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

[wornoutmomto3]

She is not broody if she is still laying eggs. She may be thinking about it though.

Yeah, it is just wishful thinking. Any luck and she will decide to go broody soon and become a foster mama pretty quickly after that.

 

[Math]

Still air or circulated incubator?  If it's still air, it can be a bit low in the morning (but 90 is pretty low for still air), but should warm up within a couple of hours.  Still air should be 101.5 and circulated 99.5.

Are you saying that still air incubation should have a temperature measured beside the egg (halfway up the side of the egg) at 101.5 F. Or is that measurement taken at the top of the egg?

I need to know because my eggs themselves are producing a lot of heat now. And I need to know if the 101.5 is okay halfway beside the eggs. Or should I lower the incubator temperature some more to decrease the incubation temperature.

 

[GAGE]

We just completed our second candle. We pulled 1 SFH, 1 BCM, and 2 OE's. That leave us with 29 going into lockdown on Wed. Good luck and great hatching everyone!

 

[nate1the1great1]

I am flipping out my ducks in the eggs are in there air cells and are pecking at the shell and it's day 23 I don't jnow what to do i just have to watch and wait I guess

 

[wornoutmomto3]

I am flipping out my ducks in the eggs are in there air cells and are pecking at the shell and it's day 23 I don't jnow what to do i just have to watch and wait I guess

What kind of ducks? I thought duck eggs took 28 days to hatch.

 

[ellymayRans]

My Easter "hatch" was a week early lol.

Precious. Congratulations! I think you got us all beat!!

 

[Cynthia12]

Had a chick like this one once, a friend ended up taking it. That chick turned into the most beautiful hen! That brown went down the head and neck into a golden color The body was black with some golden in it too..wondered if it was a mix with a golden laced wyondotte.
By the way...your baby sure likes to eat! Check out that full crop..cute!

 

[WalnutHill]

What should the humidity be pushed to at lockdown?

Ask 10 people, get 10 answers. Ask 20 people, get 20 answers.

Higher than 45 and lower than condensation point, but exactly where has a whole lot of variables.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Steps for deciding when to lockdown.

1.  When are the eggs supposed to hatch?  The answer here should be an exact time.  If you set at 9 am on March 13 and these are average chicken eggs then the hatch time is 9 am April 3rd.

2.  Count back 72 hours from the estimated hatch time.  If the estimated hatch time is 9 am on April the 3rd, the lockdown should start close to 9 am on March 31st.


3 Consider all that is going on in your life around the lockdown start time and start lockdown on you own terms close to that time.  A few hours early or late should not make a huge difference.

Just a silly thing I have been doing...
I stop turning 4 days ahead, and ramp up the humidity 2 days ahead. Have not gotten as many upside down chicks this way. The Silkies and SG tend to do that a lot. Just seems to work for me but it could be a fluke...lol

 

[Cynthia12]

What should the humidity be pushed to at lockdown?

Ok, I personally like mine anywhere from 60% to 64%...if it hits 65, no biggy.

There will be those that will have theirs spike...and they know their bators will do this, so, they will just fill their wells only, no adding sponges or the like. If by putting something extra in there, spikes it up to condensation on those windows, use the wells only, and if it is only reading 55 then..go with it! That will work too.
So, long story short. 55 to mid 60's can work well.