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

[LadyHawkeAvry]

So the gamefowl eggs arrived.. (Finally, but were in great shape with only a little wiggle to the air cells!) I was going to have them as part of the HAL, but they are way too late, and won't even get set until tomorrow after resting for a day....

Of course, my coolerbator is packed full, and much of my Brinsea is taken up by the massive goose eggs containing Febreeze, Tide, Mr. Clean, and either Glade or Airwick (I'm undecided). So I'm trying to formulate a game plan. I can move some EE into the Brinsea where they will get a cool down and light misting daily, and will have to be retuned to the coolerbator for hatching, and put the new eggs in the coolerbator where they won't get moved quite as much, or squeeze them into the Brinsea and move Call batch #2 into the coolerbator, where I will have to remove them daily for cool down and misting. If I put the gamefowl into the coolerbator I will fill out most of level 2 with eggs. They are all developing equally, regardless of layer, so it's not a problem, but I will have to move them to the Brinsea later so I can lock down the coolerbator for the EEs and the geese. (Got a tight stagger schedule...)
Then of course there is the matter of the duck eggs from the first time layer I feel compelled to test fertility for.....

Option 3: build another incubator....

 

[cree57i]

I am glad you got it working! Just a tip: I open my incubator quite often to candle eggs which can cause the humidity sensor to get a false reading and turn the pump on before it has time to get a good reading again. The newer one is better than my older one at waiting a bit. So, whenever I open up the incubator to take the egg tray out or put it back in, I pinch the tubing to stop the flow of the water for a minute or two until the reading levels out. Otherwise, the pump may saturate the material inside and it will take quite a while for the humidity to go down again.

That happened to me last night. Thank you so much for sharing that. I freaked out when my humidity went to 48% with the legbars and marans in there. The good thing was it came back down pretty quickly.

 

[CherMoz]

Option 3: build another incubator....

Option 3 gets my vote!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I can't apologize enough. I'm out. I got extremely ill last week and couldn't finish the incubator rebuild and didn't want to start eggs in the LG. So my set # is zero. Sorry for the delay.
Hopefully I'll get it done by tomorrow and set the eggs I've been collecting.

 

[KYTinpusher]

I can't apologize enough. I'm out. I got extremely ill last week and couldn't finish the incubator rebuild and didn't want to start eggs in the LG. So my set # is zero. Sorry for the delay.
Hopefully I'll get it done by tomorrow and set the eggs I've been collecting.

I hope you're feeling better!

 

[Razadia]

My newly remodeled tile shower has now turned into a chick/duckling condo of sorts. My hubby is not thrilled! He says that he's gonna call that animal hoarding show.

Love how you used half a pet carrier.

Yes, I just tell him he can buy more video games and he's all smiles again. I even told him I wanted to buy a bunch of GFF chicks for $59 a piece and he said he didn't care. Thank god I'm to reasonable to actually do it.

I have a hard time choosing between chickens and video games I'm already invested in. Like the Halo games.

I have made 2 observations over the years.
First is that either of the Brinsea 20's are so easy and 'plug and play' that you get great results and get hooked. Everyone I know who got the Brinsea 20 wishes they got the 40 ( I ended up with 2 20's at one point).

The other thing is with hand turning. I had a homemade cabinet thing that fit about 75 eggs in that I had to hand turn. I was in there that long it used to cool down too much and took ages (a few hours to get back to temp). I did not have a good hatch rate...
I got a big thick bit of wood 3x4 or 4x4 and put it under the whole cabinet on the left side so it tipped the whole thing. A few hours later I took it out, leaving it flat and a few hours later put it under the right side, tipping the cabinet the other way. It took a few seconds and turned the eggs as efficiently as my brinsea 20's ever did.

This method may be of use to the busy person...!

While I haven't done it with a cabinet, I have tilted my incubator on several occasions.

Quote:

Those button quail eggs are SO cute! I love the heavy mottling of coturnix eggs, too.

Me too, especially the Coturnix eggs.

I'm beyond help.....I have 56? eggs in incubators and just blacked out for awhile this morning because I got this confirmation on an order of 20 chicks??? I need help...lol

You and me both!

I should be getting mine in the next 2 weeks. This month has gone by so slow since I ordered them.

Quote: So I'm not the only one that noticed the 'pool'.

OK I am really out this time. Someone ate the eggs.

My original broody gave up and a couple others were taking turns and actually doing well...until just now. I went out to get the early birds eggs around 9 and all was well. My SS, Pooky was playing mom. I went back out a few minutes ago and the egg shells were shattered. I am done until I see real broody signs for a longer time. Experiment over.

Questions and lessons learned:
1. Make sure she is broody
2. Separate her from flock
3. Does it matter if trying to hatch different colored eggs?
4. Stop thinking about letting broody cat hatch instead.

I will be glued to my seat for the next episode of Incubator Wars, though. Let's do this, Team Broody!

I'm sorry to hear that.

Well just FORGET all the nice stuff I said earlier about my LG still air. It's bound and determined to cook those poor little eggs. All day long I've been fiddling and tinkering and still getting temps of 103+.

I was having trouble with my GQF yesterday because the room temp was in the 80s.

 

[SoManyHats]

NOOOOOO! I'm supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow tomorrow.

It's spring, darn it. I want it to be spring. Someone show me some pictures of blue skies, flowers, and green grass. Preferably including baby chicks.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

...
pretty much all the chicks im hatching are to sell, and a test to see how they hatch and grow up. im planning on selling eggs this summer. I just wanted to make sure the chicks come out ok since it is brother to sis, son to mother.

...

mother/son is fine.
full brother/sister isn't recommended. it usually results in lower fertility and vigor.

How do you guys see through dark eggs? I can't find a flashlight that will get through the greenish blue eggs, let alone the dark brown ones!

Difficult. I just look for an air cell.
If you find a strong small LED flashlight, unscrew the lens, remove the glass and replace the ring. The egg will fit down inside and it makes it better.

Perfectly fine to collect, refridgerate, and eat! The egg has to be up to incubation temp for some time for it to start to develope. Not to worry you wont open one to fine a little one in an egg that was left for you that day. I would feel safe in saying it would be fine if left for a day or two in the nest box. if she is jumping around on different nests she would not be on one long enoughh for any to start to develope.

A couple summers ago when it stayed above 100 and I missed a day collecting, they started to develop in the nest.

I hope you're feeling better!

Thanks. I feel a bit stronger but still can't stop coughing.

 

[KYTinpusher]

Thanks. I feel a bit stronger but still can't stop coughing.

Pineapple has been shown to be better than most cough medicines - it is a natural anti-inflammatory.

 

[Debs55]

Send the seller instructions on packing the eggs. Oz has a letter to egg sellers but the link to the packing instructions is dead now.

It wasnt a packing problem, it was an older rooster problem