The Great Egg Shipping Experiment!

[Bama1]

Okay, get some aquarium tubing and a feeder syringe (medical supply store, hospital, or nursing home.)  You can use a smaller one but it is a pain,  Either put a small hole in the bottom section near the top, or use the vent hole in the top section. run it down beside the turner, and through the wire floor and into the water reservoir.  I used two tubes, one with a black sharpie ring around the loose end so I could tell which I was filling.  Before you put eggs in, add water with the syringe until it is full so you know how much is too much! This way you can add water without opening the bator and know how much the humidity goes up with a measured quantity.

I used a small piece of duct tape to hold the end down flat in the bottom of the tray.

Bama'8, you listening? 

Am I going for 45% humidity and then upmit to 75% on lockdown?

 

[watership]

I love this thread! What a great experiment! I have 9 shipped eggs in a mini brinsea (only day 3) and am learning a lot, thanks!

 

[Wisher1000]

I want some other hatchers to weigh in here to back me up (or correct me!) but I only added water to one tray when the RH dropped below 25%. At lockdown, I added water to both but the RH would only get up to 75-80% for a little while and then start down. During lockdown, I kept it at about 65% most of the time but would have kept it higher if I could have done so consistently. I had none that shrink wrapped. I would add a wet paper towel if/when I opened the bator.

 

[watership]

I am not too experienced of a hatcher, but those are about the RH numbers that I have used in the past, but mostly I weighed them weekly and tried to keep total weekly weight loss in the desired range on graph paper. I adjusted humidity up or down based on weight. I live in So Cal and it is dry here; with no water in the brinsea, humidity ranged daily from 20-35%, so I'd add water for a few days if their weight dropped too much from the previous weigh-in.

 

[bamachicks8]

Okay, get some aquarium tubing and a feeder syringe (medical supply store, hospital, or nursing home.)  You can use a smaller one but it is a pain,  Either put a small hole in the bottom section near the top, or use the vent hole in the top section. run it down beside the turner, and through the wire floor and into the water reservoir.  I used two tubes, one with a black sharpie ring around the loose end so I could tell which I was filling.  Before you put eggs in, add water with the syringe until it is full so you know how much is too much! This way you can add water without opening the bator and know how much the humidity goes up with a measured quantity.

I used a small piece of duct tape to hold the end down flat in the bottom of the tray.

Bama'8, you listening? 

And taking notes bama hen let me know if you need a syringe

 

[ronott1]

Quote:

I want some other hatchers to weigh in here to back me up (or correct me!) but I only added water to one tray when the RH dropped below 25%. At lockdown, I added water to both but the RH would only get up to 75-80% for a little while and then start down. I kept it at about 65% most of the time but would have kept it higher if I could have done so consistently. I had none that shrink wrapped. I would add a wet paper towel if/when I opened the bator.

Yes, keep the humidity at 35 to 45% and refill the tanks(whatever it takes to get it to 35 to 45% when it drops to 25%. Shoot for 65% to 70% at lockdown.

You should also watch the air cell development and adjust the humidity level to match.


After the hatch, you can trouble shoot the hatch. If the chicks are sticky with amber liquid, then raise the humidity 5% for the first 18 days.

Good hatching!

 

[Bama1]

Y'all are great ! Thank you so much for the info.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I want some other hatchers to weigh in here to back me up (or correct me!) but I only added water to one tray when the RH dropped below 25%. At lockdown, I added water to both but the RH would only get up to 75-80% for a little while and then start down. I kept it at about 65% most of the time but would have kept it higher if I could have done so consistently. I had none that shrink wrapped. I would add a wet paper towel if/when I opened the bator.

I'll never keep it up that high here. But if I keep water in both the wells, the chicks hatch fine. If I start monkeying with the numbers, my chicks end up shrink wrapped. I usually get a few shrink wrapped at the end, anyway, when there's all kinds of humidity issues from all the hatched chicks in there.

I'm hoping to come home to wave 1 of hatched chicks today before Snowmagedden starts tonight.

Then my Wisher eggs will have the entire incubator to themselves and I can take them out and candle them much more easily.

 

[henney penny]

When I hatch in the winter the air is so dry my house so I have trouble with humidity in the bator,this helped me,I bought some cotton clothes line rope and cut a piece long enough to run from a glass of water into the bottom of the bator through the hole that the cord for the turner comes out off.It worked great for me

 

[buckabucka]

I'm not that experienced, but I try to make my numbers add up to 100. Usually I aim for 30% then 70%. I don't weigh each egg, but I weigh the entire tray (Brinsea) and graph it as I go along. I subtract any quitters as I pull them out.

SCG, our house is dry because of the wood heat, but I can easily get my humidity up to 70% with a washcloth. I spread it over the entire bottom, making sure it dips into the 2 channels (didn't I learn that from you?). I add water daily if necessary with a straw and one of those bulbs you get in an ear cleaning kit.
I don't think the heavy snow will arrive until Friday night. I'm looking forward to wallowing around in it over the weekend!