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

[Puddin Fluff]

Thanks! That's more of less what I have been doing. They are marked with pencil but I may need to redo in marker as the corner of the coop can be dark and I usually collect right before I tuck them in at night and it can be hard to see the markings.

I have been sticking my hand under, rolling out the eggs to see which are marked and which aren't then rolling them back. I will have to try lifting her and see what she does.

 

[jessicaagross]

I candled on Friday. Had 6 infertile, and 3 that had veins but I couldn't see an embryo. But I'm excited that I have 58 growing great! Those embryos were bouncing around like crazy!! Very excited. Now just to cross my fingers that they keep growing.

 

[ronott1]

Day 7 candling update.
Pulled 2 clears and 9 blood rings.
The GCMarans are too dark to see into, so all 12 stayed. (I'll put fresh batteries in before the next candle) 8 EE, 3 BBS Red Wyandotes, 6 Silkie,sizzle,frizzle. (Still trying to understand all that) 1 mottled orp.
So I still have 30 eggs of the 41 in the incubator tonight.

Go chickees!

You will have lots of pretty little babies!

 

[ronott1]

Chicken math at its finest:
If it fits, I sets!!!

Google tetris stacking hatching eggs! Then click on images.

 

[ronott1]

Question: can week old chicks stay in an outbuilding with their EcoGlow if the night time temps are in the 30s? Or should I bring them in overnight?

Maybe if the water does not freeze.

The Primier1plates are rated to 32.

 

[chickwhispers]

Quote: If you get your water boiling hard then carefully put the eggs in (I use a spoon), boil for 15 minutes for large eggs, then pour off water and immediately run ice cold water over them until cool, about 2 or 3 minutes is usually good - your eggs will always peel easy. I've done this with eggs fresh from the hens and it works great!

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

Google tetris stacking hatching eggs! Then click on images.

Here I am scrolling along looking at the images of incubators with a few extra eggs here and there, thinking to myself: "amateurs!" Then I came to the image of my incubator and died laughing!!

Candled that hot mess last night. Out of the 35 I set for the HAL, 4 were infertile. They were randomly spaced in the incubator, so it looks like none of the fertile eggs took issue with me doing a little double dipping, and my temperature is even through the whole pile. Love my coolerbator!

 

[casportpony]

Wow, lots of great pictures!

-Kathy

 

[emvickrey]

Yes, I have. It broke when I tried to get it out.

maybe someone else knows of a more effective way...

I spray them ald let them sit a little bit so the water loosens what has them stuck.

 

[Happy Chooks]

please make a batch and let us know what you think of it.

Next soaping question:
I got my last batch of lye from Amazon and it was Essential Depot. Is that the best place to get lye? I had someone tell me to get it from Duda but I'm not sure I want to get 50 pounds of it. And I'm going to come off as a bit of a prude, but I don't even like their label. I would end up painting it or covering the entire label with stickers of some sort.

I will let you know how it works out.

I got my lye from Brambleberry for $10. (27 oz) You have to agree to terms that it will only be used for making soap, etc. Since it's a hazardous material, they will only ship it ground. I will look for it in bulk when I get to making enough soap to make a difference.

Incubator Wars


Hope this is how I 'join'

When were they set?

I know we are a little late. But, we are new to this site, and just found this. We set our eggs on the 13th. Wasn't planned to be an Easter hatch, sure makes it fun.

Welcome!

This thread is going to be INSANE on hatch day, isn't it?

Yup. Who doesn't love taking pictures of newly hatched chicks.

LOOK WHAT CAME TODAY! The Rcom pro 10! I have a 50 and a 20 already and just HAD to get the 10 since it is brand new and you gotta collect the whole set right? I am putting some modern game bantam eggs in it later today when it has stabilized. I am probably also going to do some sort of "follow along" thread so people can see how it works as the eggs develop and hatch. So far I am impressed though I wish the instruction manual was a little more thorough and the automatic watering system looks chaotic. As long at it works I will be happy though.
(yes I know this will not count for the easter hatch a long, just wanted to share)

It's a cute incubator. I'll look forward to hearing how well it does.

Quote: Cool set up. I love seeing pictures of everyone's breeding pens and coops.

Question for Marans hatchers: I can sort of see through on the candling but can't tell the difference between them and my regular non fertile eggs. How soon/long before you can see and know what you're looking at on Marans eggs?

Question for anyone : The Silkie eggs I got from my friend has one that looks like it's so close to hatching - (she found a few surprise chicks in her coop last week!) How long do I let it go in the bator and when will I know when to remove it? Humidity is only 50-60 right now.

You just have to look for darkness. That's about all you will see.

I have to express my incubator rage to my fellow online poultry folks...My family doesn't quite share the same passion as I do. My old hovabator incubator will not keep a stable temp! It ranges about 4 degrees, in fact, just this morning I woke up to find it at a min of 97.3 and a max of 101.4!

I find it interested that the problem has developed during the incubation...didn't give me a problem during the start..oh well all I can do now is ride it out.
I have a new wafer thermostat being shipped to me by Monday so hopefully that should solve the problem. Fingers crossed that I can make it through the weekend..

That's not too far off. They will likely be fine, just possibly hatch a bit late.

Can I join? I set my eggs last week in Saturday. 12 BBS orpingtons. My first attempt and hopefully a successful one.

Sure, welcome!

Good news or bad news? Good news is I got my Brinsea spot check today. Bad news is I have been incubating for about 2 years with thermometers calibrated in ice water and still are off by 1 to 2 degrees at any given moment

Good news. Now you can incubate at the correct temperature. You will have much better hatches.

This is what you do when you get 25+ eggs a day and cannot even give them away fast enough. Make two gallons of pickled eggs = 8 dozen gone.

I've never had a pickled egg.

Well I started with 7 dozen, dropped down to about 5 dozen, got 1 more dozen(not counted in the HAL as I set them just today) AND, my mom decided that she didn't like eggs piled up in the incubators sooo, she bought me one with an auto turner and extra digital thermometers/hygrometers and candler. She bought me the Farm Inovators 2200 forced air and so far so good. I set it up yesterday as soon as it came in and let it run till I had it at 100 degrees. Put in the turner and today put in the eggs and just kept an eye on the temps and readjusted a tiny bit. Still so far so good, it has my new dozen eggs in it and I'm crossing my fingers.
Now I also just picked up a rescue Chihuahua due to owner couldn't keep her(she will be searching for her forever home) and in talking to my friend who brought her to me, he mentions that he has an old wooden hatcher at his house that he will never use. He offered it to me because, well, I really like doing this! Plus I promised him some chicks to start his own flock since he has everything now except the chickens. I can't wait to see what it looks like and if it works! Now incubating eggs is supposed to be a hobby for me and within one month I've gone from one homemade incubator to a total of 4 incubators! What in the ever loving fluffy butt of fluffy butts does the future have in store for me I'll never know but I think it's going to be so cool!

I too have an adopted Chihuahua. My grandmother could no longer take care of hers, so she's now living with us. She's 9 years old and had been shuffled around a lot, so we just kept her. A German Shepherd and a Chihuahua can be pretty entertaining sometimes.

HEY:
I sold my crapbator.
We are buying a cabinet bator in May.
I have $200 to spare until then.
Im thinking of buying a hovabator 1588 to get me by....
What bator would u guys buy if u had a $200 budget????
Im buying something Thursday

I'd wait for the cabinet incubator, unless you want one for a hatcher.

I candled my eggs today. All 6 seem to be developing. 3 are pretty much impossible to make anything out in because they are dark Welsummer eggs, but they have a cloud in them that they didn't have when they were set. I can see what I think is the air pocket in 2 of those, too. One of my EE's is a thick shell, too and hard to see through. But, definitely development happening. One of my EE eggs and my JG egg are both definitely doing great. I think I have 6 out of 6 developing. I'm not counting them before they hatch though. However, I do tend to put all of my eggs in one basket everyday, it's easier to carry that way. Lol.

I have a question. What is a detached air pocket or air cell? If an egg doesn't have the air pocket in the right place, does that affect the hatch or the development? Or both? Or neither? The main reason I ask is one of my Welsummer eggs I can't see an air pocket. It might be detached or more likely it might be just super hard to see. Just want to know what to maybe expect in the off chance it's a detached air pocket.

I'm excited because this is my first hatch, but I'm going to try to curb my enthusiasm and resist the urge to candle anymore until maybe right before lockdown. Just observe for leaking or smelly eggs past this point. Don't want to over handle them.

Happy incubating everyone.

Sometimes it can be hard to see the air sac on Welsummer eggs. For dislodged air sacs, you will see the air sac move around like a big bubble when you candle. Sometimes you will see a lot of tiny bubbles, and that is really bad - usually they are scrambled.

Chicken math at its finest:
If it fits, I sets!!!

Wowzers!

I would like to join the 6th Annual Easter Hatch a long. I set 20 eggs - all chickens - on March 14th. I am especially excited for our Golden Laced Polish/Black Frizzle crosses. Of the eight of those candled today, seven looking good! The rest of the eggs are mixed Bantam/Frizzle crosses. Of the original 20, 16 remain after candling today. Looking forward to little cuddly balls of fluff this Easter!

Welcome!