Washingtonians

[Chicken Rustler]

For those worrying about freezing. There is also a device called a thermo cube. You plug the cube in then plug your light etc into the cube. When the temp gets to the preset level the cube turns the device on. Most are set for on @35 of @45.

 

[JennS]

I'm so happy tonight! Our cat Sasuke went missing when we did our major backyard renovations...he was the only one I couldn't track down and put inside while we were working, and I hoped that it was just a matter of all the noise and change freaking him out and he'd come home after the dust settled. He's fixed and usually isn't gone more than a couple of hours at a time, just long enough to bring me dead vermin presents.. After a couple days, I asked the neighbors (the whole block knows our cats, they're the best ratters around), posters went up, craigslist ads posted, talked to the Humane Society (he's microchipped, so they assured me everyone gets scanned when they come in and we'd get a call if he turned up there), but no leads, no bodies in the road, nothing. It's been two weeks to the day since he took off, and now he's home! I was sitting here browsing and heard a little meow at the window, and he jumped in like it was no big deal. He's definitely lost some weight, but no signs of injury or illness...just a hungry kitty glad to be getting some love. Life is so good right now.

Yay, glad your kitty made it home! He's very pretty, too.

Jennifer

 

[itsren]

For those worrying about freezing. There is also a device called a thermo cube. You plug the cube in then plug your light etc into the cube. When the temp gets to the preset level the cube turns the device on. Most are set for on @35 of @45.

Will it work with an outdoor outlet that has attached outlet covers? It looks wide - will it rotate to fit vertically?

 

[JennS]

I think they can do fine for a little more than 48, but if there are no more pips then I woul take it out. I know it is hard to watch the baby/ies walk all over the eggs but they do fine. I had 13 chicks hatch and the first ones out were all over the others, even when they were zipping and actually pushing out of the egg. I think watching the whole process is harder than giving birth myself! I was much more stressed and lost a lot of sleep just checking the bator. But the one peice of advice that Tamara gave me that I almost 100% followed was don't open the bator. And I say almost because my son knew what to look for and said that there were no more pips and opened it up to take out all the chicks. It turned out there was one more, but the pip was just in a spot that ws really hard to see. I am pretty sure it got shrink wrapped and died. I would have helped it out, but I didn't get home in time.

We were both sad and learned a big lesson.
I do like hatching in egg cartons. The eggs are more stable during the hatching process.

I just read your post again and it says you had an egg turner? Then did you take them out of the turner and lay them on the bottom of the bator?
I have read somewhere that it is better to either just turn off the egg turner and hatch them in that or put them in egg cartons. I am not sure about hatching them in the egg turner, but the thought was that they will have better luck pipping in the right place if the postion of the egg is kept relatively the same. I have only hatched eggs myself once, but I had a good teacher/support person. Thanks Tamara!

I'm trying very hard to be patient, as two of the silkie eggs pipped late last night, and they are making some progress this morning. I REALLY want a silkie! The lavender Orpington hasn't made any more progress.

The instructions for my incubator specifically said to take the eggs out of the turner and lay them on the screen to hatch.

Seriously, this is driving me nuts!

Jennifer

 

[itsren]

I'm trying very hard to be patient, as two of the silkie eggs pipped late last night, and they are making some progress this morning. I REALLY want a silkie! The lavender Orpington hasn't made any more progress.

The instructions for my incubator specifically said to take the eggs out of the turner and lay them on the screen to hatch.

Seriously, this is driving me nuts!

Jennifer

I think the instructions for mine says to remove the turner at lockdown as well. I'll have to double-check that, but I think that's what I'm supposed to do. My incubator has the eggs laying on their side. I see a lot of the bigger ones have them set in with the small end down.

Yay!!!! Two more pips. That's good news!

 

[Shyla-C]

You guys and gals are AWESOME! Thank you Rainwolf for the aquarium heater tip! I just bought 3 from amazon for $12 each! I saved a TON on that one! I also ordered a parakeet bath since each time I sit here on my laptop my little parakeet girl insists on taking a bath in her water dish and splashing me! But she is so cute!

Hopefully I can get her to use the bath in the back of her house so she won't splash me as much. I have to really pay attention to where I set my coffee cup!

Well I should probably go do some work around the house and start getting things ready for winter.

Thanks again everyone!

Shyla

 

[Chickielady]

Funny story... I had to take my mom to her cardiologist. I couldn't find a sitter and had kids in tow. The twins were 3, my oldest was 5. They were being complete pills. My mom was stressing out. So, I marched their tiny hineys out the door and we went for a walk. We walked from the cardiologist's office into the hospital. My oldest asked where we were going. I told him we were going to see the twin's perinatologist. He asked me why. I told him because that doctor took them out of me, and I wanted to ask him if he could put all three of them back in. It's amazing how quickly the little tikes shaped up!

When we did arrive at the perinatologist's office, they were sweet little dream children and the nurses were so excited to see the how much the twins had grown.

Oh that is hysterical !!!!!!!!!!

 

[hallerlake]

For those whom are now hatching and still new to this.....

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/di0631.html

http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/incubation.pdf

http://posc.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/b6092.pdf

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8120.pdf

http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/resources/egg_to_chick/procedures.html

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/4h/4-H1500theincredibleegg.pdf 4-h for kids about the eggs

http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/87721/pdf_614.pdf Hatching for teachers

http://umaine.edu/publications/2072e/ good problem solving section

http://www.clemson.edu/psapublishing/pages/ADVS/EC530.PDF

http://lancaster.unl.edu/4h/embryology/ 4-h info



Hope this helps!

if you are having issues maintaining humidity in the lg... maybe try and plug one of the vents and leave the other open?
I've not used LG's but the HB's I've had I just ran them with no vent plugs 90% of the time.... but when its dry like now I would have to put one of the plugs back in to keep humidity.....
I now use a redwood cabinet incubator

need to get it started soon but with lawyers/court and a nasty cold hanging on i've not had time... oh and trying to build the back porch before it starts raining.

Do you want a ride to Third Place Books tomorrow?

 

[Chickielady]

The dish is empty, and is just to keep the chick from knocking the eggs around when it stumbles around the incubator. It's been staying in it pretty well, sometimes sleeping and other times standing. It's even pooped in it. There is no water dish in the incubator, only a shallow saucer with a sponge.

I have been monitoring the humidity. For the first 18 days it was around 55-60% with both vents closed. I read the instructions for the incubator and it said to open the vents for the last 3 days, and now even with the sponge I just can't get the humidity over 55%. When I was reading up on humidity (yes, I did a lot of reading!) I couldn't find a straight answer on how much it needed, but general agreement to follow the recommendations of the manufacturer above all else. Well, LG has no number for humidity listed and tells me to keep the vents open. So, what else am I supposed to do?

Jennifer

Pray...and then get a better incubator and/or a hygrometer.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Now y'all have got me thinking! About worms, about freezing temps, about hatching eggs!

How do I know if we should worm our flock? It is worth noting that they free-range 24/7 in a yard that also has a ton of dog poop in it. My BF's roommates are terrible about cleaning up after their dogs (picture a dozen 19- to 24-year-old urban gutter punk anarchists all crashing in the same run-down, 100-year-old house). I suppose I should bite the bullet, pick up all the dog poop myself, and bury it. Just how I'd like to spend my next day off, right?

As far as freezing temps, we don't have money for a heated water dish, so I suppose if that happens here in Seattle, we'll have to put luke warm water out as often as needed. Fortunately there's a gas stove so we won't have trouble heating up water even if the power goes out and the pipes freeze.

And hatching eggs will tragically have to remain a dream for me for the time being.