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

[DUCKOBSESSED]

Set my eggs. 20 all Chicken. 18 shipped assorted and 2 from the local health food store. Sometimes they are fertile. Had them and two spots left so i figured i would try.

 

[Cynthia12]

not right place

Yes right place!


Even thought you may not be setting. Find some eggs for tomorrow!

 

[Cynthia12]

Set my eggs. 20 all Chicken. 18 shipped assorted and 2 from the local health food store. Sometimes they are fertile. Had them and two spots left so i figured i would try.

hmm, health food store???

 

[sherrib0401]

Ron, can you recommend a safer chick warming product? I'm so worried about burning down my house with the heat lamps!
Do the heat plates work for new just hatched chicks? Can you use just those for heat, or do you also need a lamp?

I use a heat plate from Premier 1 with my newborn chicks and it works great.

 

[Junibutt]

After last years lengthy debates with people in one of the HALs I had decided I would never debate it again but can't resist myself. This is really simply a math calculation, but someone somewhere decided they are going to make it more complicated than it needs to be and started labelling the Days as Day Zero and Day One. etc.etc and started making hatching calculators that will confuse the hell out of people.

If one understands this statement: "Chicken eggs, in general, take 21 full days to hatch", nothing is complicated. It's like saying " You must be 18 years old to buy cigarettes."

When 24 hrs have passed since setting, one full day of incubation has been completed exactly like an infant's 1st year. At completion of the 1st Day, the egg is 1 day old and stays 1 day old till Day 2 is completed and then its 2 Day old and so forth until Day 21 is completed. So technically eggs hatch on the 22nd Day (because its more than 21 days old) but since 22nd Day is not completed it is still 21 days old. Just like a person stays minor even if they 17 years and 364 days old.

So someone decided it would be easier for people to calculate if they call the setting day as Day Zero and so forth. This worked well as a calculator but just created confusion. If they had simply used a technically correct terminology like "Eggs are 1 Day old" instead of Day 1, it wouldn't have been confusing. Anything less than 1 day old could have been called ...... hrs old. instead of on Day Zero.

Anyways, it is what it is! For those folks who want to use the calculator, your chicks will hatch on Day 21. For folks who want to use 1st Day, 2nd Day, so forth, your chicks will hatch on the 22nd Day.

However, that brings me to a question that I typically do my candling at the end of 7 completed days. (eggs are 7 Days old, beginning of 8th day, or on Day 7 whatever you call it), followed by one at the end of 13 completed days and then at the end of 18 completed days before lock down. My 3rd candling was based on folks at BYC advising me to do it at the completion of "Day 18". But since I know Day 18 is different for everyone, can someone advise me if the lockdown begins at the end of 18 complete days or at the end of "Day 18".

Hopefully, I have not been doing it incorrectly and putting my eggs in lockdown at the wrong time.

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

hmm, health food store???

Ya, they have Amish eggs, free rage that are sometimes fertile. Not expecting anything from those two but figured i might as well fill the bator.

 

[Razadia]

Quote: Health food stores here don't sell fertile eggs. I wish they would. I want to try to hatch some.

 

[Wisher1000]

Hopefully, I have not been doing it incorrectly and putting my eggs in lockdown at the wrong time.

If they hatched, you did it right!

Like I said, lockdown for me is when I think to move them into the hatcher. I agree that it shouldn't be so complicated, I really don't think it matters if you stop turning them and increase humidity on day 17.5 or on day 19. Like I said, I have moved them out of the turners once I found a chick that had fallen out of the rack and was peeping on the floor of the incubator. I keep that bator at about 25% and it has a strong fan. The turners max out at about 45 degrees and yet, eggs still hatch in there.

 

[KYTinpusher]

After last years lengthy debates with people in one of the HALs I had decided I would never debate it again but can't resist myself. This is really simply a math calculation, but someone somewhere decided they are going to make it more complicated than it needs to be and started labelling the Days as Day Zero and Day One. etc.etc and started making hatching calculators that will confuse the hell out of people.

If one understands this statement: "Chicken eggs, in general, take 21 full days to hatch", nothing is complicated. It's like saying " You must be 18 years old to buy cigarettes."

When 24 hrs have passed since setting, one full day of incubation has been completed exactly like an infant's 1st year. At completion of the 1st Day, the egg is 1 day old and stays 1 day old till Day 2 is completed and then its 2 Day old and so forth until Day 21 is completed. So technically eggs hatch on the 22nd Day (because its more than 21 days old) but since 22nd Day is not completed it is still 21 days old. Just like a person stays minor even if they 17 years and 364 days old.

So someone decided it would be easier for people to calculate if they call the setting day as Day Zero and so forth. This worked well as a calculator but just created confusion. If they had simply used a technically correct terminology like "Eggs are 1 Day old" instead of Day 1, it wouldn't have been confusing. Anything less than 1 day old could have been called ...... hrs old. instead of on Day Zero.

Anyways, it is what it is! For those folks who want to use the calculator, your chicks will hatch on Day 21. For folks who want to use 1st Day, 2nd Day, so forth, your chicks will hatch on the 22nd Day.

However, that brings me to a question that I typically do my candling at the end of 7 completed days. (eggs are 7 Days old, beginning of 8th day, or on Day 7 whatever you call it), followed by one at the end of 13 completed days and then at the end of 18 completed days before lock down. My 3rd candling was based on folks at BYC advising me to do it at the completion of "Day 18". But since I know Day 18 is different for everyone, can someone advise me if the lockdown begins at the end of 18 complete days or at the end of "Day 18".

Hopefully, I have not been doing it incorrectly and putting my eggs in lockdown at the wrong time.

I'd like to help you out, but I just try to get them into lockdown sometime before they pip - sometimes Day 19, sometimes Day 20 - generally whenever the hatcher becomes free again.

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote:

Nothing to lose, right?!!

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday and they did not have anything labeled fertile but had free range organic eggs. I got a dozen and they are in the incubator.....if they develop, good......if not, oh well.....the incubator is on and the 19 eggs I had didn't nearly fill it. I'll watch them for seeping and candle at ten days.

@mlmddh Mike, I set 31 eggs for the EHAL