DIY Incubator Advice

[Smartieflock]

upate ? Did they hatch?

 

[Chrifister]

upate ? Did they hatch?

It's been very busy here. It's that time of year to move the outside flock away from fertilizing the garden and into the grass fields. The temperatures are warm enough to start on our spring tasks.

So the egg turners are definitely still working.

The 6 Maran and 6 Ameraucana eggs in the little incubator did well. Had one early Maran dud, then 2 Marans and 3 Ameraucanas hatched on hatch day. Moved the rest to the bigger incubator with the other eggs. We helped 2 more Ameraucanas unzip and we woke the next morning to them running around inside. Last Ameraucana had pipped internally and was faintly chirping. Helped him out slowly, nicked a vein, made a mess on the counter scrambling to get the corn starch out from under the cupboard and some dumped out to help him. Thought for sure he'd bleed out. He survived but didn't seem to want to or wasn't able to progress any further. We had to free him completely from the egg and membrane and then he tried to stand up on his own. Put him with the others and he perked up considerably. Now running around with them. He's a little smaller but seems fine otherwise. So 2 Marans and 6 Ameraucana hatched out of 12 eggs, 11 made it to lockdown. I'll have to get more Maran eggs because I wanted 3 hens and a roo.

The 12 Chocolate turkeys did well also. 9 hatched but one died in the incubator. The first one hatched 48 hours earlier in late evening. The next morning there were 3 in there but one was laying on his belly with his legs stretched out. He had hatched and died overnight I guess. Most of the rest hatched that day and one or two more the next day. We have 8 running around a brooder now. They're awful cute, except in the evening when one complains that he's awake and all the others are sleeping. So we had 9 hatch out of 18 eggs in total, 12 that made it to lockdown.

The 2 turkeys we had in the wine cooler to hatch did not hatch. That was a terrible batch of 14 eggs. 9 were duds at first candling and then red rings for the next 2 candlings. Only 2 eggs made it to lockdown but didn't hatch.

We also had 13 Australorp eggs that were put in with the Chocolate turkeys to hatch but they were a day behind. 7 of them hatched out of 17 eggs total, 13 making it to lockdown.

The next batch was 18 turkey eggs but only 4 made it to lockdown. They are supposed to hatch tomorrow and I have them in the small incubator to hatch. I see 2 eggs with pips and hear chirps. This batch had a lot of duds at first candling as well.

Today I have to clean out the larger incubator/hatcher and have a look at the remaining eggs in it. Then I'll move the last batch of turkey eggs we set in the wine cooler into that incubator/hatcher and they will stay there. That way the wine cooler will be freed up. I'm gonna clean it out with a bleach solution, remove a couple fans I think, and cover up any exposed insulation. We still have another batch of turkey eggs to set and then we have to start on our duck eggs.

I have a feeling that we might be ironing out some bugs. Those Chocolate turkeys spent 17 days in the wine cooler and we had a decent hatch rate. The Australorps spent their entire time in there and we hatched 7 of them. That's at least something, better than big fat zeroes.

I'll post a couple pictures of fluffy butts after work.

 

[Smartieflock]

It's been very busy here. It's that time of year to move the outside flock away from fertilizing the garden and into the grass fields. The temperatures are warm enough to start on our spring tasks.

So the egg turners are definitely still working.

The 6 Maran and 6 Ameraucana eggs in the little incubator did well. Had one early Maran dud, then 2 Marans and 3 Ameraucanas hatched on hatch day. Moved the rest to the bigger incubator with the other eggs. We helped 2 more Ameraucanas unzip and we woke the next morning to them running around inside. Last Ameraucana had pipped internally and was faintly chirping. Helped him out slowly, nicked a vein, made a mess on the counter scrambling to get the corn starch out from under the cupboard and some dumped out to help him. Thought for sure he'd bleed out. He survived but didn't seem to want to or wasn't able to progress any further. We had to free him completely from the egg and membrane and then he tried to stand up on his own. Put him with the others and he perked up considerably. Now running around with them. He's a little smaller but seems fine otherwise. So 2 Marans and 6 Ameraucana hatched out of 12 eggs, 11 made it to lockdown. I'll have to get more Maran eggs because I wanted 3 hens and a roo.

The 12 Chocolate turkeys did well also. 9 hatched but one died in the incubator. The first one hatched 48 hours earlier in late evening. The next morning there were 3 in there but one was laying on his belly with his legs stretched out. He had hatched and died overnight I guess. Most of the rest hatched that day and one or two more the next day. We have 8 running around a brooder now. They're awful cute, except in the evening when one complains that he's awake and all the others are sleeping. So we had 9 hatch out of 18 eggs in total, 12 that made it to lockdown.

The 2 turkeys we had in the wine cooler to hatch did not hatch. That was a terrible batch of 14 eggs. 9 were duds at first candling and then red rings for the next 2 candlings. Only 2 eggs made it to lockdown but didn't hatch.

We also had 13 Australorp eggs that were put in with the Chocolate turkeys to hatch but they were a day behind. 7 of them hatched out of 17 eggs total, 13 making it to lockdown.

The next batch was 18 turkey eggs but only 4 made it to lockdown. They are supposed to hatch tomorrow and I have them in the small incubator to hatch. I see 2 eggs with pips and hear chirps. This batch had a lot of duds at first candling as well.

Today I have to clean out the larger incubator/hatcher and have a look at the remaining eggs in it. Then I'll move the last batch of turkey eggs we set in the wine cooler into that incubator/hatcher and they will stay there. That way the wine cooler will be freed up. I'm gonna clean it out with a bleach solution, remove a couple fans I think, and cover up any exposed insulation. We still have another batch of turkey eggs to set and then we have to start on our duck eggs.

I have a feeling that we might be ironing out some bugs. Those Chocolate turkeys spent 17 days in the wine cooler and we had a decent hatch rate. The Australorps spent their entire time in there and we hatched 7 of them. That's at least something, better than big fat zeroes.

I'll post a couple pictures of fluffy butts after work.

Thanks for the feedback, hope you will have a lot more success.

got interested in the diy Inc cooler and ventilation...... newbie to incubators and dit not think that they need ventilation , so my first build is basically a sealed unit of 14.5*14.5*14.5 inch qube, 4.7 inch 12v fan and 2 x 100w incandescent light bulbs. temp and humi on the dot. only gets vented when I have to open the front to turn 61 hatchimals

 

[McChooky]

Using calibrated thermometers and hygrometers makes a difference.You're same as throwing good eggs out the window when you use the others. Happy to hear you're having better hatches.

 

[Sequoia Raven Bird Farms]

The thing I really recommend is a screen in front of the fans (on the inside), for blocking the down of the chicks from clogging the fans.