The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[Happy Chooks]

http://www.shilala.com/incubating.html

The info I was refering to on temperature is in this article

Quote:

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]This is plain and simple, yet the MOST important part of hatching.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Still-air incubator (no fan):101.5 degrees measured at the TOP of the eggs.
Fan Forced incubator: 99.5 degrees measured anywhere in the incubator.
Humidity: 60-65% for the first 18 days, 80-85% for the last 3 days.
You can sneak by with humidity numbers that aren't very accurate, but the combination of poor humidity and temperature will definately cause problems at hatch time. If your temperature is not accurate you will DEFINATELY have problems at hatch time. The bigger the deviation from the proper temperature, the bigger your problems will be![/FONT]​

​

I used this info when I first started hatching. I personally have less problems with eggs if the temps are on the low side of the range. I actually just had an incubator get unplugged for 2 days at day 17 and still had 6 out of 25 hatch after I plugged it back in. I think its just like a chick that gets too cold, you can sometimes see them come back when they warm up. Once their cooked their done though. I hope you get it worked out. One of the most frustrating things in the world of chickens that loosing chickies

Congrats on the new baby alpaca! That must be fantastic!!!

I don't agree with those humidity levels. 80-80% you risk drowning them. I add water for the day I set my eggs (which brings it to roughly 35%), then don't add any water after that til lock down. At lock down, I add water and bring it to 55-60%. Everything that is viable hatches. I don't have any glued chicks or any other hatching issues. My last hatch had 16 eggs going into lockdown, and 13 hatched. (the 3 that didn't were late quitters)

IMO temperature is far more important. I recommend the Brinsea Spot check thermometer as it's accurate to .1 degree.

If the window is fogging up, your humidity is too high.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Nope, not kidding. Crowing - no doubt about it. He stretches his neck and this squeaky sound comes out. I got a video of it, but haven't had a chance to upload it yet.

 

[faykokoWV]

sorry, guess I should clarify, I do agree with Happychooks about the humidity. I'm actually doing dry incubation method now. I was referring to the article specifically about temps. I should have been more clear.... my bad

 

[Happy Chooks]

Alright, here is the video of the little crower. He is 3 days old in this video, but started crowing the day before this. Sorry for the wobbly-ness of the video.

 

[missydcpc]

Aww...he's adorable!

 

[soldier]

WOW, I can not believe that chick is crowing. It makes me wonder if he will/already has to much T. My guess is he is going to be one Macho son of a gun. I have never seen ANYTHING like that.

Do you like your brooder light?

 

[DFCottage]

My method has been this (below) and I've had the best hatch rates ever this year! Maybe 5 eggs out of about 140 haven't make it to lock, and of those that did get to lock around 90-95% hatched with some 100% hatches.

Humidity: 38-45% Day 1-18
Humidity: 70-74% Lockdown

I know a lot of folks out there enjoy the 'dry' method, but I had better hatches by upping the humidity slightly. I had the humidity jacked up to 80% for lockdown towards the end of last year thinking it would help, and it definitely didn't.. had a few chicks drown. But around 60-65% I had some get stuck (with no opening of the bator) so 70-75% or so has been my magic #'s.

 

[Happy Chooks]

The Eco Glow? I love it. It was given to me by a friend and I'll never brood under a heat lamp again. This is the 2nd group of chicks I have raised under it. I have a regular light bulb in there for the first week to provide light and a bit of extra heat, as I brood outdoors in a small coop (temps are getting into the high 30's at night) and want to make sure the babies aren't chilled. Then I'll switch it to a 25 watt party bulb for lighting. (the coop has no windows for light) There is no lighting in the Eco Glow itself - it is radiant heat, like a heating pad. The heating element is on the underside and you can put your hand on it and it's just warm. The chicks are much happier under it, like they are under a broody. Oh, and the energy savings on the electric bill compared to a heat lamp is fantastic!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Hey Kim.........aren't your wellies due to hatch soon?

 

[pinkchick]

Hey Kim.........aren't your wellies due to hatch soon?

Yep! 6 of them went into lockdown yesterday. The 7 others quit. But they had excellent developement. 1 of them had the weirdest air cell. When I candled, I could see happy little wigglers in the 6 that made it to lockdown. Getting very excited!!!!