Too Early for Feb Hatch-A-Long Thread??

[CluckNDoodle]

10 Silkies and 10 Salmon Faverolles are officially on lockdown! Silkies due on Tuesday 2/18 and Favorelles due on Wednesday 2/19.

 

[Floydie]

Big? They're still the cutest little thimbles!

Big for button quail.

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

I candled the first bunch today (day 7) and all of the light color eggs are "swimming" and veiny. The marans are absolutely impossible to see through. Any suggestions on candling those? I'm weighing them, but have no clue about the air sac or development.

This is what I did to my NR360 - it greatly reduced the light leakage, focusing the light to the egg. (Please pardon the dust, lol)

This was very effective for my lighter colored eggs, but the light on the NR360 is maybe 200L, so not very strong. Now for my harder to see-through eggs, I used electrical tape on a 400L flashlight to create a soft, formable seal while candling. It works well, but I would suggest a much brighter light to try and get through darker eggs -

 

[wolfwalker]

Locked down a day early. Hatch should be on Wednesday. Of course it will be on a day I am running mom around to doctors and for tests 2.5 hours away from home. out of 15 eggs, 2 were removed on day 8 when I candled. Unlike most of you, I only candle at most twice with the last candling being done on lockdown. A lot of times I only candle on day 18 for shipped eggs. The less handling the better for my hatch results my records indicate as I hatch at high altitude. I also normally run humidity near 70% for teh first week then bring it down to around 50% until lockdown. I find my air cells are pretty close to where they need to be doing this. The first week I incubate shipped eggs pointy end down in a constant motion turner, then switch them to the Nurture Right for the last and I have found that no matter the outcome, my air cells have always returned to where they should be and as the vein web grows, it fixes the air cell in its proper place.

This hatch humidity has been a nightmare to keep constant and instead of refilling the ports once a day, it has been more like 5 or six times a day. I will be glad when this hatch is over.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Locked down a day early. Hatch should be on Wednesday. Of course it will be on a day I am running mom around to doctors and for tests 2.5 hours away from home. out of 15 eggs, 2 were removed on day 8 when I candled. Unlike most of you, I only candle at most twice with the last candling being done on lockdown. A lot of times I only candle on day 18 for shipped eggs. The less handling the better for my hatch results my records indicate as I hatch at high altitude. I also normally run humidity near 70% for teh first week then bring it down to around 50% until lockdown. I find my air cells are pretty close to where they need to be doing this. The first week I incubate shipped eggs pointy end down in a constant motion turner, then switch them to the Nurture Right for the last and I have found that no matter the outcome, my air cells have always returned to where they should be and as the vein web grows, it fixes the air cell in its proper place.

This hatch humidity has been a nightmare to keep constant and instead of refilling the ports once a day, it has been more like 5 or six times a day. I will be glad when this hatch is over.

Wow, I'm glad you found what works for you. It sounds like hatching can be really tricky in your area.

If I remember correctly these are some of your Isbar eggs is that correct? After having 5 hatch yesterday, from an assorted egg lot, I'm impressed with the breed. Why have you chosen this breed to focus on?

 

[AgnesGray]

You have a Nurture Right? My top tip to greatly improve the built-in candler is to use black electrical tape to cover the white plastic around the light, which stops light bleed. As for seeing through darker eggs, all you can do is get a much brighter light, and just hope...

This is what I did to my NR360 - it greatly reduced the light leakage, focusing the light to the egg. (Please pardon the dust, lol)View attachment 2027584

This was very effective for my lighter colored eggs, but the light on the NR360 is maybe 200L, so not very strong. Now for my harder to see-through eggs, I used electrical tape on a 400L flashlight to create a soft, formable seal while candling. It works well, but I would suggest a much brighter light to try and get through darker eggs -
View attachment 2027585
View attachment 2027586

Nice! I will try that if I can't find a bright flashlight. My husband has one that will shine a direct light to the end of our 5 acre lot, but i don't think he'll let me put tape in it. Lol. Better order one though as I really want to know what these marans are up to! Everyone else is doing their thing, so hopefully they are too. Thanks for the tip!

 

[starri33]

Still only have two. One NN has the name of Walker, he won't stand still so that I can get a good picture. Did manage to get one, the other is a full feather, both came out of my NN coop. Still have at least two more to go, one is chirping at the moment.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Nice! I will try that if I can't find a bright flashlight. My husband has one that will shine a direct light to the end of our 5 acre lot, but i don't think he'll let me put tape in it. Lol. Better order one though as I really want to know what these marans are up to! Everyone else is doing their thing, so hopefully they are too. Thanks for the tip!

I use a small high lumen flashlight that works really well but it's no longer available for sale on Amazon. I ordered a couple more that look similar to what I have (1200 lumen) because my friend needs a good candler too. I'll let you know what I think of them!

 

[AgnesGray]

I use a small high lumen flashlight that works really well but it's no longer available for sale on Amazon. I ordered a couple more that look similar to what I have (1200 lumen) because my friend needs a good candler too. I'll let you know what I think of them!

Oh, thank you! I appreciate that!

 

[NNYchick]

So now I’ve seen my cockerel doing his job but I have 4 broodies. My eggs that are due 2/24 I had 9 developing on day 10 candle. So I’m going to try a staggered hatch. I’ve never done one before. I put 13 eggs in today and marked them. At lock down I’ll move the 9 others to my janoel 12 to hatch. I would let my broodies have eggs but they are insisting on cramming 3 to a milk crate, I foresee broken eggs or trampled chicks. If I can convince someone to move to the bigger tote nest box, I’ll give them eggs instead of using the janoel.