Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[DaveOmak]

did you turn OFF the turner at day 18.... is your humidity gauge calibrated so you know it is correct..... are your thermometers calibrated for the same reason.... did you notice and mark the air cell for confirmation of the humidity....

 

[Pookie_Momma]

did you turn OFF the turner at day 18.... is your humidity gauge calibrated so you know it is correct..... are your thermometers calibrated for the same reason.... did you notice and mark the air cell for confirmation of the humidity....

Yes i removed the turner on day 18, the humidity and temp are all digital. i did not mark the air cell. I guess i should next time. I did notice that they did get larger.

 

[broodytood]

Yes i removed the turner on day 18, the humidity and temp are all digital. i did not mark the air cell. I guess i should next time. I did notice that they did get larger.

What kind of eggs were they?
Do you have a fan in the incubator?
Are you on the west or east side of the state?
Have you read Bill Worrell's article on dry incubation? You can find it in the learning center.

 

[Chickielady]

I love my ducks because they are so clean compared to the chickens! They also have far more personality. They are gentle on the yard and they make liquid fertilizer that can go straight to the garden instead of composting it. They are great foragers and they are so much quieter than chickens. No dust bath holes, just aeration holes in the grass. If I could keep only ducks or chickens, I would keep the ducks and sell all the chickens!

Ducks, raised for meat, are far and away easier to raise than meat chickens (aka: Cornish Cross)
The Muscovies and Pekins we have eat about 80% grass...I am blown away by how little actual feed they consume once allowed to free range.
They are also very flying-predator wary.
The ducks constantly watch the sky, and if provided tipis of plywood to run to, they do !
The cornish cross consume 100% feed, poop all 100% right back out all over, and sit in it.
The cornish STINK, but are far easier to scald, pluck and they fit nicely at 12-14 weeks, into a 1 gallon freezer zip lock bag.
The duck must be cut up, as they do not fit in a 1 gallon zip lock, their bodies so long.

Both have pros & cons, but if I had to choose, I'd be split:
I want at least 25 meat chickens in my freezer, 2 deer or 1 deer and at least half an elk, several salmon, steaked & some filleted for jerkey, and maybe 10 ducks.
A goose and a few turkeys rounds it out, and that goes into our freezers every year.

 

[Chickielady]

Can someone help with some answers. We put eggs in to incubate only candled on days 3-7-18 then we went into lockdown. none hatched. my 3 yr old and i just went and did and eggtopsy on them and we had 6 that were fully formed but died and the others were either just yolk or they stopped early.

what did i do wrong for them not to hatch? my temp was always between 99.5 - 101, with humidity between 40 and 50? we have a turner so I did not worry about turning them.

any ideas? i know that hatching is a hit and miss but I was wondering if I should adjust temp or humidity for next try? my son is a little sad but knows that we will try again.

thanks to any who can throw ideas at me.
Karen

Were they shipped ?
Many shipped eggs have loose air cells due to rough postal handling, and though the babies try, they end up dying.
There is also an issue of shipped eggs (this time of year) being subjected to high temperatures before they are incubated, and once again the babies try to develope, and give up.
It seems embryos have 21-22 days of development, and if high temps are encountered, they struggle..day one, day two, and so on, before you ever get the box to your house.
Candle on day 10, and day 17 only, and avoid handling as much as possible.
Your humidity sounds fine.
Temp at 99-100 tops.

Hope this helps !

 

[Chickielady]

Incubation:

The best book I have ever seen is

Guide to Better Hatching
By Janet Stromberg





Excellent, no nonsense information.
This book is a paperback you will keep forever, I refer to mine still.

Sold at most Hatchery web sites.
I highly recommend it to all.

 

[Melnurse]

We have our first egg! Tiny little thing, but perfect in every way. All of those things that others said (on the thread for how you can tell you're pullet is going to lay) are true. The Orpington that is 5 months and squatting as I approached her and making very loud sounds, scratching around in the nest box was the one.

So exciting! I just want to keep it forever. LOL

 

[Pookie_Momma]

What kind of eggs were they?
Do you have a fan in the incubator?
Are you on the west or east side of the state?
Have you read Bill Worrell's article on dry incubation? You can find it in the learning center.

they were Barnie's, and ameracuna's. no i just have the still air LG, in the puget sound area and will definetly look for the Bill Worrell's article and read that. I am definitly going to keep trying.

 

[Pookie_Momma]

Were they shipped ?
Many shipped eggs have loose air cells due to rough postal handling, and though the babies try, they end up dying.
There is also an issue of shipped eggs (this time of year) being subjected to high temperatures before they are incubated, and once again the babies try to develope, and give up.
It seems embryos have 21-22 days of development, and if high temps are encountered, they struggle..day one, day two, and so on, before you ever get the box to your house.
Candle on day 10, and day 17 only, and avoid handling as much as possible.
Your humidity sounds fine.
Temp at 99-100 tops.

Hope this helps !

No they were not shipped. will def lower the temp. so only candle days 10 and 17, do i remove the turner on day 18 or just turn it off? would wearing surgical gloves help when handleing?

writting all this down for next try.

what do i do with loose air cells? i read that they need to rest for 24 - 48 hours. My neighbor has some that did not reattach but she is incubating anyway? is there a chance they will grow?

 

[Chickielady]

No they were not shipped. will def lower the temp. so only candle days 10 and 17, do i remove the turner on day 18 or just turn it off? would wearing surgical gloves help when handleing?

writting all this down for next try.

what do i do with loose air cells? i read that they need to rest for 24 - 48 hours. My neighbor has some that did not reattach but she is incubating anyway? is there a chance they will grow?

Gloves are not needed.
I remove the turner on day 17, candle & place the eggs back in on their sides on paper towels unless you have loose air cells.

Loose air cells can be seen when you get the shipped eggs out of the box, candle, and while holding the flashlight on TOP of the large end of the egg, turn the egg, and observe if the air cell moves as you turn the egg.
If so, mark a big X on it & at day 10 candle again & see if any developement has gone on, if the embryo has tried, and died, you will see a "blood ring" but no further developement.
If the embryo is making a go of it, and gets to day 17, remove from the turner, and set the egg with loose air cells in a egg carton, air cell up.
The rest can be laid down in the hatching incubator.
Having the air cell up sometimes helps the embryo orient itself as to what way is up when there is a wobbly air cell.

Home raised eggs rarely have loose air cells.

This is my opinion and certainly others may hatch differently than I do.

** P.S. I never let shipped eggs rest, instead, I acclimate them a few hours to room temp, to avoid condensation, and then put them in the incubator, but I do not turn them until the following day.***