Sunday, April 26, 2015

Low Humidity Hatch Complete With Modest Results

Hatch #7 using the low humidity during incubation appeared to be successful.  I began with the 48 eggs, however when day 11 came I candled the eggs and had a lot of clears.  Not sure why so many clears from the variety of breeds I placed in the incubator.  On day 19 I had 22 eggs ready for hatching and 17 did complete the hatch giving me a 76% hatch rate.
Throughout this incubation I maintained a 45% humidity or lower.  I added 30 ml of water to begin with and this gave me a 45% humidity reading.  Whenever the humidity dropped to 10-12%, I added 15 ml of water using a syringe and this  raised the humidity to 45%.
 

During the 19th to 21st day I added 60 ml of water in the incubator for a 55-60 %  humidity at the beginning of the 19th day.  I had 4 eggs that appeared to be lacking enough humidity for the chicks to break through the shell after they had peeped the shell.  On the 21st day I ended up helping 3 of the chicks by cracking their eggshells so they could enjoy a new world.
 
Incubation #8 is underway using the Dry Humidity Incubation method.  I am not adding any water during the first 18 days.  Once the 19th day comes I will add water to have a 50-60% humidity level during the hatch.  I am on day 4 and the humidity is reading 15-18% most of the time and rising to 21% as the storms pass through.
 
 
 

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Marsh RX Incubator Does Good With Low Humidity Hatch

27 Barnyard Mix Brown Egg Chicks
 

15 Special Breed Chicks
 
On the 19th day 55 eggs were ready for the hatch and 42 completed the hatch with a 76% hatch rate.  Vo-Ag students are enjoying the chicks in the brooders today.  The best part for me is the low humidity hatch was successful.  I added 1/4 cup of water daily to raise the humidity to mid 40% and within 24 hours no water was present in the water channel.  No water was added over the weekends.
 
 

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Second Round Low Humidity Incubation Holding Steady

I am doing better with the low humidity attempt with the Janoel8-48 this time.  I'm using a syringe an adding 30ml or 1/8 cup of water when the humidity drops below 10% two or three times daily.  When I add 30ml the humidity raises to 45% and lowers thereafter in a 6 to 8 hour period.

I candled the EBay eggs today on day 4 and of the dozen 1 appears clear with 11 showing blood vein lining.  Lets hope the continue developing.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Hatch 7 Attempting Low Humidity Incubation

 
12 Ebay Ohiki Phoenix Bantams eggs are among the 48 eggs and I'm hoping for some red Ohiki's hatch.  I am attempting another low humidity incubation with the humidity running between 30-45%.  At the moment I'm having trouble maintaining this range through a 24 hour period. 
 
Couple of days ago before starting the incubation I place 1 tablespoon of water in the incubator and had a 45% humidity for 6 or 7 hours and then it steadily dropped and I added 1/8 cup water 12 hours later.  The 1/8 cup raised the humidity to 32 % for another 7 hours before dropping to 27 % for awhile.  When I added the eggs to the incubator I cut a sponge in half length ways and laid the 2 pieces in the center of the incubator soaked with water.  The humidity is in the mid 40's thirty minutes after the lid was placed back on the incubator. 
 
I'm hoping by adding water to the sponges will stabilize the humidity in the 30-40 % with less than 1/8 cup of water for a longer period throughout the  day. The prior methods of 1/4 cup or more of water to the water channels would raise the humidity to 50-60% ranges and I want to avoid this.  I am drowning too many chicks in their eggs before they hatch.  This is happening when the humidity is too high and water absorbs into the egg filling the air sac.  The chick drowns as it peeps the air sac that's holding water to breath before peeping the eggshell.
 
I will make another adjustment to the humidity alarm setting and will be lowering it to 5% before the alarm sounds,  this hopefully will make it through a 24 hour period without sounding the alarm in the early morning hours before I get out of bed.
 
The Marsh RX incubator at the school is on track with developing eggs.  We are adding 1/4 cup of water daily while school is in session.  On the weekends no water is added.  Eggs were candled on the 5th day and the majority had developing embryos.