today is day 18!!!

[aran]

Hi guys...today is day 18 on the silkie eggs...i candled last night and 5/5 of them are moving in the egg so thats awesome...i thought one of em had died in the egg but nope he/she was wiggling around in there. Now is today the day I stop the turning and crank the humidity up to 80%?

I do have other eggs in there which are on day 5 and day 3 respectively. Hopefully they will be ok for 3 days with they humidity up! I can always make another incubator/hatcher i guess.

The humidity in the bator currently is 61%...if i put a wet sock in the corner that should do it huh? Should i also be sprittsing (?SP) the eggs with water from a spray bottle?

Is there any particular position i need to leave the eggs in from this point on?

 

[hinkjc]

Ideal humidity is 70% relative during the hatching days. I do not spritz my eggs with water..I feel it encourages bacteria into the pores and is not a good practice, altho others do it with success. I know waterfowl do better with higher humidity, so I guess it depends on what you are hatching too.

You just lay the eggs down on their side for hatching time. If I were you, I would move the other eggs (that are not due) to another incubator or put them in something inside that one so they don't get rolled around by the hatching chicks. If anything will destroy em, that will.

IMO it is not a good idea to have multiple hatching dates in one unit. Don't forget those chicks are going to goo up the unhatched eggs and will most likely pass their first feces in the hatcher. It just creates an unsanitary environment for developing chicks.

Jody

 

[aran]

thanks a lot jody thats all great information.

I have put all the other eggs at the other end of the bator. I have left the 5 that are on day 18 to have about 2/3 of the bator to themselves. I put a wet cloth in there and now the window is all fogged up...the hygrometer says 75-80% but im not convinced that it isnt higher than that...will they hatch if the humidity stays around the 65 mark?

Perhaps I will put the other eggs into the styrofoam egg containers in the bator when we get to day 20 just to be sure they dont get rolled around.

It was not the intention to end up with 3 different hatch dates in the bator simultaneously...just worked out that way.

 

[sara]

day 18! Woohoo your almost there!

 

[aran]

i know...SOOO exciting!~

 

[hinkjc]

If you're going to do any changes within the hatcher, I would do it now. You don't want to open it after day 19 until all chicks have hatched or the hatch appears to be complete. Opening may result in unhatched or stuck chicks due to changes in the environment during the hatch phase from opening the lid.

I think your humidity is too high, but that's my opinion. In my experience, 65-70% relative humidity is best for hatch time. Otherwise, you will get soggy chicks that die shortly after hatch or they will drown in the shell. I don't mean to scare you, just trying to offer experienced advice.

I bet you are so excited. Congrats on getting this far and good luck with your hatch.

Jody

 

[aran]

cheers Jody... i was also worried about the high humidity and the effects on the chicks...i took the wet cloth out and filled the 3rd little pan under the hardward cloth floor with water. I put 3 in at the beginning of this but have only had 2 full of water to keep it at 45-55%. I checked it again about an hour later and the humidity was sitting at 65% so i think i will leave it at that. Boy i hope the lil guys are ok.

 

[aran]

ok today is day 21...no sign of movement of the eggs ( i have not candled in the last 4 days) but the bator is doing good...between 98.4 and 102.3 for the most part...i know thats fairly variable but it seems since i increased the humidity to 70-80% that the temp is more fluctuant like that.


Hopefully some of the lil guys hatch out. I candled the newer silkie eggs and it looks like 4 of the 8 have embryos growing so far...its day 8 for them today. I candled them at day 6 so more may have developed since then. I will be able to candle the buff laced polish eggs in about 3 days when they are at about day 7-8.

 

[Chellester]

How exciting for you!!!

I am on day 5 with my first ever batch of eggs. I candled them last night and I see growth in around half of them. I was so excited since this is my first attempt at hatching and I wasn't sure I was going to get any to hatch out at all. I could barely sleep last night just knowing I have live growing eggs; I'm going to be a total mess on hatching day!!!

 

[MissPrissy]

I am excited just waiting for your hatch. Next week I will be on the hunt for eggs for myself. We'll be home with no where to go so I won't worry myself silly being somewhere and wondering if things are ok in the bator. LOL