the high hatch rate for those eggs. So, there may be something to some breeds, or at least that breed, having eggs that better tolerate shipping. If some handle it better, seems reasonable that some don't handle it as well. I got some Basque eggs myself and my result with those shipped eggs was very good. Not all hatched but 75% did.

After many miserable hatch rates with some expensive eggs, I was looking for any solution. I discussed hatching techniques with Ki4got and others. So I, too, have adopted the dry hatch method which has greatly improved my results.

As TxFlowers noted, I also have euskal oiloas (basques). The hatch rate on those were great for shipped eggs. I had 5/9 hatch in the same batch that I had 3/16 SFH hatch and 1/8 blue wheaten ameraucana hatch. Same time of set, same conditions, just better results for the EOs.