The Olive-Egger thread!

[jeffsmith13]

Thank you

 

[morbius18]

First time hatching anything in an incubator so I tried for some olive eggers. I wanted some laying hens to sell in the spring, so I started them early. I started with 20 blue eggs. The dark eggs in the photo are from my Golden Cuckoo hens, which I decided not to hatch. They would be hard to tell apart initially.

Rooster is a French Golden Cuckoo Marans, so they all should be barred with feathered legs.

Hens are from 3 easter eggers that I raised from chicks.

Eggs were put into the incubator on Nov 28th. I removed the auto turner yesterday, and checked them this morning. I used the candler and could see one already broken through the air sack. I also identified 2 eggs that died around a week or so ago. Around dark, I checked again and one had already pipped, after 19 days!

I kept the humidity at the ambient 30% or so until a few days ago, and i bumped it up to 55-60 %. So, out of 20, I had 5 infertile and 2 quitters. Tomorrow, I'll do a necropsy on them to see how far along they were.

Hopefully I'll wake to a chick or few. I'll post updates.

 

[gimmie birdies]

A pip- and a hatch are 2 different things so if they pip at day 19 it is not early it is on time and will hatch by day 21.

 

[aart]

Eggs were put into the incubator on Nov 28th. I removed the auto turner yesterday, and checked them this morning. I used the candler and could see one already broken through the air sack. I also identified 2 eggs that died around a week or so ago. Around dark, I checked again and one had already pipped, after 19 days!



I kept the humidity at the ambient 30% or so until a few days ago, and i bumped it up to 55-60 %. So, out of 20, I had 5 infertile and 2 quitters. Tomorrow, I'll do a necropsy on them to see how far along they were.

Hopefully I'll wake to a chick or few. I'll post updates.

Once pipping starts best not to open the incubator at all.
Pull the quitters and clears at day 18 when taking turner out.
Then leave it closed so as not to lose humidity, doesn't take much to shrink wrap a pipping chick.

 

[morbius18]

Once pipping starts best not to open the incubator at all.
Pull the quitters and clears at day 18 when taking turner out.
Then leave it closed so as not to lose humidity, doesn't take much to shrink wrap a pipping chick.

I had to add water to the trays, and didn't expect them to pip this early.

 

[aart]

Quote: Trick I came up with to add water without opening bator:
Siphon bottle with tiny rigid irrigation tubing attached with some silicone aquarium airline.
Can feed the tubing thru vent holes in top of bator down to thru screen over reservoirs.

 

[morbius18]

Trick I came up with to add water without opening bator: Siphon bottle with tiny rigid irrigation tubing attached with some silicone aquarium airline. Can feed the tubing thru vent holes in top of bator down to thru screen over reservoirs.

The litle giant I have you can slide the lid forward like 1/8 an inch and fill from outside. Doesn't seem to impact the numbers much. Ihave the incubator in my basement, its unheated, but insulated well. I have to run a dehumidifier to keep the humidity below 60%. The heat from the humidifier and ambient air keeps it like 60 degrees, so the ambient humidity outside the incubater is still like 50%.

 

[morbius18]

I'll have to get one of those to try next batch

 

[aart]

Nice to have humid room for bator.
I usually hatch late winter, the house is very dry by then well into the winter heating season.

 

[morbius18]

That's the ambient numbers with 39 degrees outside. I set it up for garden storage, ie. Squash, potatoes, apples. It just stays too warm for that though. I insulated too well I guess.