The 5th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[mlm Mike]

My Seramas are rocking!!!

It's day 17 for me, should I put them in the hatcher now instead of tomorrow morning? Last time I incubated, none of the LF eggs started rocking until after lockdown, and none of the LF eggs in the bator now are rocking, only the Seramas. This is my first time hatching them, so I could really use some advice!!

I would stop turning them if you haven't. I've never hatched Seramas, hopefully someone that has will tell us when they go into lockdown. If you hear chirping, I'd put them in the hatcher though.

 

[Junibutt]

Is lockdown at the beginning of day 18 or end of day 18?

 

[misbhaven]

Saturday it was 80 today we are fighting frozen chicken a rabbit waters and it spit snow yesterday.

..someone please send the memo to mother nature that it is supposed to be spring..the goos news is I have an excuse to incubate more eggs I won some in the contest last Fri..white faced black spansh and Brahmas from Sally Sunshine

..Thank you again Sally..

 

[mlm Mike]

Is lockdown at the beginning of day 18 or end of day 18?

Incubators that stop turning automatically, stop at the end of day 18, beginning of day 19. People tend to do it anytime day 18 when it is convenient, which works well.

 

[BridgetBarger]

Quote:
I was wondering the same thing. Thanks for the answer.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Pulled 2 quitters tonight...the polish/silkie cross egg I "fixed" with liquid skin (it was fractured upon arrival at home) and one of my own EE/BR cross eggs. The polish/silkie was moving at Saturday's candle, so it died either yesterday or today. The other egg was wiggling as well on Saturday.

Just to be clear, I did not candle all the eggs tonight...the reason I candled both of those eggs is because they felt a lot cooler than the others when I did my final egg turn for the night. So I just learned something new...if the egg feels significantly cooler than the rest of the eggs, check it. It's probably a quitter, which both of these definitely were (did eggtopsy, yolk had already disintegrated in both eggs), which also proves my theory that the eggs that are still kicking generate heat...the older the fetus, the more heat they generate...which is why the temp of the bator seems to go up close to lockdown. That's my theory, and I'm stickin' to it!

I will candle all the eggs Wednesday right before I lock down the bator. But as for now, my count is 55 eggs still wigglin'.

you may have missed my post, you are correct as dead and clears will be at least 5 degree cooler

see link to discussion on the diary thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ll-detatched-shipped-eggs/23730#post_12798100


The measured temperatures were used to identify the upside-down and empty eggs by calculating the average temperature of all of the eggs and classifying those eggs having temperatures at least 5 degrees less than the average temperature as empty or upside-down REFER TO TABLE ONE... http://www.google.com/patents/WO2000067566A1?cl=en

 

[Happy Chooks]

Is lockdown at the beginning of day 18 or end of day 18?

If you set at noon, then lockdown is noon. But it's really not a big deal to do it a bit earlier or a bit later. I've locked mine down late MANY times and still have had great hatches. (by late, I mean no more than a day) Ron had one hatch without locking down the eggs.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Vote for the winner of the Brooder Contest!

It's very close!

Go here to place your 3 votes for the top brooder!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...e-brooder-contest-2014-easter-hatchalong/0_50​

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:

REMINDER, you can open your incubator to sneak a candle, after lockdown IF NECESSARY, I do it HOWEVER, WIPE the inside of the bator to give immediate humidity boost, or mist the side of the bator, DO NOT GET EGGS WET! I am not talking 10x's day!

I always check for draw down from day 18 onward and until I see internal pips, its a good judge to know that when you see internal pips and or drawdown you could have chicks the following day or so!

A REMINDER TO EVERYONE to sit tight this is gonna be stressful for first time hatchers, they panic.

READ the TIMELINE of a silky hatching in the Hatching 101 article and read the assist article timeline of a hatching. READ READ READ what they are doing in there, and how picking at those external pips can be more harm than good, read that in MOST CASES if a chick has an external pip it will hatch on its own. But understand the process is key to realizing when something IS in fact wrong!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I can mess around in my Brinsea without issue, as it rebounds quickly. I can grab chicks, or do anything without worry. My hovabator is a bit more tricky, so I don't grab chicks unless humidity is too high.

It helps to know how your incubator reacts to opening, and to know when to do it and not risk the chicks. I will not open either of my incubators when a chick is zipping.

First time hatchers generally want to help before it is needed and you can do more damage by helping chicks that are not ready to hatch. So I advise new hatchers to sit on their hands.