Winter Hatch Along!

[LilyD]

Thank you so much for this info. That’s great to hear unfortunately the thermometers won’t be here until tomm either. Hopefully it’s not too far off.
How do you check it they are losing weight do you weight them?
The only reason I worry about humidity is because we have a pellet stove and I’m currently dying because of how dry it is in the damn house we are going to have to get a humidifier for ourselves. The stove is on the opposite end of the house though.
One other question I have is that the room we are keeping them in is cool. It’s probably about 60 in there is that ok? Because we close the door and we keep the heat low because we have the stove running.
My last question ( for now lol) is that during lockdown what if the humidity drops too low and I have to add water- just don’t open it right?

I have a pellet stove as well and I don't have any issues dry hatching all year with it even in winter. I do put a pot of water on the top of the pellet stove though to counteract the dryness in the air for winter.

 

[Phillyndilly]

@ Phillyndilly
Keep us posted on your hatch results using previously refrigerated eggs. I read somewhere that storing the eggs at around 40 degrees for up to a week will kill the male embryos and those eggs wont develop. I did this for my last hatch and only got 1 roo. I am thinking that he was from the last egg collected that was only chilled for 1 night before going into the incubator. Good Luck.

oh wow that’s super interesting! So you got all hens then besides him? I got about 3 new eggs from the silkies or bantams I honestly don’t know which is which, maybe I’ll store them in the fridge?
I wonder if it works on goose eggs as well I have 5 goose eggs I’m waiting on the new incubator to try to hatch.
Maybe I just just store them all in the fridge

 

[Phillyndilly]

I have a pellet stove as well and I don't have any issues dry hatching all year with it even in winter. I do put a pot of water on the top of the pellet stove though to counteract the dryness in the air for winter.

Ya I do that too with a kettle I still wake up bone dry lol.. but I’m glad it doesn’t cause any issues with the eggs

 

[Phillyndilly]

Hello all so a few of my cheap hygrometers came in I put two in it’s working good the humidity is def way way up if I put even a little water without any it reads pretty low like in the teens so I’m experimenting with adding just enough.
Idk if they are on target I’ll probably do the salt test with the others.
Tested the temp and that’s in target though so I hope all is well I’m going to candle in a few days. I tried but I can’t see anything but a dark blob in one spot is that the yolk?

 

[LilyD]

Hello all so a few of my cheap hygrometers came in I put two in it’s working good the humidity is def way way up if I put even a little water without any it reads pretty low like in the teens so I’m experimenting with adding just enough.
Idk if they are on target I’ll probably do the salt test with the others.
Tested the temp and that’s in target though so I hope all is well I’m going to candle in a few days. I tried but I can’t see anything but a dark blob in one spot is that the yolk?

What day are you on for incubating? By day 5 -day 10 you should see veining and a small dark bean shaped thing floating around. That's the chick.

 

[Phillyndilly]

What day are you on for incubating? By day 5 -day 10 you should see veining and a small dark bean shaped thing floating around. That's the chick. View attachment 2033788

Today will be day 5 so maybe I’ll do it later tonight, if I don’t see that they aren’t developing and I should toss them right?

 

[LilyD]

Today will be day 5 so maybe I’ll do it later tonight, if I don’t see that they aren’t developing and I should toss them right?

I always wait until day 18 to toss any eggs unless it looks rotten which it will be very obvious if that happens. That way if I'm wrong day 5 they have time to grow. I just put a ? on them so I know I wasn't sure if they were growing to begin with.

 

[Phillyndilly]

I always wait until day 18 to toss any eggs unless it looks rotten which it will be very obvious if that happens. That way if I'm wrong day 5 they have time to grow. I just put a ? on them so I know I wasn't sure if they were growing to begin with.

So I candled and oh my gosh this is the coolest thing ever!!! So only 5 out of our 12 were developing. My problem is that I have about 12 fresh eggs waiting to be incubated and remember the ones I have were refrigerated for various times because I wasn’t even planning to hatch so I’m really not sure if they will develop. The ones that are developing were the newer ones after I started planning I think I’m going to give them until day 7 maybe 10 and then toss and replace them.

 

[Tazbeaux]

@ Phillyndilly
Since your eggs were refrigerated, it is possible that the non developing eggs were male and didn't survive the cold. Anxious to hear what sex your developing eggs turn out to be. I started out with a dozen refrigerated eggs also. Had to toss 11 of them, expecting the remaining egg to pip tomorrow. I think I had fertility issues with my eggs. When I put the roo with the girls he wasn't very frisky.

 

[Phillyndilly]

@ Phillyndilly
Since your eggs were refrigerated, it is possible that the non developing eggs were male and didn't survive the cold. Anxious to hear what sex your developing eggs turn out to be. I started out with a dozen refrigerated eggs also. Had to toss 11 of them, expecting the remaining egg to pip tomorrow. I think I had fertility issues with my eggs. When I put the roo with the girls he wasn't very frisky.

Wow ya I’m really interested in this I’m hoping I have a good hatch! They are moving so much though it’s so cool to see!

Also my humidity with no water is only about 14%. But when I add water unless it’s a tiny bit it shoots up so high.
I’ve been keeping it around 35-55 but I have to add water so many times per day... that’s the only way though correct?