First timer - starting my first batch Sept 15 - Page 8

iam new to incubating.  i made mine out of a mini fridge installed a light in the freezer part and wire to a old mercury thermostat.  i have had ok luch with 2 diff hatches but only getting about 50% hatch.   i dont have a turner  but i am turning them about 5-6 times a day.   i cant on week turn when iam at work but i do every hour when at home.    would a auto turner help with hatch %???

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cooper Farms 

iam new to incubating.  i made mine out of a mini fridge installed a light in the freezer part and wire to a old mercury thermostat.  i have had ok luch with 2 diff hatches but only getting about 50% hatch.   i dont have a turner  but i am turning them about 5-6 times a day.   i cant on week turn when iam at work but i do every hour when at home.    would a auto turner help with hatch %???

are you using your own eggs, or shipped eggs?  50% is great for shipped.  if they're your own eggs, what is your roo/hen ratio? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by cchardwick 

 

Developing faster than usual may mean that your humidity is too high to start with.  It should be around 45%, do you have something to measure the humidity with?  I've heard you can run into problems down the road if your humidity is too high and they grow too fast in the shell.

The gauge I have hovers between 40-50%...but is IS old.  That could be the problem.  In other exciting news...one of my ducks in my other incubator pipped this morning.

i have a temp/humidity guadge and it is set to 99.5 temp   and i can keep it around 45% or so.  iam just wondering if a auto turner would increase hatch rates?

I started marking my eggs last night so I can track the ones I know are alive.  Found two yolkers, two mystery (too dark a shell), and 12-14 bouncing chicks!

Today I took the plunge and broke open the yolkers...and I was right! Not a vein to be seen. The yolk also moved very fast to the top vs my other eggs yolks slowly getting there. Excited to see so many bouncing babies!

I have one or two where I can see a black mass, but I don't see the veins like some of the others. And it almost looks like there is more than one black mass...will check out tommorrow.

Look what hatched today in incubator #2.

Due to some distractions I wasn't able to candle the clutch over the weekend like I had planned, so tonight I did the first candling.  My Brinsea Eco Advance appears to be doing well.  It goes through water faster than the manual had suggested it would, but I just make sure I fill the reservoir every two days.  temperature wise it's solid as a rock. Here's the specs:

Egg #7 is definitely some sort of mutt and I wonder if that might be the cause for the odd appearance.  It has a mass of varying density and does not appear to be a classic "ring of death" but it also does not look quite like the others. Will keep an eye on it over the next few days.

9 outta 42 bad