Bad Attitude Farm & Forge LLC

Project: The incubator calculator or automatic calendar.
Status: Ongoing (nothing released yet)

Why?

In what seems like a previous life, I became rather skilled at a few program languages and worked on many projects for web based interaction in languages such as Perl and PHP.  Then there was an event, which severely compromised my memory and cognitive functions.  So when my new shortcomings led to a very low hatch rate on my first couple of tries, I decided it would be healthy to try to use those old skills to improve on my ability to manage the new skills.  The idea for an automated egg reminder was born.

What?

Basically, the idea is that you give the program the type of egg you are incubating, the date the egg goes into the incubator, and your email address.  Then you receive an email and / or Internet based alert whenever it is necessary to take an action.  As the first thing I do every morning is checking my email, I figured I would go that route.  But if the program was incorporated into a website or forum, an online display could be just as effective as an email alert.

Example of the steps:

Consider the many steps in incubating an egg:

Generally, ducks take about 28 days to incubate.  So let’s say we start incubating on September 19th.  I choose this date because that’s the date of a batch I once incubated, still have the notes, and thus won’t have to do the math again.

September 19 (day 1) – Assumed fertile duck eggs went into the incubator for hatching.  Except for the daily turning, leave them alone until day 7 as they will not take well to sudden temperature changes at this early age.

September 26 (day 7) – First Candling -.  Many people advise that if you do not see life in a duck egg by day 5 to remove it from the incubator.  I have found this to be unnecessary.  Unless specific imperfections such as cracks or blood rings are found, there is no reason to remove a seemingly infertile egg at this point.  In fact, I have seen seemingly infertile eggs spring to life a wee bit late.

October 3 (day 14) – Second Candling – At this point, if there are no signs of life it is a very good idea to remove the egg from the incubator.  If an infertile egg is left in the incubator, it runs a risk of developing a crack or leak that will contaminate the sterile environment of the incubator and risk spreading bacteria and disease to the other eggs.  It will also stink up the place.

October 14 (day 25) – Lock Down – The automatic egg turner is turned off and removed, the eggs are placed in lock down.  They are left undisturbed for the following three days (minimum).  This step is critical because during those last three days, the peep is starting to put forth effort to escape its egg.  Continued rotation or turning might disorient the little guy and result in a drowning death.

Humidity should be increased during this time.  The increased humidity allows the peep to move more freely inside its shell, giving it a better chance at being able to crack its way out.  Increased airflow is a good idea as well as it will consume more oxygen while it is working.  If using a still air incubator, removing extra vent plugs helps.

October 17 – Success full eggs will start to hatch some earlier and some later.  I am horribly worried I will accidentally abort a peep, so I give them at least another week and then candle to make sure there is no movement before cracking an egg to see what went wrong.  Even then, I crack at the air bubble and try to do as little damage just in case the poor thing is still alive.

Peeps can be removed from the incubator and placed in a brooder when they are dry.  24 hours is a good amount of time to let them stretch in the warmth of the incubator.  Remember though that these are not the same as what you may have purchased.  Generally, when people sell day old peeps they were shipped at the 24-hour point.  Then they spent 3 days in the US mail and who knows how many in the store before you purchased them.  True day old peeps are much more fragile and inexperienced.  A simple dish of water or standard chick watering device can cause death by drowning.  Take precautions and fill the water supply with clean gravel or the likes so it can get water but will not drown.