I have an Incuview incubator that I got as a Christmas present that currently has only 7 eggs left in it from 18. Candleing revealed most didnt develop. Thank you Ebay.
I also have a GFQ 1588 and a Little Giant Ive had for years but dont use much because its so hard to keep the temps regulated.
My rooster is older and doesnt seem to be that fertile. Might need a new guy. Would love to hatch some banty eggs someday.
7:18 isn't all that bad for shipped eggs. You could easily get 0. I hope you get a decent hatch from the remaining eggs.
I had a strange fertility issue with my silver laced orps last spring. Although both females were laying for a few months & my roo was occasionally mating them, very few eggs developed. (Those eggs that did develop happened to come from an accidental encounter with my lav orp roo.) I trimmed all the vents for easier contact & even made up a special love nest - aka private tractor - to make it easier for the male to breed. I expected things to improve, but it wasn't until summer when he reached 1 year old that I finally had some decent fertile eggs from that group.
Even now, I'm not seeing much breeding. It's mid winter, so the hormones are low. I expect they'll start increasing breeding activity in early March. Sometimes a rooster can be too much of a gentleman. This may have been the case with my "Mr Wonderful." He had the handsome looks, but his SLO hens actually preferred the other rooster. Poor SLO guy would dance for his hens. They weren't impressed and rarely squatted, but when mixed back in with the flock, the SLO hens got mated regularly by my lav orp roo. I guess it took a couple months of separation with no other options before my roo could successfully breed.
I never had such a polite young cockerel before. (Most of the time, they go through a crazy hormonal stage before they figure out proper etiquette.) I hope he'll do better this spring when I separate them again.