March hatch along

[johnderosa1]

Hopefully, they aren't too dirty and this doesn't become an issue. If you feel compelled to wash them.... Warm, plain water only and dont scrub them... I still would highly recommend against it though...

 

[johnderosa1]

I am curious to hear about others experience with humidity... I've had two issues over the many hatches i've done. 1. Chicks quitting late; days 18-21 and 2. Chicks getting "shrink wrapped" at hatching. I attribute late quitters with too much humidity on days 1-18 as they are too large to maneuver properly in the egg at hatch time. I have read about dry hatching and have adopted a modified version ... I go dry the first 7 - 10 days and then use normal levels of humidity through day 19. I begin raising it more on day 20 and make sure i max it out only on day 21+. This seems to have helped reduce both problems substantially. Greatly reducing late quitters and by holding lockdown to only days. 20 & 21 i've eliminated the problem of running my reservoirs dry right at the critical hatch time. I also make sure i keep the eggs away from direct exposure to the fan during lockdown. It seemed to be contributing to drying the membrane...

 

[SkylineFarms]

Hello everyone, thanks for letting me join you all. I'm sure I will drive you nuts with all the questions

I've read so much info my brain full to bursting ...haha

So, my incy has been out for 24 hrs, temp settled, humidity not sure my brinsea has no thingy to read that. It just has 2 wells. So filled 1 ? ( you can tell this is my 1st go ! )
My eggs have been resting for 23 hrs. Candled them all (12) bantam. 1 egg looked a bit iffy to me, so put that one to one side.

Now, I decided to not use my auto turner ....eek !! So I can do more eggs, with the hope I can at least get 1 fluffy frizzle banty

I've marked a O and X on both sides of the eggs. Set my phone to remind me to turn them 5 times a day. I trusty app I hope !

Do I wash my eggs ?
Turning, is it just turning them from O to X each time ?

I had a Brinsea Mini Advance as my first incubator too. I had amazing hatch rates with it, even on shipped eggs. I did use the auto-turner though. Yes, just fill up one well with water until 2 days before hatching, then fill up both wells. Some people recommend getting something to measure the humidity with, but I do not think that it is necessary unless you're having problems with your hatches or live in a overly humid or overly dry region. I never measured humidity in the Mini Advance, just followed the directions and I got 6/7 and 7/7 each time I hatched in it.

Brinseas are made out of anti-microbial plastic so I don't think that washing the eggs is that big of a deal with a Brinsea than with other incubators. I never washed the eggs that I hatched in my Brinsea.

 

[johnderosa1]

I'd like to ride along too. I set 36 eggs in my home made stryo bator w/fan. The eggs are a mix. I have 24 rhodebars, 6 marans (BCM I think), some OE and EE, and a few super blue egg layers. All the eggs came from Dmrippy of BYC. She is local to me so I picked them up at her farm. I set mine late at night on the 22nd.
I've had a bit of difficulty keeping my temp right since I set the eggs. It was holding temp perfect until I loaded it up, and now it's running slightly low. I have it in our extra room that normally stays closed off. I opened the door and brought it back up to temp by putting my heating pad on the glass and it's doing fine now.
I normally do dry incubation, but I've experienced several shrinkwrapped chicks my last few hatches so this time I'm not using water in my container, but I put a damp sponge inside when I open the bator to turn the eggs.
Looking forward to hearing how everyone else is doing. Matlock, what are you using to heat your incubator? What kind of thermostat are you using ?

 

[celonecoop]

Hi all, I'm Lola and a newbie

I purchased an incubator today ....yay !!! So excited but nervous lol
I have only a little one, a brinsea mini advance. My bantam eggs are being delivered tomorrow

So I hope it's ok to join you all for my 1st hatching

x

Yeah very exciting!! Good luck with you first hatch and that's a very nice little bator!

 

[celonecoop]

LOL! Some might say that about me! I finally talked hubby into me buying another LG still air. YAY! Now I can do staggard hatches! I like the new design of the LG

I didn't have luck with my still air lg. Is there a trick to it? I gave up on it last year and found a hovabator (circulated air) with picture window and love it had nothing but great hatches. I still have the lg maybe I will give it another try with some home grown eggs I have the wireless temp/humidity gauge so maybe that would help let me know what is going on in the lg. I also just got an old Cabinet bator that my uncle was getting rid of so Im gonna load that baby up with quail,turkey and pheasant eggs to hatch and release. Very excited about that

 

[johnderosa1]

I didn't have luck with my still air lg. Is there a trick to it? I gave up on it last year and found a hovabator (circulated air) with picture window and love it had nothing but great hatches. I still have the lg maybe I will give it another try with some home grown eggs I have the wireless temp/humidity gauge so maybe that would help let me know what is going on in the lg. I also just got an old Cabinet bator that my uncle was getting rid of so Im gonna load that baby up with quail,turkey and pheasant eggs to hatch and release. Very excited about that

I started out with a styrofoam incubator but decided to build my own cabinet incubator after the wafer got stuck and fried a batch of eggs during lockdown. Had some problems with the thermostat on my homemade incubator the first time but switched it out and have been in good shape since. Got my fingers crossed as usual for this hatch!!!

 

[Lola66]

Lovely , thank you for all the advice .........I've ever so lightly washed 2 I've marked those 2 just to see ?
So ......they are in !!!!! OMG , so excited !!!........ My kids & I were just all sat looking at the little eggs in the incy, willing each one along. It's gonna be long 21 days, that's for sure.

 

[Lola66]

I had a Brinsea Mini Advance as my first incubator too. I had amazing hatch rates with it, even on shipped eggs. I did use the auto-turner though. Yes, just fill up one well with water until 2 days before hatching, then fill up both wells. Some people recommend getting something to measure the humidity with, but I do not think that it is necessary unless you're having problems with your hatches or live in a overly humid or overly dry region. I never measured humidity in the Mini Advance, just followed the directions and I got 6/7 and 7/7 each time I hatched in it.

Brinseas are made out of anti-microbial plastic so I don't think that washing the eggs is that big of a deal with a Brinsea than with other incubators. I never washed the eggs that I hatched in my Brinsea.

Thank you, I just followed the manual. Thought I would try without the turning tray. As I didn't want to buy the 12 egg tray think these eggs would have been to big for the tray anyway lol......but we will see x

 

[matlock585]

Johnderosa-
I have a hot water heater thermostat wired to a regular 60W light bulb, then I have a night light and a PC fan wired to a 12V transformer that runs constantly. Here are some pics of it.