Chukar Incubation Questions

[Griffin Nest]

Hey, I'm going to hatch chukar partridge eggs that I'm ordering online. I know how to handle shipped eggs because I've successfully hatched a lot of them in the past.

For humidity, are they like chicken eggs? What humidity is best for you when you hatch them? I was thinking 55%, but can I incubate dryer than that? I don't like incubating at high humidity because I get poor results. Usually for the hatcher I have humidity at 75%.

Also, is it better to turn them on their side, or with the large end pointing up? I know that ducks do better sideways, but chickens do better upright. What's the deal with Chukars?

 

[OzawkieBantams]

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I can let you know in the next few days . Mine are due to hatch . I have them big end up an I am running Humidity at 85% for 23 day's

 

[Griffin Nest]

Quote:
I can let you know in the next few days . Mine are due to hatch . I have them big end up an I am running Humidity at 85% for 23 day's

wouldnt 85% be too much humidity? or are you referring to wet bulb?

 

[angrybird]

i hope 55-60% is ok for my hungarian partridge. set them 3 days ago...they are too expensive if i screw up (24 eggs for $70)

 

[OzawkieBantams]

Quote:
I can let you know in the next few days . Mine are due to hatch . I have them big end up an I am running Humidity at 85% for 23 day's

wouldnt 85% be too much humidity? or are you referring to wet bulb?

Here is what I was given to hatch egg's.

ChooksChick’s Henthusiasts’ Styrofoam Incubator Cheat Sheet

The rule is: get the temp right with an empty incubator, and make sure it's stable for 48 hours- without the plugs, without you touching it.

Use 3 (yes, 3!) of the sealed-in-glass aquarium thermometers from Wally World ($1.70 each, I always have at least a dozen on hand for my 6 incubators). They have a little green suction cup- I leave it on and move it to the weighted end for one, the top end on another and the middle for the third. This makes them a slight bit different in elevation in the incubator as the turner moves, so you can average them for the true temp. Place them where it will be easy to read from the windows, and turn them in the suction cup so they're angled correctly to read the red line. They need to be on the turner, wedged between eggs so you can read what the center of the egg is, internally. This is the only reliable way, as the thermometers that come with the incubators on cardboard change as humidity changes, and they tell you the eggs' top temperature or the temp on the floor! Took forever to figure out my incubator wasn't really spiking as badly as the thermometer said, but that the temp spikes were due to the cardboard shrinking and swelling from humidity!

When you put eggs in, it will take hours to get stable again- ignore it!!! The temp will drop when you first add eggs. Don't adjust it at all. After a day with eggs, you can put a plug in to go up a degree or two. You can add another plug if you need to. If you're over 101.5* 24 hours after you add eggs, you can turn the thing down A HAIR. That's all. Don't adjust again for a day- be patient. **Don't dismiss this recommendation. ** You can go up a degree or two per plug you add at this point, too. Try not to use the knob to adjust.

If the temp isn't too hot- like 102* consistently, I don't turn it down. If it's not below 98* consistently, I don't turn it up. I add a plug and wait 24 hours. I haven't adjusted my thermostats in 6+ months. You can get it stable. My incubators are always full. **So are my brooders.**

Ignore humidity until day 18. For lockdown, roll up paper towels and stuff them in the water channels, then fill the channels. Lay another paper towel across the wire. I use them because they're disposable, so they won't harbor bacteria, and they increase the surface area of the evaporative substrate. You'll then have BOTH sides of the paper towel exposed on the wire, plus the surface of the ones rolled up in the channels, which swell to rise over the channels themselves. You'll easily hit 80% if you follow my instructions. Put the eggs on the now wet paper towel which will have absorbed water from the paper towels poking up out of the water channels, and make sure the whole lot stay wet for 3 days while in lockdown. If you must add water (which is likely) use tubing through the holes on the top of the incubator or open a window to do it. Don't open the lid!!

I've hatched hundreds or thousands of eggs this way- YOU MUST GET IT STABLE BEFORE YOU ADD EGGS.

ACK!! One more thing. If you only have one machine, it's best to use cardboard cartons to hatch them. Otherwise, when you take out the turner the eggs are laying so much lower than they were in the turner that the temps are no longer appropriate and they're way too cold. This is important! Even a tiny bit of difference in height can mean a big difference in yolk-temp so you might wipe them out in the last 3 days if you don't use a carton or prop up the wire. You can mark the turner edge on the styrofoam and use that line to help you position the wire on shallow bowls or compote cups to get the middle of the eggs at the same height they were for the first 18 days. Put the wire back in and you're good to go.

If you have had both plugs out the whole time, you might be able to get the right temp for them lying on the floor by just plugging both holes, but that's an unknown factor until you've tried it, and you don't want to find out with eggs that are about to hatch. I use a separate machine as the hatcher to avoid this conundrum.


>>>Hope it makes sense!

Let me know if you have any questions!

-Renee​

 

[SamG347]

80% humidity? Thats almost enough to even drown waterfowl eggs! I wonder if that was a typo or what...or this might be a method I have never heard of...though I've hatched many eggs of all different species and never needed more than 60-65% humditiy.

 

[DomC]

I had good luck with 50% and 60% hatch.

 

[OzawkieBantams]

Well ChooksChick’s Claims, and stands behind her statements https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=14596-incubation-cheat-sheet&PHPSESSID=6a9ef75252d048761e502795e39964f4&PHPSESSID=24edf233c822d53adf9ec69d785d8fb7

She Is on our Consolidated Kansas thread so might take it up with her. i just went to he r page and she has now changed it to 75%

 

[Griffin Nest]

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well i dont know. 80% is PRETTY high. even with 60% i have over half of my eggs die because they are too big and there was too much water.

 

[Riffecreek]

Chukar eggs are NOTHING like chicken eggs.... Chukars are from a very dry climate and the eggs need to set for a little while.. this let the eggs loose a little water before the incubation starts. there is a post on this somewhere here from last year... I'll see if I can't find it and bring it back to the top.

Older eggs hatch better than fresh eggs... 10 days old are about the best age for a good hatch rate. any fresher then 3 days and I feel is almost a waste of time.. 45-55% humidity is about as high as I run anytime during the incubation and hatch... My hatch rates on 10 day old eggs are about 85% and about 65% or less for fresh eggs..
I also hatch them standing on end just in case they are a little too wet when they start hatching, this keeps them from drowning in the shell

This is just my observation from my own birds so take it as that!
Hope this helps!