The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[KF0002]

The heat now is a big problem. My house isn't on central air and my bedroom is the only room that's semi cool.
The laundry room is like my mudroom and is ideal as far as having the space and nothing really pulling power there. Problem is is that it's not cooled and I shut it at night.
That's where I've been storing eggs because I used the LG turners and no issue with plug ins. It's been getting warmer and warmer there. Over 80° so I was thinking not ideal for egg storage. That's also where I moved the pepsi-bator.
My room is between 70° and 78°. Can't go colder or it's just not comfortable to me. 76° or 78° are these 93°/95° days. Poor window ac can't combat these temps steady throughout the day.
I'm thinking those temps are fine for storage of eggs. Goodbye auto turners ugh.
Now the issue. My room is on a circuit and of course it's got a bedroom's worth of stuff plugged in. Idk how many incubators I should really be running at once with everything else.
Realistically to hatch what I'd like I'd need at least 6 running full time.
Back to the pepsi-bator. I can run it at half capacity and do fine. That means 2 or better yet 3 incubators running as hatchers in my room. All doable and I have eggs in the big incubator now.
With temps over 90° I've discovered the room temp is up there. But with that and 3 turners running in the incubator it's too hot in there. I checked countless times yesterday and never seen it even click on and a couple times it was above 102°. Goodbye I'm afraid to all those eggs.
Dilemmas, dilemmas.
I'm not looking to invest and pay to run an ac in the mudroom. I'm not looking to overload the electrical circuit in my room.
Ugh, ugh, ugh. And that's not even dealing with the humidity yet. Dry hatching is still running high. Lockdown is a pita because dry ain't quite there and hardly any water puts them to high 70s or low 80s. It's making the balancing act unrealistic while I'm at work or gone.
Mother Nature must not like chicks.

The heat has made it my way so I commiserate with you entirely! Even though I love it, it's hard on the birds. I had to put another fan in the brooder building and move all of the older chicks out so they didn't heat stroke out. The younger chicks can handle the heat a little better, but it won't be long and I will be moving all of them out also.

Would you be able to hatch in the fall when it is cooler? If the hens regain their feathers in time, that is, and cooperate with laying. Or try storing your hatching eggs in the refrigerator? You just have to remember to turn them at least every other day. It would be worth a shot to see if that improves things at all, even with just an experimental bunch. We have set eggs in the incubator before that came out of the fridge. You just have to let them come up to room temp before setting them.

 

[KF0002]

I wing banded all of the Silver Leghorns today, there are only 13 left unless I miscounted. Anyone wanna guess how many roosters there are? I will give you a hint, it's a lot.

 

[KF0002]

It must be a year for hatching roosters. Out of 12 Legbar/Leghorn chicks, only 3 were pullets. And out of my 5 Silver Ginger/Leghorn chicks only one is looking like a pullet.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

The heat made it here today. I've got day old chicks in the garage brooder with no supplemental heat! I turned the heat lamp on to see if it was too much. I turned it off when I saw them panting!

 

[Chookwagn]

It must be a year for hatching roosters. Out of 12 Legbar/Leghorn chicks, only 3 were pullets. And out of my 5 Silver Ginger/Leghorn chicks only one is looking like a pullet.

Ugh that was me last year....

 

[KF0002]

The heat made it here today. I've got day old chicks in the garage brooder with no supplemental heat! I turned the heat lamp on to see if it was too much. I turned it off when I saw them panting!

I only have LED bulbs in my lamps now. I am thankful I don't have anymore eggs hatching this summer. Just some guinea fowl eggs a friend wanted me to set, but the keets will be leaving as soon as they hatch. I will be glad to get a break from chicks. lol

 

[KF0002]

Ugh that was me last year....

It's looking like there will be lots of rooster meat for us and the dogs in the fall once they all grow out, and plenty of catfish bait. I will just have to protect what Silver pullets I do have, and the solo Silver Ginger/Leghorn pullet, and keep them safe.

 

[The Moonshiner]

The heat has made it my way so I commiserate with you entirely! Even though I love it, it's hard on the birds. I had to put another fan in the brooder building and move all of the older chicks out so they didn't heat stroke out. The younger chicks can handle the heat a little better, but it won't be long and I will be moving all of them out also.

Would you be able to hatch in the fall when it is cooler? If the hens regain their feathers in time, that is, and cooperate with laying. Or try storing your hatching eggs in the refrigerator? You just have to remember to turn them at least every other day. It would be worth a shot to see if that improves things at all, even with just an experimental bunch. We have set eggs in the incubator before that came out of the fridge. You just have to let them come up to room temp before setting them.

I don't think I'd go as far as putting them in the fridge. I know have had success doing so but I can't get my head around that not being too cold .
It's all interesting though because I just saw something from the APA about storing hatching eggs. At first it said store at room temp. 53° - 60° is ideal. Who keeps their room temp 53° - 60°? Not me, that's d@mn cold. So ya, does anyone store eggs in that temp range? My room gets up to 78°.
It says humidity at 75% is ideal. Moisture loss is the most detrimental thing during storage. I haven't been monitoring but last year my room stayed around 50% or so. Is that really to low? Again who wants 75% humidity in their house?
I have a window ac. Maybe store eggs right in front of it so it blows across them. That would have to be the coolest spot and also highest humidity I would think.
Said 7 or less days is idea. Over 10 things do down hill quickly. Setting every 10 or 11 days would actually work better for me. Would that really be that much worse then 7?
Also mentioned turning once a day. I've always done twice a day and then three times a day these last several years. Is once enough? Not gonna lie sounds easier on me.
Anyone any thoughts?

 

[Buckeye Amy]

Interesting information!

I collect eggs in mid spring, late March to mid April, and I keep them in a cardboard egg carton in my garage. At that time of year, my garage is probably in the low 50's with humidity around 70%. I tilt the carton 180 degrees side to side throughout the day, whenever I happen to walk by. If I'm really busy, I'm lucky if I remember to tilt the carton at all! I store for less than a week and aim for 5 days if I can.

Have you taken the temperature of the air coming out of your AC unit? It's probably colder than you think. I don't know about storing them in front of it, that might be too cold.

 

[NagemTX]

We have central ac and our in house humidity at 73 to 75 degrees is about 30% to 50%. It depends on the outside humidity. If that helps.