Incubators Anonymous

[shawn54]

The last time I posted I put 12 eggs in bator that were started by a broody that was given chicks from a hen that would not take care of them I did not know when she started sitting on them but today I had my second hatch of Cochins. Of the 12 eggs 3 were cracked by hens toes shells seamed thin. 1 was almost round had to candle to find air sack. So 8 went to lockdown all 8 hatched in a 14 hour span. This is a DIY bator with rocker turner and by next spring it will be a hatcher only plans are in the works for a 3 shelf cabinet. I'm hooked

 

[OneMountainAcres]

The last time I posted I put 12 eggs in bator that were started by a broody that was given chicks from a hen that would not take care of them I did not know when she started sitting on them but today I had my second hatch of Cochins. Of the 12 eggs 3 were cracked by hens toes shells seamed thin. 1 was almost round had to candle to find air sack. So 8 went to lockdown all 8 hatched in a 14 hour span. This is a DIY bator with rocker turner and by next spring it will be a hatcher only plans are in the works for a 3 shelf cabinet. I'm hooked

Congrats on the hatch! It never gets old

 

[shawn54]

. All 8 in a corner hiding from me and camera they are fluffy and active.

 

[BillJ]

Dear IA members:

My Name is Ralph of the Duluth clan...

I have a hatching problem. I did not realize it until late last night.

My wife asked the other day what Temp I ran the hatchers at. I told her 99.5 is what I aim for but I like 99.7-8 if I can get it.


Little did I know she took it upon herself to "adjust" my temps. She does not realize how sensitive the controls are and how long it takes to stabilize them. I have wild temp swings now.

How do I "teach" her to keep her hands off my hatchers?

If I break her fingers, is that still a crime considering the reason for it?

I caught her this morning opening a hatcher to put the thermometer in. I stopped her. I will have to prepare my own food for the foreseeable future. She was not happy, her response was " (Expletive deleted) I was just checking the temps, You have them all wrong... I was trying to help"...

What am I to do?

Divorce.

 

[Cindi1972]

Smack her around a little... that might help! hahaaa just kidding of course.

 

[BillJ]

Day 18 started at noon. I removed the homemade automatic egg tilter, which had been rocking every 2½ hours, put in a grid inside a lasagna tin covers the bottom, added water, put the 6 eggs back and am on lockdown. My calculation say hatching this Sunday.

I regret a decision I made to test the air circulation by not rotating the eggs this time. The largest of the all smallest, least pointed eggs is closest to the hot air in. I put the eggs in a half cardboard egg carton and am wondering if they'd be better off lying flat on the grid allowing the eggs to roll if necessary. Still, it is lockdown already. If they all hatch well and not closest to the air in first then this will be how I'll do it in the future.

The fates are anticipating Sunday's hatching. Deciding to test an auger for drilling fence holes for a run I laid out, removing a heavy drill from under the kitchen counter, it touched the glass front on the oven door and crazed/broke the glass completely. I immediately thought of the eggs in the incubator not 6' from the stove.
My birds are alerting madly right now, looked, nothing unusual. Perhaps a snake but no, they usually ignore the chicken snakes. They kept it up so I checked again and as I walked from under a tree toward the coop a hawk's shadow crossed my path as it left. Then they got calmer.

I should note these eggs are from my only laying hen and she's old. Since her eggs have thick shells and I've never had much success candling, these 6 eggs have not been candled.

 

[duluthralphie]

I told some of you on another thread I added port holes to my 1202 I am now using for a hatcher. I have a couple pipped eggs and one hatched one.

I still do not have the moisture where I want it. with 4 sponges in the automatic waterer I am only at 58%. I closed the top hole a tad to see if I can trap a bit more humidity.

Any Ideas?

Here are the pictures, forgive the duct tape I needed something to assure someone would not get cut on the glass, I will make it prettier after the hatching season...So around November I will fix it..

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Looks good Ralph!

I had an incident tonight while moving eggs from my 1202 to the hatcher. I always mark the air cells so I know which way to lay them in the hatcher. Tonight, I was shocked to find a totally unzipped egg with the poult missing. The little poult is just fine and was laying in the very bottom of the bator. I need to make sure I start getting these eggs locked down on time!

 

[Jessimom]

Looks good Ralph!

I had an incident tonight while moving eggs from my 1202 to the hatcher. I always mark the air cells so I know which way to lay them in the hatcher. Tonight, I was shocked to find a totally unzipped egg with the poult missing. The little poult is just fine and was laying in the very bottom of the bator. I need to make sure I start getting these eggs locked down on time!

I mis labled a few eggs and found a nice dry chick running around on top of all the other eggs last week. 1 other was pipped. It was day 21. I moved 4 eggs and 1 chick over to a hatching 'bator and all 4 chicks hatched later that day! Glad yours is doing ok! How many eggs moved to lock down?

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I mis labled a few eggs and found a nice dry chick running around on top of all the other eggs last week.  1 other was pipped. It was day 21.   I moved 4 eggs and 1 chick over to a hatching 'bator and all 4 chicks hatched later that day!  Glad yours is doing ok!  How many eggs moved to lock down?

Only 3 more eggs got moved. Out of 9 in that batch, only 5 had developed but one was an early quitter. Kinda stinks. I have am order for 6 poults this weekend and if all of them hatch, I'll only have 4 lol