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

[Sally Sunshine]

I WIGGLE TESTED MY FIRST EMU EGG TODAY...AND IT WIGGLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE'S A LIVE LITTLE EMU GROWING IN THE EGG AS I TYPE!!!

WOW AWESOMENESS!!!!! how is the weight loss going? CONGRATS!!!!

Speaking of ducklings, I just put 7duck eggs in my bator today.. They could be Pekin, a mallard looking duck, a crested, or a mix... I really don't know...

Daily Digest has been updated for today.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...nual-byc-easter-hatch-a-long/10#post_12930734

Have you subscribed to that thread yet?

YOU BETCHA ~

KFC? HA HA HA!!

So hubby and I got a flat tire today and pulled into TSC to swap it out. Alls good until hubby turns around and sees me coming out of TSC with 2 ducklings.I had to pee and the adorable things were right there on the way...I'm sorry I couldn't help it!

I did promise no more babies until easter...then back tracked and told him I had eggs coming Tuesday. lol Told him they'll be my warm-up hatch before my Easter Hatch-A-Long.

AWEEEEEEEE

ok yall, so i got my incubator going and i been trying to regulate.. so far im at temp 102 ..humidity 54%.. how do i get the temp down without losing the humidity ? what levels do you all use for temp and humidity .. o and im using a 25 watt bulb.. we poked holes in the styrofoam to help lower the temp ( it was 106) .. btw a friend of ours has gathered me 7 eggs from his chickens..theres some mottled and blue cochin eggs(4) and 1 pheonix, and 2 more im not sure what he got ( i know hes got some game bantams of sorts and polish - prob some of that) .. so i am excited.. my 13 yr old son is especially excited about the pheonix egg he hopes it hatches and he hopes its a roo..lol.. he has claimed it already. so i gotta fix my incubator.. lol.. help please!!

Was gonna ask if you put a fan in it but see you answered later so I will keep quoting lol

Quote: A few of my same questions

Quote: I will post on the thread in a bit from the hatching 101 on humidity, ITS NEVER A SET NUMBER its only used as a tool, some areas of the country at certain times of the year and some even all year round can and should incubate dry, that DOES NOT IMPLY HATCH DRY though.... I will PASTE from the article for you

Quote: nope not at all

Quote: Humidity can vary but that is because it is moderated to make sure the air cells develop corectly by days 7, 14 and 18 going into lockdown. I use a diagram and then candle to be sure air cell is getting large enough. I just hatched running at 16% humdity and still thought the eggs did not have air cells large enough. THe right size air cell is the key to survival at hatch.

As there is no fan then 102 at the top of the egg is correct-- just right.

Fan is not a requirement, just move eggs around to different locations for best results.

I hand turn so put fish tank thermometers on paper cups cut to half the height of the eggs and with a fan , shoot for 100 or slightly higher.

If you are using a turner, the temp can be taken at the height of the turner. Again 100 degrees.

Hens are 102 degrees and settle their bare chest on the eggs. In a nest, the eggs are insulated and her heat keeps all the eggs fairly warm, of course she turns them a lot herself and the temps are 102 on top of the eggs. Not above the eggs but right at the top of the eggs.

I measure in several places as temps vary in different locations in my LG. I like to use 3 thermomters, and move the eggs around.

SOME GREAT ADVISE from Arielle as usual!

Quote:

yup will post then thanks DM!

When are we supposed to set for this hatch? I don't guess it really matters, I will have batches running constantly for the next two years (if I continue like I'm going!)

Yesterday, I loaded the biggest hatch to date in my bator, 71 eggs! I actually filled (nearly) both egg trays on one of the shelves. I have been using just the front egg tray on each shelf to keep up with what week they are on by sight. A local BYCer came over to bring me a couple of Greenfire Marans roosters and brought 3 1/2 dozen fertile eggs from her flock. They are mixed, but look very nice. I had set the other tray of eggs yesterday morning before she arrived and it contains my first sizable number of Silver Campine eggs - the hatch before it has my very first, two SC eggs and it is due the 14th - so I am really looking forward to that hatch.

Do any of you incubate your eggs upright, then lay them on their sides for hatch? I could fit more into my hatcher if I did, but I'm afraid they will not get into the proper position to pip and zip. My bator runs a little high and my eggs usually start to internally pip on day 19 and most of my hatches are done on day 21. I am tempted to try, but not with this batch, those SC eggs are too important to me.

On another note, yesterday was such a beautiful day!

DH and I transplanted a Redbud tree from between the house and AC unit, to the front yard. It has been growing well there behind the AC, the trunk is about an inch and a half thick and it is over 14 feet tall. It is mainly one central leader, but forks at about the 5 foot mark and both those branches are almost the same. I may prune one of them off later, after it is well established in it's new location. As you can imagine, we were pretty rough on the roots but did our best. I hope it makes it.

We also did some major pruning on my Weeping Willow which had already started to leaf out! Today, I hope to get a couple of the flower beds cleaned out and turned and ready to plant. I love spring! It is spring, if I keep insisting, it will have to be!

Doesnt oz incubate like that Wisher?

Morning Mich!

 

[chicken pickin]

I have two Genesis1588s and an octagon 40 filled with egg currently. That is a lot of eggs.

I also have 2 of the 1588s, I have been contemplating getting a 3rd one. I think DH might divorce me lol.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

A few notes I said I would paste for you....From the Hatching 101
Please see the temps section about FAN MODELS VS STILL AIR (TEMPS SHOULD in fact be different!)
ALSO from the article, NEVER USE VENTILATION as a way to adjust humidity NEVER!
Chicks need oxygen at hatch, never restrict this after day 10.

PLEASE NOTE I HAVE REMOVED THE DRY HATCH LINKS I THINK, WHY?
Because I had so many people NOT understand the point of the article its a good article but for the sake of so many misinterpretations I removed it. ONLY USE HUMIDITY AS A TOOL not necessarily run dry, I have so many messages asking for help at the end of incubation because they ran completely dry the entire time because someone suggested a "DRY Incubation" and YES some even ran dry after lockdown,

so I pray Everyone gets this part of the article!



https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101


HUMIDITY
The Air Bubble in the Egg
The average chicken egg has thousands of pores running through the shell allowing the embryo to exchange oxygen, carbon dioxide. and water. Soon after an egg is laid, a small air bubble or “air cell” forms in the large end of the egg from this water loss. Humidity levels in the incubator determine moisture evaporation during the 21 days of incubation and hatching. The air cell is crucial for the chick to break out of the egg shell at the end of the incubation period. The chick can drown if the air cell is too small or the chick may be retarded in growth if the air cell is too large. This is why maintaining the proper humidity is crucial. Slightly lower humidity levels are more likely to be less disastrous than slightly higher humidity levels.
There are quite a few opinions on Humidity, but in the end, it is not a set number.

Humidity is NOT A SET NUMBER, you need it YES!
However, you use it as a tool to "adjust" egg weight loss during incubation. We candle on days 7,10,14,18 To WATCH WEIGHT LOSS IN EVERY EGG! An EGG MUST lose approximately 13-14% of its weight during the incubation process. THIS IS YOUR GOAL!! You can monitor this by marking Air cells and also by weighing. Please refer to CANDLING section of this Article for more Air Cell info.
​

Size of air cell on day 7, 14, and 18 of incubation

​

WHY to MEASURE WEIGHT LOSS IN EGGS, ​

MEASURING PROCEDURES (HOW TO), HOW TO CALCULATE, and HOW to interpret RESULTS
http://www.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_Center/BB_Resources_Tools/AA_How_Tos/AAHowto1WaterLossEN13.pdf

I choose the easier method, keeping a close eye on air cell growth during incubation. You begin by ONLY adding a small amount of water and keep Humidity between 20%-30% and adjusting as you weigh or candle depending on moisture loss. IN SOME AREAS OF THE COUNTRY YOU MAY NOT NEED TO ADD ANY WATER! USE IT AS A TOOL FOR THE CORRECT WEIGHT LOSS IN THE EGG! So if your air cells look too large at each candle period you must add some humidity, too small air cell lower it, and if your weighing you adjust as needed. UNTIL DAY 18 LOCKDOWN,
then stop turning and raise humidity to 65-70%

UNDERSTANDING HUMIDITY


How Does a Hygrometer Work?
http://weather.about.com/od/weatherinstruments/a/hygrometers.htm

Shown here is a WET Bulb Hygrometer and wick
Wet bulb is exactly what it states. It is the temperature relative of the humidity in degrees.
A Hygrometer Wick is placed over the stem of the thermometer and the other end of the sleeve is placed in a jar or pan in the incubator.

​

HOW TO CALIBRATE HYGRO with SALT TEST
http://www.sciencecompany.com/Understanding-Relative-Humidity-and-the-Hygrometer-W136.aspx

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pages/calibrate.html
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/herpresources/ss/hygrometer_3.htm






SOOOOOOOO after reading the above, please head to the article to READ THIS SECTION...

CANDLING & WEIGHING EGGS ​

Understanding the Air Cell https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101​

​

 

[ronott1]

What on earth was he doing besides looking miserable! Hahaha SO funny!

So I filled my bater with fcbm, serama, olandsk dwarf, and quail. It will keep me busy this next few weeks waiting for the hatch along!

I looks like a costume for a Native American Pow Wow.

 

[sillycmoy]

I want to join, I'm going to be hatching out some OE, EEs, and possibly some FBCM, still deciding.

 

[Arielle]

On humidity-- I use a hydrometer for a recod but not to make the desicions. THE EGGS decide if the humidity is correct. THE EGGS.

If eggs are drying out too fast I add water to the wells. I have 3 wells and can use 1-3 depending on the degree of humidity I want to add.

Many factors involved: fan, ventilation, ambient humidity, number of eggs in the incubator. Size of eggs . . .

THe air cell size is the most important factor in humidity.

 

[ronott1]

On humidity-- I use a hydrometer for a recod but not to make the desicions. THE EGGS decide if the humidity is correct. THE EGGS.

If eggs are drying out too fast I add water to the wells. I have 3 wells and can use 1-3 depending on the degree of humidity I want to add.

Many factors involved: fan, ventilation, ambient humidity, number of eggs in the incubator. Size of eggs . . .

THe air cell size is the most important factor in humidity.

Arielle!

I saw your Bresse Post.

Pita Pintas Baby! They have it all! Grow fast, More Breast meat and the pullets lay lots of extra large eggs at an early age.

Now that I have them I will probably ruin them though....

About Humidity, I sound like a broken record all the time, but why do we focus so much on humidity when, if you look it up, there is a wide range of Humidity that works fine! 25% to 55% for humidity works well nearly all the time for the first 18 days.

Seriously folks, Stop it with the hygrometers and invest in a good thermometer. I know you do not have a good thermometer when you post that you are incubating a 99 or 100. Thermometers like that are + - up to 5 degrees! You need one that measures in tenths and is +- .2 degrees. One degree too low or too high will mess up your hatch!

Causes of incubation problems are:

1. Temperature
2. humidity
3. ventilation

Temperature is by far more than 50% of the symptoms of a bad hatch.

 

[Pozees]

Quote: There is a reason Ron is known to many of us as The Hatching God ...

 

[Happy Chooks]

But I like the pun, intended or not!!!

And DH is like this:

about me wanting to use everything I can close up as an incubator.

IT WIGGLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats Caleb.

So hubby and I got a flat tire today and pulled into TSC to swap it out. Alls good until hubby turns around and sees me coming out of TSC with 2 ducklings.I had to pee and the adorable things were right there on the way...I'm sorry I couldn't help it!

I did promise no more babies until easter...then back tracked and told him I had eggs coming Tuesday. lol Told him they'll be my warm-up hatch before my Easter Hatch-A-Long.

I would have loved to see the look on DH's face! Awwww, they are so cute! I've never had ducks either.

Somebody please stop me from buying eggs! Lmbo my warm up hatch is going to be larger than my easter one.

Oh well. If all holds out I will still be hatching EE Bantams and some CCL for easter. Of course it has to be blue and green eggs right?

Nothing sounds like a problem here.

Oh, yes, we flock together

. You should join the FB page Poultry Keepers of York County. Lots more of us, and we meet up once a month for drinks.

Ah man, chicken talk and drinks? Jealous!

When are we supposed to set for this hatch? I don't guess it really matters, I will have batches running constantly for the next two years (if I continue like I'm going!)

Yesterday, I loaded the biggest hatch to date in my bator, 71 eggs! I actually filled (nearly) both egg trays on one of the shelves. I have been using just the front egg tray on each shelf to keep up with what week they are on by sight. A local BYCer came over to bring me a couple of Greenfire Marans roosters and brought 3 1/2 dozen fertile eggs from her flock. They are mixed, but look very nice. I had set the other tray of eggs yesterday morning before she arrived and it contains my first sizable number of Silver Campine eggs - the hatch before it has my very first, two SC eggs and it is due the 14th - so I am really looking forward to that hatch.

Do any of you incubate your eggs upright, then lay them on their sides for hatch? I could fit more into my hatcher if I did, but I'm afraid they will not get into the proper position to pip and zip. My bator runs a little high and my eggs usually start to internally pip on day 19 and most of my hatches are done on day 21. I am tempted to try, but not with this batch, those SC eggs are too important to me.

On another note, yesterday was such a beautiful day!

DH and I transplanted a Redbud tree from between the house and AC unit, to the front yard. It has been growing well there behind the AC, the trunk is about an inch and a half thick and it is over 14 feet tall. It is mainly one central leader, but forks at about the 5 foot mark and both those branches are almost the same. I may prune one of them off later, after it is well established in it's new location. As you can imagine, we were pretty rough on the roots but did our best. I hope it makes it.

We also did some major pruning on my Weeping Willow which had already started to leaf out! Today, I hope to get a couple of the flower beds cleaned out and turned and ready to plant. I love spring! It is spring, if I keep insisting, it will have to be!

March 29th is set day for chicken eggs.

I hatch in egg cartons. I get much better hatches with them this way. (no egg soccer from the first that hatch) It also makes it easier to clean up the mess.

Quote: I know, another reason I want ducks - must have the eggs colors in my basket. And grey eggs too. Don't even get me started on quail eggs.

Chicken chic. They really knew how to dress back in the the good 'ole days.

Wow. I wonder where he was going all dressed up?

I'm beyond that point, lol! I've been using it faithfully for the past 3 years, and do love the stuff. This time calls for hard core chemicals, and I'm going to look into bombs. I just wish I had separate housing I could relocate them all to for one stinking week. Northern Fowl Mites supposedly die off within a week in an unoccupied coop, but I don't have anywhere to just put all of my chickens in the middle of winter. It's all good, I've got this covered...I'm in complete aggressive mode now, and I am going to win! BTW, my gorgeous white EE had a droopy apron for a couple of days, and rust color at the base of the feathers that I attributed to mud and breeding. When she started looking tired I investigated further. I can not explain to you the gagging sight that was, and even as we held her down and doused the whole vent area with Sevin, that sight was even more gagging. The white powder accentuated the pulsing mound of mites. She was the only chicken out of 30ish like this, I'm not sure why they attacked her, but I know I've got to do everyone else now, and the coops. Just be checking their vents folks...

Check into Ivomec pour on. I know it kills worms and lice, and I think it kills mites too.

Arielle!

I saw your Bresse Post.

Pita Pintas Baby! They have it all! Grow fast, More Breast meat and the pullets lay lots of extra large eggs at an early age.

Now that I have them I will probably ruin them though....

About Humidity, I sound like a broken record all the time, but why do we focus so much on humidity when, if you look it up, there is a wide range of Humidity that works fine! 25% to 55% for humidity works well nearly all the time for the first 18 days.

Seriously folks, Stop it with the hygrometers and invest in a good thermometer. I know you do not have a good thermometer when you post that you are incubating a 99 or 100. Thermometers like that are + - up to 5 degrees! You need one that measures in tenths and is +- .2 degrees. One degree too low or too high will mess up your hatch!

Causes of incubation problems are:

1. Temperature
2. humidity
3. ventilation

Temperature is by far more than 50% of the symptoms of bad hatch.

I have to agree here. Temperature is far more important. I always recommend the Brinsea Spot Check thermometer because it is super accurate.

For my hovabator, I add water when I start incubating (roughly 35% humidity) and I don't add any more water until Day 18, when I increase it for hatching. I have great hatches this way. If I incubate in my Brinsea, I don't add any water until Day 18.

 

[pickitfarm]

Chicken chic. They really knew how to dress back in the the good 'ole days.