The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Stereo on February 25, 2015, 10:59:41 am
-
Had an awful time last year with fertile eggs making it almost to hatch and then dying. Using 2 Brinsea Octagons and followed the instructions to the letter. I would really like to know what happened but I think they drowned in their shells. That said, we struggled to get the humidity anywhere near 60% at lockdown even with the channels full. So maybe it wasn't humid enough? Frustrating.
So I've just set 24 eggs and am trying with no water until lockdown which is what we did on our best ever hatch (23/24) back along. I have a cheapo humidity meter which is reading 20% with the vent 1/4 open.
I plan to weigh the eggs every day, having already weighed the basket and dividers so that I can try and see where I am going wrong.
Any tips or pointers? Anyone tried dry incubation? It's annoying as we started out well but our results seem to be getting worse over time. Incubators are cleaned properly each time and left to warm up etc.
-
I do it with waterfowl. I think the key is the weighing - not sure why you're weighing the baskets, I just take each egg and weigh it individually and record it in a table. I also do it only every few days because it's hard to spot a trend if you weigh them too often. They all lose different amounts, even as a percentage, which is odd but I do move them round the incubator too in case it's a position thing. I've yet to work out whether some don't lose enough because they're not destined to thrive anyway i.e. chicken and egg - do they not hatch because the weight loss was wrong or do they not lose enough weight so they fail to hatch?
I did find the chicken eggs need the higher humidity (on weight loss anyway) - I tried incubating chicken and duck eggs together and the chicken eggs were losing too much weight with no added water so I had to move them to my second incubator and up the humidity for them. BUT I find chicken eggs much easier to hatch (or did last year anyway) - I was getting nearly 100% from them and not even 50% from waterfowl so there have to be other variables apart from just weight loss.
H
-
I have never added any water at all and have had really fantastic results everytime with chickens. Ducks I start off under a broodie for first two weeks then trf to incubator with similar great results! With the ducks If I start them in the incubator I get poor results no doubt due to the humidity!
-
I see a lot of posts on here with relatively expensive incubators having a bad time.
I've a 'cheep' :D ebay incubator £30 just hatched 10/11 light Sussex eggs, I splosh some water in it every couple of days, I have to manually turn each egg 3 times a day :innocent: and get what I think are really good results. I wasn't expecting so many chicks this time round so the incubator was pretty full, I just took out the chicks that had partially fluffed up and popped them in their brooder while the rest hatched.
I've hatched ducks & Wyandottes (same as above, same temp, splashing of water etc)
Sorry that's not much help! Good luck with your current hatch.
-
after my first year of hatching, with awful results (remember those really wet summers!) I started to incubate dry. Much better results the next wet year and early on last year-with not so great results later on when it got much drier although fertility was excellent.
As discussed before the Brinseas can tend to dry them out on pipping as well so I will add wet cloths this year (I did fill water channels last year but not convinced by them).
with the cheap dial hygrometers (I have one) you need to calibrate them with a bag of saturated salt solution as they'll be underestimating IME. In the UK its very unlikely this time of year that humidity anywhere is 20%.
good luck, I am thinking of setting some eggs next week but its still so cold and icy and not all the hens I want to hatch from are playing ball consistently enough!
-
We did start with a cheap eBay one but it nearly burnt the house down! We had great success in the early days but last year our rate was about 50%. I always though the humidity was too low and made sure the water was always full but I'm now wondering if it was too high early on.
The idea of weighing the whole tray is to get an overall weight loss. Getting the eggs out of the Octagon is not that easy if they are crammed in a bit. I know the tray and dividers weigh 200g (I think). So I figured weighing all 24 eggs each day would give me an average weight loss per egg and give me some idea if they are going too fast or too slow.
I really want to get the big 190 or 380 incubator with the humidity control but that's going to have to wait at least a year.
I do find shrink wrapping a problem on the Octagon. We often get drawn out hatches and in the end I have to remove the fluffed up ones while others are still pipping. Again, this is something we didn't have before. Hmmmm.
-
The high ambient humidity in the UK means that they can hatch successfully run 'dry'. With the dual water bath models only one filled at lockdown should be sufficient. Humidity isn't anywhere as critical as temperature. Candling will show if the air sac is developing correctly and it is that space that allows the chick to lift it's head from under its wing and pip the end of the shell.
In France it is generally so dry that you need to fill one then both water trays. We dis get caught out though with a very wet period shortly into incubation. Forgetting to compensate and empty the single tray two eggs couldn't pip. Our semi-auto incubators are made for dry climates being manufactured in Spain and Italy.
You can get differences in egg shell porosity which will confuse things somewhat, so best hatch one breed at a time I was told. Having said that we did well with Leghorn bantams mixed with TNN's and also with Orpingtons mixed with Wyandottes..
-
Temp on the digital cheapo meter reads 37.3. I would say the built in analogue one would confirm this. Are the tenths that critical? Do I need to notch it up a bit?
-
Depending on which publication I have read the temperature should be 37.5 or 37.8C. So you might be a tad low but unless you have calibrated the thermometer you won't know. We us a clinical mercury thermometer.
-
Put in a more expensive temp/ humidity monitor so will see how it compares to the cheap one in a few hours.
-
Seems the cheapo meter does not agree with the more expensive one which is reporting about 35% humidity. Weighed the eggs again tonight and they seem to have lost more weight than they should have. Will continue to monitor.
-
Definitely worth getting a decent thermometer, some of the built in or cheapy versions can have quite a variation.
I must admit I usually just make sure theres always some water in the incubator tray but never check humidity and it seems to work fine.
Except for quail eggs.
My quail hatch best when no water is added to the incubator at all.
I don't understand why and can't find any info as to why other than that they may have adapted to dry Asian conditions and the eggs are not as susceptible to water loss.
Guinea fowl are the same I believe, they lose little moisture through the shell.
-
If I'm taking this thing seriously I think I need to invest in a proper machine like the Brinsea 380 with the pump built in etc. I'm going to monitor the weight for a couple days and I'll maybe post my calcs up here so someone can check them. I've got an A level in maths stats but for some reason Chicken Maths is still hard to grasp.
-
I was told by Shaun Hammon of the Wernlas Collection not to add water, so never have - makes the chicks too big to pip.
-
I've only hatched twice. First time with water through the whole process. Second time dry until shutdown. Second hatch was much more successful.
-
OK, perhaps somebody could double check my maths. 24 eggs set on the 24th (eve). Weight of egg tray and dividers = 200g. Total weight with 24 eggs = 1780g so eggs total 1580g.
Target weight at hatch = 1580 - 13% = 1375g +200g for tray = 1575g. Target loss = 205g or 9.8g per day.
Currently on day 6 and have just weighed at 1710g. Loss should be 6 * 9.8 = 58.8 so target weight should be 1780-58.8 or 1721.2g.
This means I've lost 10g too much but am roughly on target if a little under.
Will empty eggs lose more or less weight than fertile ones? Going to have a candle tonight after dark.
-
Think you might be over complicating it Stereo. There are some simple diagrams in Katie Thears book 'Incubation: A Guide to Hatching and Rearing' which show the size of the air sac at various stages and that can be seen by candling. I've never heard of eggs failing because they were too dry in the first 18 days.
What you are losing from the egg is water content. If you crack a perfectly fresh egg you will see three components on the plate not two. The white is in two parts and you are trying to slowly remove the water bit.
-
That's the way I do it Stereo (albeit without the tray as a factor). Once you've done your initial sums, it's easier to just measure absolute losses so you don't need to take out the tray weight and add it back in again. I'd up your humidity a tad - if you extroplate your weight loss (and they're all fertile), I think you'll have lost about 15% by the end which should be OK but more borderline. I'm not so fussed about chickens but it's certainly the way Chris Ashton, goose guru, recommends monitoring eggs for hatching.
In my experience dud eggs lose less weight but you should be able to spot them soon (clearly removing them will muck-up your sums thought - that is one disadvantage of weighing them all together ......).
-
Yeah, removing dud eggs is going to involve some serious chicken maths.
I suppose what I'm trying to do here is isolate the cause of my hatching problems in 2014. We had many, many fertile and fully grown chicks die at the end without pipping. So I need to put some science to it. In 2014 I was obsessed with keeping humidity up and kept re-filling the channels. I just wonder if it was too high.
I didn't get around to candling tonight and some are copper blacks which are tough anyway at this stage so will have a look tomorrow.
-
I'm with nicnchic here. I put my eggs in (incubator in kitchen) turn them manually three times a day (or sometimes two if I forget and sometimes four if I've forgotten if I did or not) and give them a spray with a plant sprayer once a day. I only bought a candler to delight the grandchildren. I get really good results, around 90% which would compare with hatching under a hen or duck. Better results with quail 99-100%.
-
For chickens I tend to only add half of one side of the two troughs in the Brinsea 7 egg mini as we have high humidity in general here in Cornwall and we are in a draughty old farmhouse! Based on a poor hatch a couple of years ago where I think too much humidity caused hatching problems for chicks. :( let the water evaporate to nearly gone and then top up to the same level again (every 3 days or so) throughout. I filled both full though when hatching Call Ducks and got 7 out of 7 - think they prefer higher humidity. Problem is that it's hard to tell what has gone wrong. I do try and leave them be as much as possible though i.e. not handle/candle too much! Good luck with your hatch! I have 6 Light Sussex eggs wibbling and wobbling in the incubator (1 was infertile at Day 8 Candling) - Lockdown Friday and Hatch Monday. :fc:
-
Thanks, we've had good fertility but fully grown chicks not pipping and then just dying. I'm pretty sure I've had the humidity too high. Best hatch we ever had with the Brinsea was dry up to lockdown. That was 22/24 and the 2 were empty anyway.
-
Sounds like it could be too high humidity. The other problem we had with one unpipped chick in one hatch was that it had severe cross-beak so couldn't break out. Very sad as it was otherwise very strong and chirping like mad. :(
-
It is tricky to know. I've had a couple of geese that I've managed to get out even though they hadn't pipped but they've still not survived longer than a day or so so I couldn't tell whether it was a humidity issue or something bigger. It's heartbreaking when you can see the little beak sticking into the air sack and then they just die without getting any further.
Devonlady/Nicnchic etc. it is lovely if you can just bung them in and then, bingo, 21 days later they hatch. BUT if that doesn't happen, you do have to consider how you can improve the hatching. I've had some lovely hatches from chickens, just as you describe, but I've also had awful hatches like a batch of 14 duck eggs, 12 of which were fertile and progressed brilliantly but then ten died after pipping internally and before they could get through the shell. You have to try and work out what went wrong.....
-
I have heard they can drown if there is too much humidity which is what I think happened to mine. Just paid £30 for a dozen eggs for the next batch so I'm hoping I can sort the issue
-
Consider what a broody does - add water as they're coming up to hatching? No. She chucks out the occasional dud after about 14 days (how does she know?) and keeps down the bacteria count. I once kept a humidity meter in the room we use for incubation (dry, unheated, concrete wallls and floor, no sunlight) and it didn't read under 60% at any point in the hatch cycle. I check the incubator every time I pass by, which is often, and if I see a chick has pipped but no progress after an hour or so I help it out. Can't remember one of these not surviving but then I don't leave it so long the chick dies from exhaustion trying to get out.
-
humidity here today is forecast to be between 83 and 97%. Obviously depends on where the incy is put but it goes to show just how humid it is here, even when its baltic lol.
-
Day 9, target weight should be about 1690g, just weighed at 1640g. Had a quick candle which is not easy in the Octagon as the eggs tend to be wedged between the bars. High fertility and only one empty that I could see but only tested about 10 or so. Good news is my Copper Marans are highly fertile and nice dark eggs so happy with that. Just got to get them to hatch now.
Anyone think I should add a little moisture to bring the weight back on track, or just leave it and see?
-
I don't know re adding the water (although my feeling would be to not, depending on where your incy is sat). Aren't marans more difficult to hatch anyway? I seem to remember being told that-good luck.
-
They do have thick shells so only the strong ones get out. Also seem to get a high percentage of cockerels with them. But they make good eating. It's taken me a few years to finally put together a dark laying flock with a true to type cockerel so I'm hatching all I can this year so I can start selecting next year. Lovely hens and customers love the eggs.
-
Yes, I think you need more water. Check my maths but I reckon that means they will have lost about 100g too much over the 24 eggs by hatch which I think would be about 20% weight loss which would be going to high rather than too low (I haven't checked my stats since last year but isn't 16% about the weight loss limit at the top end?).
H
-
Yeah, might but a bit in to get it back on track.
-
Finally cracked and added some water. Put in the post hydrometer this morning and it read 28% humidity. Outside the incubator is 46%. Filled one channel and it has shot up to 50% which although too high, might bring the weights back into line a bit. It really shouldn't be this difficult! I have decided that I am going to play with water levels to try and get to ideal weight at hatch and see how that goes.
Really need to invest in a proper cabinet incubator for next year. Probably Brinsea 380 with the humidity pump. Either than or get myself a small army of pekins and set up a nursery in the field.
-
Quick update if anyone is interested. Added water the other day and weighed tonight. Target is around 1650g and actual weight was 1620g so it's coming back towards target. I plan on keeping it under target by a little bit but will monitor and add water if required again. Fingers crossed.
Weight was 1640g on the 5th so have only lost 5g per day since then with water compared to the 9.8g desired. I suspect this may be the reason for my previous failures as I had kept the water filled from day 1.
-
Quick update if anyone is interested.
:thumbsup: very interested in your progress
-
What do u mean by lock down, what day and also what should the humidity be at lock down I'm thinking of setting 24 eggs should I run them dry?
Thanks
-
What do u mean by lock down, what day and also what should the humidity be at lock down I'm thinking of setting 24 eggs should I run them dry?
Thanks
Lockdown is about day 18 and when the broody hen will just sit and not move the until hatch. At this point the humidity needs to be much higher than the previous period of incubation / warming / cooling. In an incubator, you lockdown by adding water, stop the turning and hope for the best.
Annoying thing is that hens can just do this with no manual, no forum, no instructions or humidity pump. I often think I should use broodies more.
-
For chickens I tend to only add half of one side of the two troughs in the Brinsea 7 egg mini as we have high humidity in general here in Cornwall and we are in a draughty old farmhouse! Based on a poor hatch a couple of years ago where I think too much humidity caused hatching problems for chicks. :( let the water evaporate to nearly gone and then top up to the same level again (every 3 days or so) throughout. I filled both full though when hatching Call Ducks and got 7 out of 7 - think they prefer higher humidity. Problem is that it's hard to tell what has gone wrong. I do try and leave them be as much as possible though i.e. not handle/candle too much! Good luck with your hatch! I have 6 Light Sussex eggs wibbling and wobbling in the incubator (1 was infertile at Day 8 Candling) - Lockdown Friday and Hatch Monday. :fc:
Update on this - 6 out of 6 chicks hatched successfully yesterday using the same unscientific method here! 6 Maran eggs and 1 Speckled Sussex egg started yesterday. Have heard Marans are difficult so we'll see.
-
Annoying thing is that hens can just do this with no manual, no forum, no instructions or humidity pump. I often think I should use broodies more.
Please advise a novice poultry keeper here. If you have a broody hen you could use, would you always use her rather than an incubator? What are the pros and cons?
-
Did you crack the shells of the died at point of hatch? You would know if the chicks died due to too much humidity if they're still surrounded in liquid. It's so disappointing getting losses at hatch especially if no idea why.
Marans eggs have small pores so do have a problem losing enough weight. Also some eggs seem to have much thicker, more leathery membranes. Possibly the freshest, early season eggs, with strongest shells and thicker, leathery membranes are the most difficult to lose weight.
I always hatch dry now and check the size of air sac by candling rather than weighing the egg. I'd much rather have a too large air sac than too small as the chicks come out fighting fit.
Kimbo, a good broody will do all the work for you but you can get some that are good egg sitters but do not want their perfect eggs turning into horrible little chicks and reject them, so have an incubator/brooder ready if this should happen. Broodies can also kick out an egg to get chilled and you can put it back under and another one again the next night and all is fine, sit on them partially submerged in a waterlogged nest and all is fine etc, etc!!!
-
Annoying thing is that hens can just do this with no manual, no forum, no instructions or humidity pump. I often think I should use broodies more.
Please advise a novice poultry keeper here. If you have a broody hen you could use, would you always use her rather than an incubator? What are the pros and cons?
pros-
hatching tends to be better (but not infallible)
no cleaning out dirty chicks-mum does a great job
chicks outside from the get go
its very gratifying seeing mum and chicks
cons
chicks tend to grow up a bit more flighty
I think they tend to mature a little slower
mum can make a holy mess of your backyard showing chicks how to forage ;)
it can take alot out of the hen-they sit for 3 weeks, then are with the chicks for up to 5/6 (I have to keep mine under wire/netting due to crows and sparrowhawks) and then IME (as mine tend to sit quite late) they moult. I had a terrible time trying to integrate one back into the flock last year and despite my best efforts at slow re-introductions etc, she was badly beaten up by another hen that she'd previously grew up with.
I have 24 in the incy atm, doing it dry. Not sure what fertility is going to be like (3 new cockerels) so will candle on friday.
-
thank you that's very interesting. Sounds as though the incubator is harder work but in the long run your preferred method. Having nearly lost one hen to serious bullying I wouldn't want to invite that problem again.
Im watching this thread carefully as thinking of hatching some pure breds in the future.
-
thank you that's very interesting. Sounds as though the incubator is harder work but in the long run your preferred method. Having nearly lost one hen to serious bullying I wouldn't want to invite that problem again.
Im watching this thread carefully as thinking of hatching some pure breds in the future.
I like both methods tbh-I love not having to think about cleaning out chicks all the time and worrying about if they are warm enough and getting them out etc and I love to see a mother hen. I will let them sit if they want, think its a bit mean to not let them once a year.
The hen that fought her was unexpected and the wee ex-broody actually went missing for a couple of days-thought a fox had her. It didnt really occur to me it was another hen as I'd not had any problems in the few years previously with that group. When she turned back up she was in a bad way and the hen then had another go at her. She was in sick bay for a week getting over it. They are fine now, funny things hens. If she wants to sit this year I'll let her-I have a silkie cross I am expecting to go broody as well.
-
Some helpful advice on here - thanks! I have never had a chicken go broody so have only ever hatched in an incubator. Am hoping I get a broody one this year! Was wondering though - do you need to provide the Mum and chicks with separate housing (I have extra arks) and do you need to feed chick crumbs to the chicks (and Mum?!). Thanks!
-
Some helpful advice on here - thanks! I have never had a chicken go broody so have only ever hatched in an incubator. Am hoping I get a broody one this year! Was wondering though - do you need to provide the Mum and chicks with separate housing (I have extra arks) and do you need to feed chick crumbs to the chicks (and Mum?!). Thanks!
yes and yes-she can quite happily eat chick crumb although I tend to give them garvo chick mix and then the mini pellets plus chick grit if they are on grass. This is hijacking Stereo's thread a bit though, best start a new one :)
-
I have been following the dry hatch with you and have 7 out of 10 fertile light sussex on the go. Lockdown thursday for sunday hatch. :fc:
I havent been weighing mine but have put a little water in as you said when you found the weight loss more than expected. So we will see on sunday.
I have had some Dead in shells in the past which is always sad to see.
-
good luck for Sunday then :)
-
No probs for the hijack. It's related. Broodies are seen as a problem and can be if you don't want them to be but the old boys always said 'never waste a broody'. So I'm thinking that now I have more flat land I need to set up some kind of nursery pen. Needs to be 100% rat proof and I'm wondering whether to have a bigger pen with lots of small houses and just put them in when they want to sit and let them get on with it, or create a few smaller pens which could be rested between hatches.
No doubt letting a broody raise chicks is easier in many ways. You don't have to keep them warm, clean them out (usually) or anything else. As long as there is fresh water and food, mum will raise them to 5 weeks or more no problem.
As for the question on opening the failed eggs, I did in a few batches and they were very wet which is really why I concluded that too much humidity was the issue. I must look into egg sac sizes. Problem with copper marans eggs is that you can't see a lot!
-
so Stereo what size of pen would you have for a nursery if you go down the "several smaller pens" route? And how will you make it 100% rat proof?
-
7 of these work well
-
so Stereo what size of pen would you have for a nursery if you go down the "several smaller pens" route? And how will you make it 100% rat proof?
That is the question. In terms of rats I was considering rolls of galvanised weld mesh with small holes. Build a wooden pen frame with the verticals the same width apart as the mesh. Take off the turf in the pen. Roll the mesh down one side, along the ground and then up the other in a U shape. Then replace the turf. Obviously you need a door to access so this would need to be well fitting too. Actually rats have never taken any of our chicks when they have a mother with them. They are more interested in tunneling in for the feed.
Not sure on the size. If you are going to have it in constant use it would need to be quite big and you would move the house / dust bath / feeders etc. around but if you could rest it for a month between each hatch, less so. I'm thinking of maybe 8' x 8'? It would need to be well sheltered with a low internal shelter / dust bath area and a small house. The other issue I suppose is that you would want the grass to be really short when the hens first sits and strimming might upset other broodies.
The other alternative is one big pen as I mentioned with lots of small houses. Or mobile pens.
-
Update.... 1 out and another pipped 2 days early! I think this is day 20.
-
Lockdown today. Target weight 1600ish, actual weight 1585. Added 1 channel of water over the process which has now evaporated. So weights are close if a little under which I'm not worried about. Now stopped the turning, filled both channels and will wait and see.....
-
tense or what??? :fc:
-
Lockdown today. Target weight 1600ish, actual weight 1585. Added 1 channel of water over the process which has now evaporated. So weights are close if a little under which I'm not worried about. Now stopped the turning, filled both channels and will wait and see.....
are you putting water in now that they are on lockdown?
-
Wow - that seems to have flown by! Good luck - don't think you could have got closer on weight! How are they looking with candling (or were looking prior to lock-down)?
-
Lockdown today. Target weight 1600ish, actual weight 1585. Added 1 channel of water over the process which has now evaporated. So weights are close if a little under which I'm not worried about. Now stopped the turning, filled both channels and will wait and see.....
are you putting water in now that they are on lockdown?
Ye, both channels filled.
-
Wow - that seems to have flown by! Good luck - don't think you could have got closer on weight! How are they looking with candling (or were looking prior to lock-down)?
To be honest I didn't have time to check so they are all in.
-
Pipping! Should be tonight for hatch. Everything crossed.
-
Pipping! Should be tonight for hatch. Everything crossed.
good luck for a full hatch. :fc:
-
Cheers, bracing myself for another disaster though. I think there are probably a few empties in there but the main thing is get anything viable to hatch. Keep thinking it shouldn't be this difficult. I seem to have got worse at it with more experience! Still, we'll see.
-
One black copper out and shouting. Pretty much exactly 21 days to the hour. Others pipping. Hopefully some more in the morning.
-
6 out so far. More pipping.
-
I seem to have got worse at it with more experience! Still, we'll see.
I honestly think we are suffering from a combination of poor quality materials and feeling the need to over complicate the process nowadays.
When I first started incubating, you set the temperature with a proper mercury thermometer (not a cheap digital Chinese one) filled the water channels, opened a ventilation hole and turned the eggs twice a day.
Stopped turning them with 3 days to go and dropped the temperature slightly.
Hatches were almost always very good, we never used the 'lockdown' procedure everyone now swears by, we were often adding more eggs to the incubator as chicks hatched :innocent:
Before humidity meters were available we never checked for it, now we're adding and removing water, opening and shutting vent holes, turning the temperature up and down trying to keep the humidity reading within a certain level.
Do we need to throw the humidity meters away and go back to the old ways?
I've spoken to three people in the last two weeks who have had very poor hatches caused by low quality digital thermometers, some of them in branded incubators.
When checked against a proper quality thermometer these digital ones are reading considerably lower than the display is showing. 1-6C lower
30 years ago you couldn't buy a poor quality thermometer, you either bought a good one or you didn't have one.
Maybe I'm just turning into a nostalgic, grumpy old man :innocent:
But there might be some truth in it...
-
You have a point. A guy I know has one of those old cabinet jobs and he just bungs them all in, muck and all and fires it up. Always get excellent hatches. I think the octagon incubators are good with the turning and stuff but I wonder if they are the best for hatching. With 20 eggs in there it's a bit tight and you often get early hatchers rolling eggs over or you get a half shell pushed over a pipping egg or whatever. So I'm thinking I need a separate hatcher for the last 3 days which is much bigger, say a cheap 48 incubator. Candle my 24 eggs at 18 days and pop any viables in there to hatch with plenty of water. I also thought about a barrier or slope so the hatched chicks at some point topple over it and can't get back at the pipping eggs. You could even put some food on the deck and water in there so you could leave them longer without worry.
PS: 7 now out and 2 more (that I can see) almost fully unzipped. Must go and get some work done!
-
Anyone used a Brinsea Polyhatch? Don't fancy one of those cheap ebay jobs as we bought one back along and it nearly set on fire. A few Polyhatches on second hand though. Thinking I could put 20 odd eggs one side at 18 days, leave a centre divider in and the chicks would probably at some point fall over it and not be able to get back.
-
PS: 7 now out and 2 more (that I can see) almost fully unzipped. Must go and get some work done!
I spend hours sitting looking at eggs incubators! ;D
-
Latest update? Did you have 20 in there?
I hatched in a different incubator to the one I incubated in last year but both Octagons. Mainly because it meant I could have eggs at different stages in the big incubator and then transfer them over for three days of hatching - meant it was more efficient. Oh, and easier to clean just one.
I need to get my act together this year - somebody turned off the incubator with my first batch of chicken eggs in which were stone cold by the time I found them and no idea how long it had been off so that's knocked me back. I think some are still OK but in a way that's worse - I've got to hatch just a few rather than a full on batch and now need to do a second decent batch as well as setting the ducks and geese.
-
Had 24. Took 13 chicks out this morning all healthy. 3 more copper marans have unzipped but look to have dried out but I've put in a damp cloth and will leave them until this evening and then assist if required. I know marans shells are notoriously thick....One marans intact but moving. A good few sussex and leghorns not pipped but they may be empty. I was doubtful about them when I put them in. At least one sussex looks to have pipped and died but the rest are intact. I'm not fussed if they are empty, I just want to be able to hatch most of what is viable.
We always seem to get this shrink wrapping issue with the octagon. It hasn't been opened since day 18 until this morning and there is still water in both channels but I've got dried out chicks. I sometimes wonder if the fan is drying them out or if it's lack of space due to the hatched chicks taking up all the room. I think I'm going to try and get a second hand poly hatch 42 and use that as a hatcher.
Anyway, 16 out of 24 so far assuming the unzipped ones make it is better than I did all last year. The key will be how many grown chicks didn't hatch but I won't know that until I candle or open them, probably tomorrow unless it's still going.
-
is it a 20 or 40, your Brinsea? I swapped my 20 for a 40 and this is the first hatch with it-its not very full so they should have plenty of room. I don't think the fan does them any favours and its a shame you can't disable it for hatching. My last incy had a fan that was much closer to the hatching chicks and it was even worse.
16/24 ain't bad :thumbsup:
-
Not got an Octagon but there must be a way in to the fan wiring.
I opened up a cheap incubator last year and just unplugged the fan from the circuit board.
I actually did it because I was trying to hatch Rhea eggs (which weren't fertile) so that any potential Rhea chick standing up wouldn't get scalped ;D
Could even be wired via a small switch and be operated from outside I suppose.
-
That's not a bad hatching rate at all - be interesting to see how many that were fertile in the first place got there.
I followed your progress with a hatch of Light Sussex. I set 10 eggs and 3 were infertile. 6 hatched & healthy but when I cracked the final egg I had a fully formed but tiny chick. I havent seen this before.
I conclude your dry run theory is correct.
I wonder though whether this is relative to ambient humidity at this time of the year and might be different in the drier summer.
I used a covatutto 16 incubator which is manual & no fan.
-
We've got the octagon 20 but it will take 24 medium chicken eggs. Problem if you don't fill it is they tend to wobble about as it turns. I'm pretty sure the fan just plugs into the board like a PC one so should be easy to disable for hatch. Would there be enough fresh air though? Only has a tiny vent. What sort of vents do still air ones have?
-
The vents on my incubator are 4 x small (2mm) permanently open holes at the top which surround the central bulb holder. No drawing of air from anywhere else.
Obviously as I turn the eggs 3 x daily the heat and humidity is lost and the air will get changed.
Its interesting how different this hatching set up is to an auto turner with fan and yet still successful.
Although mine is a 16 egg - could only fit 10 hens eggs in.
-
Great post firstley my dad is 80 and he used the parafin incubaters Avarage 70 percent never a bad hatch . Iv used all these incubaters first thing a good record of stock strong chicks next fertile not some but all . I never hatch in the incubater I hatch in a hova bater this will help .Next the fans get cloged up you then dont get the even tempriture. iv been hatching since christmas i use a marselice incubater and at the moment its 60 percent. One hatch 80 chicks 50 cock birds .The next thing im going to do is hatch some copper tops as im getting fed up putting all this work in ,for nothink .Wood for the stove 3 ton feed gages and fuel to the sale .
-
Got the 3 shrunk wrapped copper marans out easily this evening. Now drying and all look fine. I've found the key is not to panic if you get shrink wrap. Give it a good 12 hours. The chick won't die or shouldn't anyway and you reduce the chances of causing bleeding. I generally try to peel the shell off first and then wet the membrane with warm water and gently peel away.
No sign of anything else with the other 8 eggs. I know for sure one is an empty. Just candelled a copper maran and it's full but nothing doing. But I couldn't stop the chicks trying to jump out so have left it for now. Should be able to get them in the brooder in the morning and see what's up with the others.
I have to say the chicks that have hatched are very feisty and strong, already jumping up on the electric hen, feeding and drinking well.
-
I have to say the chicks that have hatched are very feisty and strong,
Yes I would say that about mine compared to other hatches - would usually be the strain of the bird rather than the hatching method maybe.
-
Maybe yes. I've got a lot of marans in this lot and they seem hard as nails to me. Rarely get any health issues. Having said that, they just seem sparkler than my hatches last year. Maybe just my imagination.
-
Results are in:
Set 11 Copper Marans (first year hens), 9 hatched, 2 dead in shells = roughly 80% hatch. Good.
Set 6 Exchequers: 4 hatched, 1 dead in shell, 1 empty = 80% of viable eggs hatched. Good.
Set 4 Welsummer. 4 hatched (and 3 are girls) = 100%. Good.
Set 5 x Light Sussex. 1 hatched. 3 dead in shells, 1 empty = 25% of viable eggs. Bad.
So taking out the sussex eggs, well over 80% which I am well happy with,especially given that the marans are only a year old. The Light sussex eggs I have been setting are from one hen only. She lays a darker but much stronger egg than her sisters and I've been trying to cultivate that quality. However, previous attempts have resulted in lots of dead in shells and anything that did hatch has been a cockerel. So obviously that is a dead end which is a shame. She is a hybrid strain and all the others I bought have either died or are laying porous eggs after 18 months. Not overly bothered as I have bought in some trad strain pullets last year and this year to replace them. I'll give up on trying to hatch from her and start hatching from my new birds when they are older.
So, overall, a great result, skewed by one bird with a problem. Taking out the sussex and the empty exchequer, I've hatched 16 out of 19.
I did have to break out 3 of the marans but they are doing fine and I feel this is down to the octagon drying them out too fast. So, that's the next thing to sort. Dry hatching it is in future.