[Stereo]

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.

[chrismahon]

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.

[HesterF]

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 ......).

[Stereo]

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.

[devonlady]

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%.

[B3a5tie]

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. 

[Stereo]

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.

[B3a5tie]

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. 

[HesterF]

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.....

[Stereo]

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

[Marches Farmer]

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.

[lord flynn]

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.

[Stereo]

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?

[lord flynn]

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.

[Stereo]

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.