The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[seminolewind]

A few interesting things I've noticed with hatching. I never had breech chicks until I had a self turner that rolled the eggs. Maybe they were point up too often, I don't know. The ones that I had propped up always hatched well.

I had a chick once that was just started to pip and a newly hatched chick bumped it and the hole was turned underneath and the chick suffocated. So I make sure that no chicks can play soccer with the unhatched eggs.

I do stay close to 28% day 1-18, and then to 68%-72% the last 3 days. I've always hatched at 99.5 degrees, no lower and stay below 100. My chicks usually have a hatch marathon, usually a day early. I had a bator that kept excellent temperature and would recover immediately after being opened. So I think that temp consistency is top important. I now just have a styrofoam with a fan, and with them I lay bubble wrap over the window. That window has no insulation and the temp gets too unsteady. When I turn the eggs, I always move them from outside to inside position as well so they all get equal microclimate. I love turning by hand, it makes me feel involved.

I do usually have 2-3 thermometers in with the eggs trying to get them level with the top of the eggs. One of them is a good ole glass thermometer. I might end up having to buy another humidity gauge.

If you'll notice , all chicks should pip in the same place. Usually on the side, slightly towards the fat end. It's really funny how those pips seem to be in the same location on the egg.

I'm sure all you know this stuff already. But I always like sharing what works for me.
I'm getting a dozen Bargain silkie eggs this week. I will have to set them early, but I'll just pretend I'm part of the hatch a long.

 

[seminolewind]

I'm doing a test hatch right now and it's day 10. I've weighed the eggs and they have lost between 6% and 11% of their weight. That's a big range and I'm not sure what to do about the humidity. It's been steady around 25%.

I certainly would like to try hatching by egg weight sometime. I may start with recording the weights with this next hatch and see what works for my eggs.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I woke up to am incubator filled with babies this morning! I set 14, 1 didn't develope and I tossed it at day 14. All the rest hatched out

this was the first time I tried "dry" incubation. I kept my humidity between 20-30% for the first 17 days then bumped it up to 70-75% for hatch. I'm VERY happy pictures to come later when I move them all to the brooder.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

@seminolewind The hardest part is to remember to weigh and record weight just before you set them. You can either weigh them collectively in cartons or individually. If you put them in a carton, be sure to deduct the weight of the carton.
When I've done them individually, I found anomalies in individual eggs where a couple in different parts of the incubator would lose a lot of weight and even one or two that barely lost weight.

The easiest is to use a chart you can make on graph paper. They should lose 0.65% each day or 13% over 21 days.
Using the graph, plot the start weight and what the end weight should be and draw a line between the 2 points. It doesn't matter which day you weigh after the first, you can just plot the weight and as long as it's close to the line you're good. It will also show if you need to add water or let it dry out a bit.
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/MonitoringEggWeightLoss.html
http://www.avianaquamiser.com/posts/How_to_weigh_eggs_and_calculate_weight_loss/
http://poultrykeeper.com/incubating-and-hatching-eggs/weight-loss-method-forl-incubation

ETA
Weight loss will happen during pre-incubation storage as well.

 

[ChickyChickens]

Nearly set day

 

[chicken pickin]

I woke up to am incubator filled with babies this morning! I set 14, 1 didn't develope and I tossed it at day 14. All the rest hatched out

this was the first time I tried "dry" incubation. I kept my humidity between 20-30% for the first 17 days then bumped it up to 70-75% for hatch. I'm VERY happy

pictures to come later when I move them all to the brooder.

Congrats! Sounds like a great hatch!

 

[gevshiba]

Test hatch is over. 14 eggs went into the hatcher. 1 of my SS chicks pipped, but never zipped and died. 3 SS chicks, 3 Lavender Orpingtons and 4 LO mixes. One egg was really questionable when I put it in, one developed a blood ring (I probably didn't see it when I candled last) and one never pipped. One LO pipped, but never zipped. After 24 hours, I tried to help, but there was blood, so I put it back and waited several hours. Next try there was blood, so I waited. But right before bed last night, the chick was hardly moving and not peeping, so I tried again. I was able to zip it most of the way, then put it back. This morning we had an active little chick. Not my best hatch, but not too bad. So my friend had me set a total, in 2 batches, of 23 eggs and got 17 chicks. I set 12 SS eggs and got 10 chicks.

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Ok, I can now see a semi-reliable forecast up to Wednesday of next week (March 11th), and up here in Michigan's Thumb it is looking like we will be in the mid to high 30's, possibly hit 40º F, with 20's or teens at night.

Do you think it would be safe or wise to go ahead and have my Ameraucana hatching eggs shipped up from Georgia, or should I wait a week or two until warmer weather? I would LOVE to be able to hatch my new Ameraucana babies for the Hatch-along, but I don't want to unnecessarily endanger them by a too cold trip up here!

What do you all think?

 

[sbarab]

Entering!
Now to see if I can get a better hatch than the ones we set in January.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

can you count all 13? I know I can't but they're all there lol