YO GEORGIANS! :)

[Silver Hill]

Well it's day 20 for my dozen BO test hatch in the Genesis and I have 9 hatched and 3 pipped. My readings have been 78% at 100° in lockdown but a wet chick has laid on my sensor probe and cause both to go up a little. I think both my bators are going to be fine but I like the homemade better because of the room, the built in safeties, hi-low alarm and lots of air movement controlled at 0.1°. I will be receiving CCL eggs tomorrow and would like to know if you folks that receive eggs in the mail set them up and let them rest for a while or put them in the bator when they arrive?
If anyone needs or wants some BO chicks please PM me.

 

[RoboDuck]

Yes. Always let shipped eggs rest for a day or so air sac up.

 

[Silver Hill]

Yes. Always let shipped eggs rest for a day or so air sac up.

Thanks!

 

[OohLaLa]

79% is very high humidity for chickens, I do believe one of the ladies who hatches regularly said in the 70's for water fowl, but not for chickens? I've always read that low to mid 60's for chickens is where you want to be?

have y'all tested your hygrometers to make sure they're accurate? it's really pretty easy to do. take the cap off a 20 oz water bottle, fill it with salt. wet it, but no water standing on top of it. Put the cap of wet salt and the hygrometer in a zip lock baggie or other air tight container at 6 hours it should read 75%. make note of any difference and remember that difference when using that hygrometer

Thanks for the tip. I've cleaned it out and set it back up minus the turner. I just filled the try 1 up with water. I'll see how it goes without eggs and give your tip a go this weekend when I'm home and can monitor it myself. Hubby has been great about checking but I need to figure out why all of a sudden it's having this issue.

 

[OohLaLa]

I have three hygrometers and they are calibrated. I've read 60% for the first 19 days and up to 80% during lockdown and depending where you read there is lots of different data on that subject. I am new to hatching so all I really have to go by is the success rate for my first hatch and the one happening now but I'm building a data sheet of my own. It is not my intent to put up any bad information as I've declared myself a newby and I hope I never sound as if I'm an expert and folks realize I'm just sharing my experience.



Info here on how to make a wet bulb thermometer for measuring humidity.

https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/2902/2902-1090/2902-1090_pdf.pdf

Thanks for the link.

 

[OohLaLa]

Well it's day 20 for my dozen BO test hatch in the Genesis and I have 9 hatched and 3 pipped. My readings have been 78% at 100° in lockdown but a wet chick has laid on my sensor probe and cause both to go up a little. I think both my bators are going to be fine but I like the homemade better because of the room, the built in safeties, hi-low alarm and lots of air movement controlled at 0.1°. I will be receiving CCL eggs tomorrow and would like to know if you folks that receive eggs in the mail set them up and let them rest for a while or put them in the bator when they arrive? If anyone needs or wants some BO chicks please PM me.

I am not the hatcher that others are here but I do follow that rule about letting shipped eggs rest a day prior to setting them in the incubator. It has worked for me in all of my previous hatches.

 

[carcar80]

As an alternative (or in addition), I'll also let mine rest IN the incubator.. Usually I'll let them settle at least overnight (or until afternoon if I get them in the AM) but then I'll put them in and not turn for the first couple days to give the air cells even more time to settle.

 

[katsdar]

Anyone have any suggestions for helping a chicken with a blocked crop? She's stretching her neck and gagging. I've massaged it and given her some warm water with olive oil mixed in... She's walking around but isn't pooping cause her vent looks dirty.
I'm in Dallas.

I read that you hold the chicken so its head is down and it is supposed to help it throw up

South Atlanta here! Looking to rehome some quail hens if anyone is interested.

Never had quail before. RoboDuck is interested

I'm sure we'll have duck eggs. I can't promise what kind since our ducks all pair off as they please so they'll be mutts. Turkeys I don't know about. We haven't gotten any turkey eggs yet but we'll see what's happening at the time of the get together.

ok skip the turkey eggs, I would like to try 3 duck eggs. Let me know how much, I usually don't have cash on me.

totally agree with Robo, you weren't at all.

I wasn't trying to sound like one either, your hatch rate was definitely better than mine for sure! Just trying to share what I learned from here about testing the hygrometer and what I've read about humidity levels. Seems ours is always pretty high here at home, and I do believe that my hatching bator and it's varying temps are what caused my poor hatch rate.

anyway, hope I didn't come off that way either, just responding to what I saw as something that looked off to me. I do believe it was GAM who posted that about water fowl vs chicks for humidity percentages

Papa I can't find the post again but after checking the hygrometer it should read 78%? Seeing if the ole brain remembers.

 

[katsdar]

I thought this was good info.

Problem-solving

There are many reasons for poor hatches. Breeding, feeding, and management of the egg production flock; care of the eggs before incubation; and the incubation environment: these all can influence the hatch. Possible causes for some of the more common problem symptoms are listed here.
Symptoms Possible cause
Eggs candling clear
No blood rings or embryo growth.

1. Eggs from a flock having no roosters.
2. Poor flock management.
3. Eggs stored below 40° F or which were too old before setting.

Eggs candling clear
But shwoing blood or very small embryos on breaking.

1. Incubator temperature too high.
2. Eggs stored below 40 or above 80° F. before setting

Dead embryos
Before hatching time.

1. Eggs haven't been turned at least 3 times a day.
2. Lack of ventilation.
3. Incubator temperature set too high or too low.
4. Breeder flock having poor hatchability or fed inadequate ration.

Eggs pipped but not hatched (check pecks hole through shell)
Chicks dead in shells.
Sticky chicks
Shells sticking to chicks.

1. Low average humidity.
2. Low average temperature.
3. Low humidity at hatching time.
4. Excessive high temperature for short period.

Hatching too early
With bloody navels.

1. Temperature too high.

Delayed hatch
Eggs not pipping until 21st day or later.

1. Temperature too low.

Draggy hatch
Soem chicks hatch early, but hatch is slow in finishing.

1. Temperature too high.

Cripped chicks

1. Abnormalities in development.
2. Poor nutrition of hens.
3. Incubator temperature too high.

 

[PapaChaz]

I thought this was good info.

Problem-solving

There are many reasons for poor hatches. Breeding, feeding, and management of the egg production flock; care of the eggs before incubation; and the incubation environment: these all can influence the hatch. Possible causes for some of the more common problem symptoms are listed here.
Symptoms Possible cause
Eggs candling clear
No blood rings or embryo growth.

1. Eggs from a flock having no roosters.
2. Poor flock management.
3. Eggs stored below 40° F or which were too old before setting.

Eggs candling clear
But shwoing blood or very small embryos on breaking.

1. Incubator temperature too high.
2. Eggs stored below 40 or above 80° F. before setting

Dead embryos
Before hatching time.

1. Eggs haven't been turned at least 3 times a day.
2. Lack of ventilation.
3. Incubator temperature set too high or too low.
4. Breeder flock having poor hatchability or fed inadequate ration.

Eggs pipped but not hatched (check pecks hole through shell)
Chicks dead in shells.
Sticky chicks
Shells sticking to chicks.

1. Low average humidity.
2. Low average temperature.
3. Low humidity at hatching time.
4. Excessive high temperature for short period.

Hatching too early
With bloody navels.

1. Temperature too high.

Delayed hatch
Eggs not pipping until 21st day or later.

1. Temperature too low.

Draggy hatch
Soem chicks hatch early, but hatch is slow in finishing.

1. Temperature too high.

Cripped chicks

1. Abnormalities in development.
2. Poor nutrition of hens.
3. Incubator temperature too high.

great info, I copy and pasted it so I'd have this for the future. Reading through that, it pretty much clears up what I thought from my hatch, that the hatching bator wasn't hot enough after the fan died out

oh in answer to your question, should be 75% at 6 hours