varied answers about humidity what do you recommend ? + showing off fridge bator

[yinepu]

NEXT QUESTION ----

HOW did you store them. What was the temperature (ambient) Have you done this during mid summer (90 + degrees)? 21 days is amazing.

I used a styrofoam egg carton that was washed with antibacterial soap .. dried and then sprayed with Oxine

took a dozen eggs and also sprayed them with Oxine.. allowed both the cartons and eggs to air dry (eggs were from my birds.. not shipped and laid fresh that day and were marked with the date laid)

took a jumbo zip loc freezer type bag and added two paper towels which were sprayed with Oxine and left wet.. put the eggs in the carton and put them into the zip loc bag with the wet paper towel under the carton.. and then put them in the fridge

i think our fridge is at about 45ish degrees (never really checked the temp).. could have been as low as 40 or 43...

I had meant to just leave them for a week while waiting for an incubator to arrive.. but the incubator was delayed.. then there was a death in the family so I had forgotten about the eggs. When I remembered them I checked the date and saw that it had been 21 days.. so I figured what the heck and tossed them into the bator since the air cells still looked pretty good

out of a dozen I had 10 hatch

 

[Bill 101]

I think the zip-lock bag saved your bacon

A/C & refrigerators tend to pull moisture out of the air. Because the eggs were in the zip-lock it prevented that. You use Oxine on all your eggs? Incubator too? I've heard great things about it. One of the people that worked for the company that manufactured it use to spray in the face of chickens, claimed it cured Respitory Disease. She used some kind of micro fine sprayer.

 

[yinepu]

I think the zip-lock bag saved your bacon

A/C & refrigerators tend to pull moisture out of the air. Because the eggs were in the zip-lock it prevented that. You use Oxine on all your eggs? Incubator too? I've heard great things about it. One of the people that worked for the company that manufactured it use to spray in the face of chickens, claimed it cured Respitory Disease. She used some kind of micro fine sprayer.

I know .. that's the main reason why I used the ziploc bag

I've cracked open eggs that have been in the fridge for an extended stay.. always noticed how large the air cells had become. Since the incubator was delayed I figured I would need to slow moisture loss as much as possible.. hence using the zip loc bag and the wet paper towels.
With the Oxine sprayed on everything it helped keep anything funky from growing on the eggs while they were in the fridge.


I use Oxine on everything ... Incubator.. eggs .. brooders.. even the feeders and water containers when I wash them
Anything that can even kill Parvo.. and isn't as harsh on animals as exposure to bleach, is a plus as far as I am concerned.

 

[WarrenHound]

i was really just curious about the humidity and temps you guys try to maintain INSIDE the incubator =/ its been awhile since i hatched anything and the last time did not involve a fan and i know i risk the eggs drying out more easily with it but i was told you need to lower the temps when you use a fan over a still air.

PS: i have known someone that incubated eggs after 16 days (pheasants) but his hatch rate was lower than normal. 1/15

 

[Bill 101]

WARRNHOUND: If you read through our post you will see Yinepu & I use completely different methods on humidity & basically have the same results. The main thing is to keep track of the air cell & KNOW WHAT YOUR LOOKING AT. Guessing, as you can see from all the "HELP" post, doesn't work
Half the time I wonder if this is a forum on Hatching eggs or a race to see who can destroy the most eggs

 

[WarrenHound]

WARRNHOUND: If you read through our post you will see Yinepu & I use completely different methods on humidity & basically have the same results. The main thing is to keep track of the air cell & KNOW WHAT YOUR LOOKING AT. Guessing, as you can see from all the "HELP" post, doesn't work
Half the time I wonder if this is a forum on Hatching eggs or a race to see who can destroy the most eggs

agreed -.- sry i probably lost it somewhere in the 4 pages @.@ i know to watch but..yeah=/ i like numbers or at least general ranges going to just watch them like i originally planned i already have the scales out and the light

 

[Bill 101]

If you looking for specific weight loss from the egg, you'd need to get that from YINEPU. I don't weigh eggs, but I think if you look at the pictures of what the air cell size should look like on certain days during incubation, You would do fine. It's nice to see air cells EXACTLY like those shown, but there is really some wiggle room
See you have some Bantam cochins. Raised, bred, hatched & showed Blacks for a long time Will have to put up as picture of some of my show birds

 

[WarrenHound]

love the black cochins =] it was one reason i wanted to set up my ow incubator to get some nice ones to add to my flock lost my last cochin rooster to a cat so i plan to buy some eggs from a nice breeder later this year . a friend is sending me some eggs from a VERY nice bunch of WFBS so i want everything to be perfect lol

 

[Bill 101]

I've been thinking - maybe over thinking it, but trying to figure out what is the best advice I can give you about incubating eggs. After reading 100's of the issues that arise every day on this forum I've come to the conclusion that most of the people are candling & concentrating on the wrong thing. It appears they are looking for development, even to the point of checking for movement & MY FAVORITE--- Heartbeats. I find that absurd. Yet while they are doing sometimes, excessive candling they are missing one of the reasons for candling --THE SIZE OF AIR CELL.
Sooooo - I'll climb off my soap box now !!!!. Forget about the proper humidity, It would vary depending on where you live & a host of other factors, let the air cell govern your humidity requirement. An arbitrary figure to start with I'd put at 40%. At 7 days candle for fertile/infertile. If you have doubts what a fertile should look like get a fresh egg & compare. If you still have doubts about certain eggs, leave them till day 14. By that time it should be obvious. But check air cell size, compare it to the pictures YINEPU posted. If at day 7 the air cell is to big (not enough evajporation) reduce humidity. If it's to big, increase humidity. Keep in mind that at day 14 you have the same opportunity, & of course at day 18 when you put them in hatch mode you up the humidity a lot or a little. It doesn't need to be 80% if the air cell is a bit large.

EDIT: I'm back, had to go eat LOL. Maybe YiNEPU will add to this. He & I may have different views on humidity, but you know what I learned? The guy sure knows how to incubate/hatch

Looking at you incubator -- Do you have a baffle on the fan so it doesn't blow directly down on the eggs? What are you going to use for a water pan? It can always be bigger than you need. If it's to much humidity, you can cover any portion of it to adjust to what you need. Remember it's Sq inches of surface you want. Depth is good for not having to fill it as often (opening the door)

 

[ozexpat]

WARRNHOUND: If you read through our post you will see Yinepu & I use completely different methods on humidity & basically have the same results. The main thing is to keep track of the air cell & KNOW WHAT YOUR LOOKING AT. Guessing, as you can see from all the "HELP" post, doesn't work
Half the time I wonder if this is a forum on Hatching eggs or a race to see who can destroy the most eggs

aint that the truth!