Thoughts on Dry Hatch & Oh Yea They're Hatching!! Pics added

[ParadisePoultry]

JanieMarie

Yup, I'm the one who PM'd you before about how you ship your eggs. I am definitely going to have to get some BLRW hatching eggs from you this spring. Did't know it was warmer today...have been flat on my back with a herniated disc for a while. Just getting up to let the dogs out and reading BYC. I love the adventures of Barbara (my first name, by the way) the Barred Rock and looking at the game cam photos.

 

[JanieMarie]

Oooh that sounds painful! Hope you heal up real soon! Byc is such a great passtime isn't it! Noone looks at you like your crazy or says anything if they walk into your house and find out you have more new chicks!! I'm gonna have to become a 'closet hatcher!'

 

[chickenmeadow]

Happy to find this thread. I've been doing the 'Official Christmas Hatch! c'mon and join' thread & have been debating using the egg carton at hatch. Now that I've read the comments here & seen pictures, I feel brave enough to try it; besides it makes sense. My concern is that I have vowed not to open the incubator to remove chicks as they hatch & just let them get out, without me opening to mess with their humidity, etc. Have been using the "dry incubation" method since day 3 after reading a closed thread on the BYC on it; Buddy Henry's comments have been very informative. Have had trouble incubating in the past & knew that something needed to change. So, thanks for your great comments & fantastic pictures. I'm sending some members to this thread too to see the pictures. You are all so supportive! My hatch is due Dec. 24th; best wishes to you all on yours.

 

[sangel4you]

I'm on that thread as well and have also decided to use the carton. I was going to use paper, and now I'm not sure and may use styrofoam. I think the paper will work as a wick and absorb my moisture...

 

[MuranoFarms]

Quote:
I thought about that too. However, if the carton gets moist, it will be holding that moisture right next to the eggs. So is that really a bad thing?

(I don't know one way or another...just trying to debate through the pro's and cons) I'm trying cartons right now, except for my odd shaped egg. That ones laying down.

 

[ParadisePoultry]

Quote:
Thanks, I have Vicodin for the pain, but when I take it, I'm not good for nothin', just sit on the couch and stare and drool. And I can do that without pain pills lol. I did manage to mix up some of Gumpgirls marvelous bread though. My 9 year old granddaughter (DGD?)is home getting over a cold and I thought it would be fun for her and me. It's rising now, she can't wait to "punch it" down and roll it out.
We're making bread with half and cinnamon rolls with the other half.....oops..sorry about the hijack.....and now, back to your regularly scheduled thread....

bj

 

[chickenmeadow]

Well, since my "lockdown" starts on the 21st for the 7 eggs (out of 10 shipped), I got started on sizzor adapting the cardboard egg carton to fit in my Marsh round plastic dome incubator. Square things just dont fit in it well without taking up too much space, which will be needed when they are out of egg & getting around; I'm still vowing to not open the incubator till they are all hatched & keep the humidity up. So, the egg carton now looks like a 1/2 circle catapillar. The bator has been very consistant & I didn't want to have to deal with a humidity change when putting the egg carton in, so it's in my 2nd bator soaking up the humidity in there; I guess those without a 2nd one could put the carton in a sealed container with a bowl of water in it overnight to achieve the same thing. The styrofoam carton seemed like a great idea, until I thought about it heating up & possibly causing fumes. Have humidity at around 40-42% (with times of drying down to almost 25%) for days 1-17; then day 18 it goes up to 55% at lockdown with no opening the incubator till hatches are done. My air cells are looking good, according to the charts. At day 14, I used my copy maching to size the egg drawing to match the size of my bantam eggs, then the lights went out & the candling began. It was comical trying to compair the egg & air cell to the drawing & air cell with the little hand held led flashlight, but I got it done.

It would be fun to be a chicken for a day, as I can just imagine how much they laugh at us trying to think like a chicken with our elaborate ideas! Best wishes to you all.

 

[sangel4you]

getting a touch dejected. My humidity has been below 35 since over two days ago when I posted pics (pg 4) and my air cells haven't changed at all. today is day 14... I'm worried they wont grow fast enough now before I have to raise the humidity at lockdown. I also noticed the one egg that I tend to check more frequently than the rest due to it being right at the edge and easily accesible, has become a bit more vascular. I have a feeling they're going to hatch late as they're not as big as those in pics that I see at day 14, but I was wondering if the increased vascularity is a good sign or bad. And if they do hatch late, will the extra day or two without being turned in lockdown hurt them? Sorry I know I'm the one that asks too many questions around here ha ha

 

[chickenmeadow]

You're not the only one that is nervous or anxious, suddenly the days to countdown seem to be going slower. I've been rotating the eggs every morning to a different spot in case there's hot, dry or cold spots; as I've seen hens do. I'll just be happy when I can hear them cheep inside the egg.

I believe they need day 18 thru 19 to position themselves for being able to reach & break the air sac, so I'm going to stop turning & touching the eggs on day 18 so they can do what nature needs them to do. When we raised 200 pairs of cockatiels in the 80's, I was told that the reason they peck into the air sac is because they are having convulsive head jerks due to a low oxygen level & which makes them peck thru the egg shell. Isn't nature wonderful!

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
This is one of my most favorite times .... hearing the cheeping!