This picture shows what it looks like after I have removed the new hatchlings. In this picture the new hatchlings have dug up the incubation box. The pictures below will show you what I mean. This way, even if a new hatchling dislodged the egg from it’s original place in the incubation box, I would know which way to put it back in. You can see the uncovered eggs in the picture below. I use a black fine point Sharpie to do so. To make sure that this does not happen, last year I started to put a small mark on top of the eggs when I found them in the lay box. If it is, it can literally drown in the egg. Once an embryo has started to form in the egg, it is very important that it is not moved. You may have noticed the black marks that are on top of the eggs. They are now ready to go into your incubator. The Perlite will release the proper amount of humidity. With this method, you do not have to add water to the incubator either. What I do is open the boxes once a week for air exchange, and then cover them back up. Since there are no holes in the servin' saver, once they have been hydrated they will never have to be done again. I mark the kind of Eggs they are (in this case they are Carrot-tails), and mark the date the first eggs were laid. I then put a litle bit of the Perlite around the egg to ensure it doesn't move. I dig a small hole, and then put the egg in it. I start at the top of the box and make sure they are tight enough so that four of them will fit across. The water will sink down into the bottom layer of the Perlite, and will never need to be re-hydrated again. I keep on doing it till the scale reaches 105.5 (or 166.4 if your scale doesn't tare). I try to mist the whole top layer of Perlite evenly. I start at the top, and I mist all parts from top to bottom and then back and forth. I use a regular plant mister to hydrate the Perlite. If your scale does not tare, your total will be 166.4. When we start to add water to the Perlite, this is the figure we will end up with. If we add 59.6 and 46.8 together, we will come up with 105.4 grams. This is the amount of water that will be added to the Perlite. 8, and come up with a total of 46.88 grams. In that case you will have to subtract the weight of the servin' saver (61 grams), from the total to come up with the 58.6 weight. If your scale does not tare, it will weigh 119.6. The mold will attack your eggs and kill them.) Now back to our regularly scheduled show. It contains fertilizer that will promote mold growth in the very humid incubation environment. It should run you about $18.00 for the very large bag. DO NOT USE Miracle-Gro brand Perlite that is available at many of the Big Box stores. It can also be purchased at many Feed and Seed stores. I purchase it in four cubic foot bags from a local Plant Nursery. (I would like to add a quick note here about the Perlite we use. The next thing we will do, is fill the servin' saver about 2/3rds full of Perlite, and place it back on the scale. If your scale does not tare, you will need to weigh the servin' saver. We must tare out the scale to show zero weight. The picture below, shows the servin’ saver on the scale. You do not have to have one that is this accurate, but it is helpful if you are able to tare out the scale. It has a capacity of 200 grams, and a readability of. You will need a Digital scale to do this. I incubate the eggs in a Perlite to water ratio of – 1 part Perlite to. The next thing we need to do is figure out the proper way to provide the right amount of humidity for the eggs to hatch in. We have found it to be the best lay-box medium. If you are wondering why the eggs are all dirty looking, it is because we use moist Vermiculite in all of our egg laying chambers. You can also see that there are no air holes in the servin’ saver. It sure is pretty, isn’t it?Īs you can see from this picture, we use Perlite as an incubation medium. The picture below shows what you are striving for. You will be able to incubate 20 eggs in one by way of 4 across, and 5 deep. They are rectangular in shape, and are 4 ½ inches wide by 7 ½ inches long. We incubate our eggs in a 24 OZ Rubbermaid servin’ saver. There are many ways to do this, but this is the method that we use. Many of our customers have asked me the correct way to incubate their eggs for the most successful hatch rate.
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