What is going wrong

I have done everything I have read and haven't had one chic or duck egg hatch. I know they fertility isn't an issue.. tried with incubator and egg turner so is there another way? It's a still incubator you put water in for humidity.any idead?? Also looking for a few ideas to keep my little flock healthy through the winter. [email protected]

Very frustrating I'm sure. Do you have any hens? If they go broody, you can pop some under her and let her do all the work - less hassle for you and there is nothing nicer than seeing a mum and her chicks running around the place! Sorry, i can't help on incubators - never used one and ditto winter - we don't have such a thing here in Kenya (thank goodness!).

CT

My hen is letting a duck sit on the eggs.. I don't get it I thought they had instincts to sit on the eggs.I have incubator so attempts with that route have not been ideal. It read 100 but I used a different thermometer and inside was like 105. So I leave it at 90-92.I don't know if it's a malfunction with it or what.. it would be awesome to have one hatch..

Has your hen ever gone broody? Some breeds (typically commercial laying breeds) don't. I always keep one hen that goes broody as part of my little flock so i can use her to hatch - she's also the alpha hen and that also helps.

If possible, i would use 3 thermometers so you can triangulate a reading (i.e. go for the middle reading if they are all different, or if two read the same, then go with that as a temp).

CT

Kdunn222 said:

My hen is letting a duck sit on the eggs.. I don't get it I thought they had instincts to sit on the eggs.I have incubator so attempts with that route have not been ideal. It read 100 but I used a different thermometer and inside was like 105. So I leave it at 90-92.I don't know if it's a malfunction with it or what.. it would be awesome to have one hatch..

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Have you tried calibrating the thermometers? It's actually super easy. All you have to do is fill a glass with as much ice that it will hold, then add water to fill in all the gaps. Put the thermometer in and wait 5 minutes or so for everything to equal out. The thermometer should read 32F, any deviation from 32F should be added or subtracted from the normal operating temperature. So if it reads 34F, then it is 2 degrees over, and you should set your incubator at 101F (forced air, 103F still air). Some digital thermometers will have a "reset" button you can push when it's submerged in icewater and that should calibrate it for you.
Generally, the thermometers built into incubators are pretty useless, you're better off getting two separate thermometers and ignoring the incubator display.

My first hatch I didn't get a single one to hatch. There's a lot to learn and even if it doesn't work the first time, you still learn a lot from that experience that you can use the next time. So, go get some good, calibrated thermometers and don't be afraid to try again!

Still air incubators should be about 101*. There may be hot and cool spots, so moving your eggs to a different spot in the incubator when you turn them will help all the eggs incubate evenly.
Hens will only sit on their eggs to hatch them if they are broody. Some breeds are very broody, some rarely go broody, and there are always exceptions. It's rare for hens to go broody in the fall/winter months, and roosters aren't as effective at fertilizing the hens during this time of year.

Thanks for the advice. I will be recandeling them to see if any still alive and go from there. Any suggestions on thermometers?

I use at least two thermometers, plus the digital one that's part of my incubator's thermostat control. I use the average between all the thermometers as a base-line temp.

Thank you all..

I go to the local farm/hardware store, not chinamart, and look at all the thermometers hanging on the rack, right away you can usually notice most reading the same temp and a couple that aren't the same, I figure the ones that are all the same are likely pretty accurate and the other ones are junk.