The NEW Crazy 24hr AUCTION thread

[yinepu]

Every part of my incubator gets cleaned with bleach every time in between use (including the egg turner if I'm using it). And rinsed well. I leave the two vents open (is a farm innovators incubator), monitor temp and humidity every couple hours, its in a place with little temperature fluctuation. Its a forced air, so there is circulation. I use three thermometer/hygrometers in it. Two down on egg level, one on the window on top so I can check temp differences, etc. Perhaps I will give the oxine a try. WHen I've done eggtopsies, there hasn't been bacteria or signs of it in most of them. The ones that made it today 18 I think drowned in the shell because I hiked the humidity up too high (added more water before giving it enough time to equilibrate). Some I checked from my OEG weren't fertile, some were but didn't develop. I haven't recieved any washed eggs so far as they have all been from folks here on BYC who know better. The eggs are allowed to sit in the room where the bator is for at least 24 hours before I candle to check air cells. If the air cell is detatched, they get set with the fat end up for 72 hours prior to being placed in incubator (assuming the cell reattatches or I decide wth and do it anyways.) I wash my hands before candling, which I do on day 3, 7, 14, and 18 for chickens. These quail I candled on arrival and on day 12. I don't handle the eggs alot, and I don't mess with the incubator alot. I don't have any hens that are going broody (EE and cochins are all too young atm) so I can't stick them under one of them either LOL
(And maybe I should have posted this somewhere other than the auction thread... my apologies!)

So you're running at 100.5 in a forced air bator?.. that's part of the problem.. run it at 99.5.. you CAN drop the temp by one degree at hatch for the chickens (I wouldn't for quail).. but the temp for forced air bators to shoot for is 99.5 for chickens and quail..

when you candle the air cells are they on track?.. if so then the chicks shouldn't be drowning in the shell... adding a lot of water at once won't cause drowning (lol.. unless you are submerging the eggs).. it's caused by the overall humidity being too high during the entire (or majority of) incubation.. which would be evident by finding air cells that are too small for that day of incubation when you candle..

by the way.. if a chick dies from bacteria you won't SEE the bacteria.. all you will find is a dead chick unless it has begun to rot.. which it would have to die well before day 18 to rot enough for you to see decomposing goo..

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
yup.. Porters hatch theirs the same way my grandparents did (lol.. and their parents).... ..

though I must admit.. I hatched these last ones completely dry (even at hatch).. I figured with the storms we had been having (extremely high relative humidity for us) there was no point in raising the humidity at hatch unless there was a problem.. and they hatched out just fine... no issues at all..

I've had turkeys hatch in my inincubator ( v. hatcher) also. IMO higher humidity is important when the zipping is taking too long. Do you see this?

 

[ki4got]

Every part of my incubator gets cleaned with bleach every time in between use (including the egg turner if I'm using it). And rinsed well. I leave the two vents open (is a farm innovators incubator), monitor temp and humidity every couple hours, its in a place with little temperature fluctuation. Its a forced air, so there is circulation. I use three thermometer/hygrometers in it. Two down on egg level, one on the window on top so I can check temp differences, etc. Perhaps I will give the oxine a try. WHen I've done eggtopsies, there hasn't been bacteria or signs of it in most of them. The ones that made it today 18 I think drowned in the shell because I hiked the humidity up too high (added more water before giving it enough time to equilibrate). Some I checked from my OEG weren't fertile, some were but didn't develop. I haven't recieved any washed eggs so far as they have all been from folks here on BYC who know better. The eggs are allowed to sit in the room where the bator is for at least 24 hours before I candle to check air cells. If the air cell is detatched, they get set with the fat end up for 72 hours prior to being placed in incubator (assuming the cell reattatches or I decide wth and do it anyways.) I wash my hands before candling, which I do on day 3, 7, 14, and 18 for chickens. These quail I candled on arrival and on day 12. I don't handle the eggs alot, and I don't mess with the incubator alot. I don't have any hens that are going broody (EE and cochins are all too young atm) so I can't stick them under one of them either LOL
(And maybe I should have posted this somewhere other than the auction thread... my apologies!)

ok something I noticed... you said temp 100.5 but now you're saying forced air (with fan). the 100-101 would be for still air (no fan). so with fan you want it 99.5. 1 degree isn't usually going to cause problems but you never know... also make sure of the temp with multiple thermometers... I compared mine with a digital oral thermometer (for people) since those are usually spot on, and all my thermometers (other digital and fluid ones) were all off by a degree or 3... so now I write on the 'bator what THAT thermometer's reading should be, to get it right and keep it there.

knock on wood tho, the hovabators don't fluctuate at all for me, so I haven't adjusted them at all in nearly 2 years...

also, I wouldn't add ANY water until it's time for lockdown... your local humidity will be enough if the vents are all open. then during lockdown bring it up to about 55-60%. once they start hatching they'll increase it further on their own.

another thing about setting them to 'rest' before incubating. if they were hot during travel they may have already started cooking, so letting them sit may not be a good thing. all shipped eggs (for me) get set immediately and I just don't turn the turner on until day 3. either the air cell fixes itself or it doesn't. I've had chicks hatch from badly detached cells, so they all get incubated regardless.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
yup.. Porters hatch theirs the same way my grandparents did (lol.. and their parents).... ..

though I must admit.. I hatched these last ones completely dry (even at hatch).. I figured with the storms we had been having (extremely high relative humidity for us) there was no point in raising the humidity at hatch unless there was a problem.. and they hatched out just fine... no issues at all..

I've had turkeys hatch in my inincubator ( v. hatcher) also. IMO higher humidity is important when the zipping is taking too long. Do you see this?

yup... when zipping is taking too long it's because the turkey membranes are "turning to rubber" because of the low humidity.. since our local relative humidity has been so darn high this year I opted to hatch the last batch dry (dry incubation AND hatch).. they zipped out just fine.. every egg that developed hatched with 0 issues... so for now i am just going to reserve the higher humidity at hatch IF I see there's an issue with the membranes..

lol.. I have been dry incubating and dry hatching everything this year.. it has been very humid here for us... so it's been the way to go for me.. with every single egg that has developed I have had a 100% hatch rate with no issues hatching.. and no added water at all to the bators (unless I was cleaning the bators..

)


Now I won't recommend for the average person to hatch dry.. they will have to had several good hatches to see what works for them and to see if they wanted to hatch with 0 water added.. the chicks that hatch out are the best indicator as to how they should go at that point..

 

[ki4got]

if you want to take it to another thread, the incubators anonymous thread is a good place to go... don't expect help in stopping the incubating addiction, we're all enablers. LOL

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
with higher temps the chicks will develop faster..which throws off the hatch date a bit.. some also argue that it makes for "weaker chicks" (I know it does for emus when they are incubated at too high of a temp)
AND at hatch there will be less oxygen in the air (hot air holds less than cool air).. so that adds to the carbon dioxide issue.. so for a forced air bator best results for chickens is 99.5 (with a possible drop to 98.5 AT HATCH if chicks are having a hard time at hatch or are dying even with vents open)..

 

[Arielle]

First let me say that I agree with others here who have suggested local eggs first to work out the bugs in your bator..

Now on to you rother problems..

have you completely disinfected your incubator (bleach solution or oxine)?
if not .. do that before you set another egg.. AND do it between each hatch.. you have to get every nook and cranny of the incubator... bacteria is capable of hiding everywhere.. so get it as clean as possible..

Second.. does your bator have ANY vents?... if so leave them open throughout the entire incubation AND hatch.. if it's a homemade bator and doesn't have any vents.. MAKE SOME... and I mean a lot of them.. my coolerbators have holes drilled along the top and bottom edges as well as the lid being open a good half inch and stays that way even during hatch...

for chicks to die that late (day 18) tells me your problem with those is either a bacterial issue or carbon dioxide poisoning .. disinfecting will help with any bacterial issues and leaving vents wide open throughout incubation and hatch prevents carbon dioxide from building up...

for the non developing eggs.. you are either getting infertile eggs or the eggs are being damaged in shipping... buying some local eggs SHOULD rule out the damaged issue.. but when you do find locals take some padding or even a pillow with you inside of a box to set the eggs on.. it will reduce any vibrations you would get during the drive bringing them home..

I would also suggest investing in some oxine for egg dipping.. it helps a lot with eggs from unknown sources as well as if the eggs were washed by the previous owner.. granted you can't do anything about the bacteria which may already be IN the egg.. but you can make sure the eggs are as germ free as possible on the shell if you are having bacterial issues..

I rarely dip eggs.. the ones that I do are shipped because a lot of times I do get improperly washed eggs from sellers who think they are doing a good job but are infact ruining the eggs because they didn't know the correct way to wash them... (just got a shipment last week of weeping eggs.. they were probably washed by the seller since every darn egg was weeping on arrival)..

Quote:

Placement of the thermometers is very important. In a forced air the theory is 99.5 thru the whole incubator. I have an LG and it fluctuates. One method I used was to cut paper cups to hold my fish tank thermometers so they sat 1/2 the height of my eggs. I like to have 4-5 thermometers around the LG in different locations. THen take readings 3-5 times a day until I"m satisfied.

If the weather changes, my LG changes.


Also check the in vents and make sure they are not blocked. I put my LG up on legs to be sure plenty of air circulates under the unit.



I candle chicken eggs on day 5 looking at the air cells. Is it growing larger. It must be ontarget by day 7. if not, I need to adjust something. AC works well to decrease moisture in the air , at least my units do.. THese can effect the incubators temp, so I keep the AC in an adjactent room, where both rooms are effected by the AC. ( I did try a dehuidifyier-- never again!! Drove UP the room temp to sweltering in a few hours AND the LG temp jumped up, too. lol)


Just wash your hands and use a clean towel to dry. While not handling the eggs often is good, if you can't get the humidity right, the eggs will not hatch. So go ahead and handle those eggs to get spot checks on those air cells. !!

 

[yinepu]

Up for auction---


4 Black copper marans eggs

Most of my girls are broody and I am done hatching for the year. THese are only blacks, no blues in this line. Some are showing a middle toe feather, others are not; a few have white feathers, most do not.

Eggs are from 2 pens.

Shipping is your choice: 7x7 priority box for $12 or medium priority box for $16.

last bid concidered at 8 am EST Monday.
Starting bid is $8

if you want to take it to another thread, the incubators anonymous thread is a good place to go... don't expect help in stopping the incubating addiction, we're all enablers. LOL

I don't think there are any auctions currently up.. I know emvickrey's silkies ended already and it's just past the cutoff for Arielle's Marans... unless I missed an auction somewhere

 

[chick-among-us]

 

First let me say that I agree with others here who have suggested local eggs first to work out the bugs in your bator..

Now on to you rother problems..

have you completely disinfected your incubator (bleach solution or oxine)?
if not .. do that before you set another egg.. AND do it between each hatch.. you have to get every nook and cranny of the incubator... bacteria is capable of hiding everywhere.. so get it as clean as possible.. 

Second.. does your bator have ANY vents?... if so leave them open throughout the entire incubation AND hatch.. if it's a homemade bator and doesn't have any vents.. MAKE SOME... and I mean a lot of them.. my coolerbators have holes drilled along the top and bottom edges as well as the lid being open a good half inch and stays that way even during hatch... 

for chicks to die that late (day 18) tells me your problem with those is either a bacterial issue or carbon dioxide poisoning .. disinfecting will help with any bacterial issues and leaving vents wide open throughout incubation and hatch prevents carbon dioxide from building up... 

for the non developing eggs.. you are either getting infertile eggs or the eggs are being damaged in shipping... buying some local eggs SHOULD rule out the damaged issue.. but when you do find locals take some padding or even a pillow with you inside of a box to set the eggs on.. it will reduce any vibrations you would get during the drive bringing them home.. 

I would also suggest investing in some oxine for egg dipping.. it helps a lot with eggs from unknown sources as well as if the eggs were washed by the previous owner.. granted you can't do anything about the bacteria which may already be IN the egg.. but you can make sure the eggs are as germ free as possible on the shell if you are having bacterial issues..

I rarely dip eggs.. the ones that I do are shipped because a lot of times I do get improperly washed eggs from sellers who think they are doing a good job but are infact ruining the eggs because they didn't know the correct way to wash them... (just got a shipment last week of weeping eggs.. they were probably washed by the seller since every darn egg was weeping on arrival).. 

Excellent advice. I dip all my shipped, and I use oxine like it is the only thing
i have!

We use oxine to clean EVERYTHING and I dip eggs in denagard to ship or when they come in we take a shallow bowl make a denagard solution and roll theegg to coat each side then take it out no rubbing ( pushes bacteria into the egg) the solution is warm and it dries super fast on a rack we sit our eggs on to dry it gets cleaned with oxine! Lol you CANNOT be to careful with bacteria I don't care who you are Or how clean you think things are. I offer the Denagard dip to each customer as a responsible person that sells eggs nd I dip every egg that comes in so we re not transmitting disease unknowingly from one farm to another. I just think it is smart. If you read up on it nearly every farm and hatchery has the bacteria that causes mg and other nasties. Dipping eggs in Denagard actually penetrates the shell and helps the babies develop and helps kill diseases and bacteria that can cause embryonic death.

 

[Arielle]

I can post these again--
Originally Posted by Arielle

Up for auction---


4 Black copper marans eggs

Most of my girls are broody and I am done hatching for the year. THese are only blacks, no blues in this line. Some are showing a middle toe feather, others are not; a few have white feathers, most do not.

Eggs are from 2 pens.

Shipping is your choice: 7x7 priority box for $14 to west coast or $12 east of MS River or medium priority box for $16.

last bid concidered at 1 pm EST
Starting bid is $8