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

[Cynthia12]

The chickens are confused by the latest solar event...the last part really cracked me up. Good morning! Or, is it....

 

[Peep-Chicken]

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.

When were they set?

Welcome!

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

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

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

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

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

Sure, welcome!

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

I've never had a pickled egg.

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.

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

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.

Wowzers!

Welcome!

One was set 03/13/15 the rest 03/14/15

14 total which has already been recorded.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Important!

Now that the Guess How Many Eggs Will Be Set Contest is closed, we can start getting the actual number of eggs set.

When you are finished setting all of your eggs, please post in this thread how many total eggs you set within the +/- 2 days of the set dates for each type of fowl. If you did not set any eggs, please post that as well.


Lets get these numbers recorded so we can get the next contest going!

Recording these numbers is a HUGE job! Thanks @mlmddh . Lets make it easy on him!​

 

[Whoops]

Quote:
I think that's what is happening - too high of humidity, too little air pressure, so the oxygen is being displaced by the water in the air? I am trying to do a "dry incubation" where the humidity is quite low. That's why I have the plastic cap covering nearly all of the water well, and I don't use any plugs or anything like that, and, I "vent" it a bit by lifting the lid when the humidity goes over 40%. But, I am concerned because I have heard that humidity helps soften the egg shells a bit. I want the chickies to be able to break out of their shells. So many variables, but these should have the best chance, if they are fertile, because they are fresh from my own chickens, The roo successfully hatched in that 'bator, and one of the hens, and they are mixed breeds. Go hybrid vigor! We'll see.

 

[casportpony]

This might interest some of you:


Source: http://www.avianaquamiser.com/archives/2011/09/

Does egg location in the incubator affect a chick's time of hatch and hatchability? In still air incubators, you'll find relatively wide temperature variations throughout the incubator, but even our top of the line Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance Incubator shows differences in hatch rate related to egg location in the tray. The picture to the right is the summary of my results from two hatches, suggesting that eggs in the center are less likely to hatch than those around the edges, and my notes show that central eggs also tend to hatch later.

The fan in our incubator keeps air moving, so you would think that all of the eggs would be equally warm. However, a reader on our homesteading blog suggested that radiant heat from the central heating element preferentially warms the eggs directly underneath. His hypothesis makes a lot of sense, as does his solution of using some kind of barrier like aluminum foil below the heating unit to block the radiant heat while allowing the fans to continue to circulate warmed air. It looks like I'm going to have to do some experiments with moving thermometers around inside the incubator to find out whether there really are high temperature pockets and how to fix them.




-Kathy

 

[blackgoat]

A pic of my broodies. I have no idea how the eggs are doing, lol! But crossing my fingers!

 

[Cynthia12]

Kathy, I do believe it makes a difference where the eggs are in the bator, that's why I move them around at least a couple of times a day .. I hand turn. I can feel the difference in one of my bators big time..and it's got a fan!

 

[Cynthia12]

A pic of my broodies. I have no idea how the eggs are doing, lol! But crossing my fingers!

Aww, well, it won't be because the moms aren't doing their jobs if they don't do well...look at them, so waiting for their little peeps. Cute photo.

 

[Junibutt]

This might interest some of you:


Source: http://www.avianaquamiser.com/archives/2011/09/

Does egg location in the incubator affect a chick's time of hatch and hatchability? In still air incubators, you'll find relatively wide temperature variations throughout the incubator, but even our top of the line Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance Incubator shows differences in hatch rate related to egg location in the tray. The picture to the right is the summary of my results from two hatches, suggesting that eggs in the center are less likely to hatch than those around the edges, and my notes show that central eggs also tend to hatch later.

The fan in our incubator keeps air moving, so you would think that all of the eggs would be equally warm. However, a reader on our homesteading blog suggested that radiant heat from the central heating element preferentially warms the eggs directly underneath. His hypothesis makes a lot of sense, as does his solution of using some kind of barrier like aluminum foil below the heating unit to block the radiant heat while allowing the fans to continue to circulate warmed air. It looks like I'm going to have to do some experiments with moving thermometers around inside the incubator to find out whether there really are high temperature pockets and how to fix them.




-Kathy

Based on the first candling, the eggs I threw out were mostly front and back rows. However, that might be due to fertility issues. Now that I have packed all the rows again, I will try to note what the hatch rates are for all the eggs that were viable on first candling.

Were your hatches from shipped eggs? or all home grown or was it a mix? I am sure I have seen folks here who have 90-100% hatch rates from Brinseas. It will be important to find out what kind of eggs they had. So far all my home eggs that were in the Brinsea passed the first candling irrespective of their location.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

This might interest some of you:


Source: http://www.avianaquamiser.com/archives/2011/09/

Does egg location in the incubator affect a chick's time of hatch and hatchability? In still air incubators, you'll find relatively wide temperature variations throughout the incubator, but even our top of the line Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance Incubator shows differences in hatch rate related to egg location in the tray. The picture to the right is the summary of my results from two hatches, suggesting that eggs in the center are less likely to hatch than those around the edges, and my notes show that central eggs also tend to hatch later.

The fan in our incubator keeps air moving, so you would think that all of the eggs would be equally warm. However, a reader on our homesteading blog suggested that radiant heat from the central heating element preferentially warms the eggs directly underneath. His hypothesis makes a lot of sense, as does his solution of using some kind of barrier like aluminum foil below the heating unit to block the radiant heat while allowing the fans to continue to circulate warmed air. It looks like I'm going to have to do some experiments with moving thermometers around inside the incubator to find out whether there really are high temperature pockets and how to fix them.




-Kathy

I am struggling with this right now in my LG w/fan. I believe my heating element on the right is throwing off more heat to begin with and while my center readings are spot on and great the outer and corners are getting too high. The last 24 hours I've been moving my thermometers around to try to pin point what is going on. When my center area is reading 99-100 the corners are reading 102-103. I've come to the conclusion these little fans don't have enough push to reach the corners. I'm trying to keep my eggs in the center since that's where my best readings are, but it's a bit harder with 40 eggs...lol. It's the last hatch I plan with this bator (it's an older model anyway) but now I'm concerned about the ones that (at least when I candled day 7) that were still hanging in there. I've already had quitters and am sure it's the temp hot spots. I even took out the turner and am turning by hand because of the heat the turner was throwing off in the corner. So I am with you on being in the investigative mode.