To high humidity HELP PLZ!!!!

[Brandysgirls]

That is great news! I hope you'll have some more by tomorrow as well!

Silkies are harder to hatch aren't they? They're so brittle I feel like LOL

 

[LynnaePB]

Silkies are harder to hatch aren't they? They're so brittle I feel like LOL

Honestly I'm not sure, I haven't given other eggs enough of a shot to compare. I've incubated some various mixed breed eggs but I feel like those have generally been really good at hatching perhaps due to hybrid vigor.

The vaulted skulls silkies can have probably don't help, I sometimes wonder if the large vaults contribute to certain malpositions.

 

[Brandysgirls]

Honestly I'm not sure, I haven't given other eggs enough of a shot to compare. I've incubated some various mixed breed eggs but I feel like those have generally been really good at hatching perhaps due to hybrid vigor.

The vaulted skulls silkies can have probably don't help, I sometimes wonder if the large vaults contribute to certain malpositions.

U know I think your right! And the last batch that most of them were breech nearly every one of them had the biggest vaulted skulls I have ever seen! they were huge and I mean like it looked like another head sitting on top of their head!! So that definitely could be a reason that I didn't turn the correct way in the egg I've never thought about that!

 

[JaeG]

Honestly I'm not sure, I haven't given other eggs enough of a shot to compare. I've incubated some various mixed breed eggs but I feel like those have generally been really good at hatching perhaps due to hybrid vigor.

The vaulted skulls silkies can have probably don't help, I sometimes wonder if the large vaults contribute to certain malpositions.

What's your advice for breeding birds with vaulted skulls? Is it ok to breed two vaulted skulled birds together if neither has too large a vault? Or is it best to match a vaulted with a non vaulted?

 

[LynnaePB]

What's your advice for breeding birds with vaulted skulls? Is it ok to breed two vaulted skulled birds together if neither has too large a vault? Or is it best to match a vaulted with a non vaulted?

I'm probably not the best person to ask as I don't have enough breeding experience myself (I've really just started breeding from my own flock this year). Mostly I hear silkie breeders don't really breed for or against vaults and I'm not sure how many actually take into account if a bird is vaulted or not when breeding. I read one or two accounts where a breeder did start running into problems when breeding vaulted to vaulted for a few generations which makes sense to me.

I'd really like to breed away from the vaults personally. I've seen in an autopsy photo from another breeder just how poorly protected their poor brains are when they have the really large vaults. The photo I saw showed the entire top of the skull was missing and the sides appeared to go up only partially.

Nearly all my females have vaults so to start I'm just trying not to pair them up with males with a vault. Most of my males hatch without vaults and most of my females hatch with them. I've got a couple promising pullets from my grow outs this year that didn't appear to have vaults at hatch. I'm looking forward to seeing what percentage of their chicks hatch without vaults when they are old enough to breed and if I get lucky and get more females without vaults from them paired with a non vaulted cock.

I did just read something interesting in favor of vaults from a very experienced breeder. Their post was from years ago but perhaps it still stands. They were mentioning most crested breeds actually need a vault to get a really nice rounded crest. They mentioned the vaulted silkies would more likely have the more rounded crest. In my grow outs I don't see a big difference in the roundness of crest in vaulted vs non vaulted though.

 

[Self sufficient Life]

Keep in mind it’s not how much water you add that effects humidity you can add a plenty of water as long as it’s not going to get the eggs wet. Humidity is based on surface area not depth.

 

[Brandysgirls]

Keep in mind it’s not how much water you add that effects humidity you can add a plenty of water as long as it’s not going to get the eggs wet. Humidity is based on surface area not depth.

Yea which is why I okay add a teaspoon!!! So it doesn't cover hartley any surface area!!! The humidity runs between 33-39 without any water..and hatch is perfect if I can keep it at 40-45 but just a drop of water and it shoots up to 50 or higher..that's the reason I normally only add water every 3 days..just a teaspoon..I was trying to get an average humidity of 40-45.. not sure why I added water daily this timeGot to comfy I guess.

 

[JaeG]

I'm probably not the best person to ask as I don't have enough breeding experience myself (I've really just started breeding from my own flock this year). Mostly I hear silkie breeders don't really breed for or against vaults and I'm not sure how many actually take into account if a bird is vaulted or not when breeding. I read one or two accounts where a breeder did start running into problems when breeding vaulted to vaulted for a few generations which makes sense to me.

I'd really like to breed away from the vaults personally. I've seen in an autopsy photo from another breeder just how poorly protected their poor brains are when they have the really large vaults. The photo I saw showed the entire top of the skull was missing and the sides appeared to go up only partially.

Nearly all my females have vaults so to start I'm just trying not to pair them up with males with a vault. Most of my males hatch without vaults and most of my females hatch with them. I've got a couple promising pullets from my grow outs this year that didn't appear to have vaults at hatch. I'm looking forward to seeing what percentage of their chicks hatch without vaults when they are old enough to breed and if I get lucky and get more females without vaults from them paired with a non vaulted cock.

I did just read something interesting in favor of vaults from a very experienced breeder. Their post was from years ago but perhaps it still stands. They were mentioning most crested breeds actually need a vault to get a really nice rounded crest. They mentioned the vaulted silkies would more likely have the more rounded crest. In my grow outs I don't see a big difference in the roundness of crest in vaulted vs non vaulted though.

Thanks for that, that's really helpful. I've been hatching some British Tailed Araucana eggs I bought and quite a few of the chicks from one source have a vaulted skull. The chicks from another source do not but I was wanting to combine them anyway because I want to make Brown Reds from them (I have Partridge and Birchens) and then from them make some Lemon Blues. But I have kids who have their favourites so we might be keeping a few vaults or no.

The British Tailed Araucana have a crest but it is not supposed to obscure their eyes like a polish crest, so I'll be interested to see how the vaulted vs the non vaulted turn out. I'll have to keep careful track of who is who once they really start to feather out.

 

[LynnaePB]

@Brandysgirls Any progress? I keep hoping you'll be getting some external pips today!

Thanks for that, that's really helpful. I've been hatching some British Tailed Araucana eggs I bought and quite a few of the chicks from one source have a vaulted skull. The chicks from another source do not but I was wanting to combine them anyway because I want to make Brown Reds from them (I have Partridge and Birchens) and then from them make some Lemon Blues. But I have kids who have their favourites so we might be keeping a few vaults or no.

The British Tailed Araucana have a crest but it is not supposed to obscure their eyes like a polish crest, so I'll be interested to see how the vaulted vs the non vaulted turn out. I'll have to keep careful track of who is who once they really start to feather out.

No problem, I'm glad it was helpful! I'd never heard of British Tailed Araucana, they look adorable!

Their crests look small enough I'm guessing the vaults are at a much better size, I'd think as long as you keep the vaults small-medium you'd probably be alright. I've seen some skulls of birds with smaller vaults and it seems like the skull often grows over the entire brain when the vault isn't too big. Good luck with your breeding project with them, sounds like a neat project!

 

[Brandysgirls]

@Brandysgirls Any progress? I keep hoping you'll be getting some external pips today!



No problem, I'm glad it was helpful! I'd never heard of British Tailed Araucana, they look adorable!

Their crests look small enough I'm guessing the vaults are at a much better size, I'd think as long as you keep the vaults small-medium you'd probably be alright. I've seen some skulls of birds with smaller vaults and it seems like the skull often grows over the entire brain when the vault isn't too big. Good luck with your breeding project with them, sounds like a neat project!

I think I may be on the wrong one here but look at my silkies 6 hatched and total out of 12 and the other six were breach.. actually there was 7 that was breached but omemade it!!! Thank you so much for the advice!!!!