Sportsman Incubator Question??????

[bigstack]

I bought a used sportsman bator 288 chicken eggs. I cleaned and disinfected with 1tbl sp bleach to 1 quart water. sprayed and soaked everything. Question is...Should I put eggs in the sportsman or leave them in the LG until lock down? Both are zeroed in at 99.5-100.1 if left in the LG I will put them into the sportsman for lock down. It has the hatching tray in the bottom. How long should they stay in the hayching tray after hatching? should I wait just long enough for them to dry or leave a lil longer? I know I don't want them to stay too long because of dehydration. I have a brooder ready. temp at 95 under red bulb. feeder, waterer, feather duster for mom. etc... I have a staggerd hatch in LG now. Lock down is Feb. 9,11, and 17.

I still have 2 more sets coming in mail any day. 40 in sofar about 14-16 coming.
Thanks for the help!
God Bless!

 

[mediazeal]

Quote:
is all the disinfectant washed and cooked off?
Doing staggered hatches is tough
if you have eggs in the LG that dont' lock down til the 17th, you need to move the others on their lockdown day to a higher humidity (65%) hatcher. (I run my incubator at 40-45% and at lockdown go to 65%).

you need to have a clean water spray bottle to 'rehumidify' after you open the hatcher.
do not open the incubator/hatcher if any of the eggs are pipped. They will dry out and the chicks will get stuck. Wait for no pips.
Be fast. Spray the clean water into the air in the incubator as you close it (not on the eggs)
keep the incubator in a room with even temps (as much as possible) it helps it hold temp better.
if you have a room humidifier, with no medicine in it, you can have that running when you have to open the incubator to take out the hatched chicks while others are still on lockdown

good luck

 

[bigstack]

Thanks, Yes I let it air dry then I ran It whith the vent open for bout 6 hours. I only The LG is running bout 45% humidity now. The sportsman has the humidity water trough, auto gravity fill, float controlled. The guy I got it from used to raise fighting chickens. He said he hatched out over 2000 last year. Now its outlawed. Thank GOD! That was just cruel. Fighting for dominance is one thing. but being forced to fight.....NO!!! thats wrong. They used the knives too. VERY bloody!!!!!!! Sad Sad Sad....

But any way back to the topic: The sportsman bator holds 288 eggs. auto turner and 2 temp discs. it cycles on at 98 and off at 102 so I figure its average is 100 or as close as i can get it! I just wasn't sure if I should try to move them all to the Big'n or leave them bee untill lockdown. It has the hatching tray in the bottom of the incubator. I was worried about the increased humidity for hatch and the eggs still in the bator at the same time. So I guess I will move the Lockdown eggs to the tray in the sportsman with the increased humidity and just keep the humidity same in LG. Soas not to be too wet on later hatching eggs.

Thanks for the input. I just needed more feed back. This is my first time hatching my own. Ans a staggered hatch at that!

P.s. I guess I should have said 1 tsp. not 1tbl sp of bleach. Sorry!

Thanks and God Bless!

 

[jenjscott]

With all the staggered incubation going on, I would move all the incubating into the sportsman and use the LG for lockdown. That is how I do it with my Hovabator and it works well. The Hova bator is a lot easier to access rapidly as in grabbing out a few chicks. When its time for first lockdown, move everything else over into the waiting sportsman. Actually, you could probably leave the first two in lockdown on the tenth, a day late for first hatch and a day early for second hatch, and do fine.

 

[bigstack]

Thanx! That sounds like a good Idea. Thats what i'm gonna do. I just got another doz in mail today and 11 more shipped out today. Yeah!!!!! That should be te final shipment. Now just alot of waiting and worrying.

Thanx again, God Bless!