The Incubator Thread

[gander007]

Quote:
Oh I am so sorry I miss understood I thought You still had a couple of hopeful's ...



I purchased this thing back in 1997 and it gets used every year and at least 6 months of each year and the only advice I can give is to have the incubator on for at least two weeks before the eggs go in and always make the incubator full even if the eggs are store bought and for some reason for me this always works out better but after about 12 days the non fertile eggs need to be switched out with fresh eggs but each person has their own method and every climate works different and it is something that needs to be tested till you find out what works better for where you are located

Wish you success in your next attempt

 

[emvickrey]

I don't think I worded that right. I meant that once again my Hovobator has let me down. Today was hatch day and not as much as a peep. No eggs moving, No pips. Dead silent. I'm sure once again they are all dead.

Well. A day late but not a dollar short. I was going to candle before I tossed eggs out and there are 3 pips from the silkies and 2 internal pips from the orps. The humidity was down to 41% so I misted the eggs and added water. Hoping they hatch. i guess the low temps in the beginning slowed them down. i hope I get some babies today.

 

[emvickrey]

I have 2 chicks. The first one hatched about a half hour ago and the second one just popped out. They are both paint silkies. The first one is white with what looks like a few black spots and the second one is black with a few white spots. That one is gonna be interesting. I hope they are girls. My luck both boys.

 

[moonflowerfarms]

Hi all, I need a touch of advice. I have a cream legbar chick that I just hatched in my incubator (looks female--yay!) I have the humidity way up to 68% at the moment for good reason. The eggs in that one were shipped and ended up with saddle shaped air sacks. I read on the shipped eggs thread to keep the humidity high to help with that problem. I came down this morning and found our first one hatched, but her eyes weren't open. So I took her out really quick, and she is absolutely covered in sticky mucous. I don't know if it's from the high humidity or what. But its caking her so that she is not drying, it's hard and sticky. She eventually got one eye open, but not the other. Any thoughts? I was thinking of taking her out and putting her in our transitional brooder under the light early to see if drying off a bit better will help. Should I try to do anything to rinse off the gunk? Thanks!

 

[gander007]

Them two coming out of the eggs are the first hatches for the day so from Saturday to Saturday I hatched out 16 chicks with a minimum of on per day so I am happy and I am sure there are more to come before Monday comes around

To all and your family's enjoy your Easter

 

[emvickrey]

Hi all, I need a touch of advice. I have a cream legbar chick that I just hatched in my incubator (looks female--yay!) I have the humidity way up to 68% at the moment for good reason. The eggs in that one were shipped and ended up with saddle shaped air sacks. I read on the shipped eggs thread to keep the humidity high to help with that problem. I came down this morning and found our first one hatched, but her eyes weren't open. So I took her out really quick, and she is absolutely covered in sticky mucous. I don't know if it's from the high humidity or what. But its caking her so that she is not drying, it's hard and sticky. She eventually got one eye open, but not the other. Any thoughts? I was thinking of taking her out and putting her in our transitional brooder under the light early to see if drying off a bit better will help. Should I try to do anything to rinse off the gunk? Thanks!

It's from the humidity. When it dries it will be stuck to itself. If it's not dry yet try to pull off as much of it as you can with a soft wash cloth,, (dry). This happened to me once and I tried rinsing it off in the sink and although it was not as bad it was still stuck. After it dries you can rub it gently with a very soft dry wash cloth and the dried sticky stuff will come off. Don't pull on it because the down will come with it. Be very gentle. Hopefully somebody will chime in with a better idea soon.

 

[stryker]

Got my cofee table done. Well I have it on a small foldable table. I have a light on each side and a fan blowing on each light. It is keeping temps and i got my other incubator just right as 15 out of 15 eggs are going onto this hatcher. I will try to take a better pic when the sun is not shining on it.

 

[stryker]

These are the welsummer eggs thati am keeping to replace my flock. Hatch day is mMonday.

 

[LadyCedar]

I have a few questions: anyone know a good design for a build it at home incubator? I also need a complete Dummy's guide to hatching....been depending on hatcheries the past few years...

 

[KernH]

Them two coming out of the eggs are the first hatches for the day so from Saturday to Saturday I hatched out 16 chicks with a minimum of on per day so I am happy and I am sure there are more to come before Monday comes around

To all and your family's enjoy your Easter

I have a styrofoam incubator also. When eggs go into lock-down, I replace the turner with egg flats and cardboard boxes cut fairly high, maybe 4.5 inches, to retain the chicks when they hatch. I even put dividers in the box to keep different chick varieties divided. By doing this my incubator stays totally clean. After hatching I take it outside and hose it off and when dry it is ready to go again. Also just a damp cloth with a little bleach wiped on the turner and it is also ready to go with almost no cleaning work. Just thought that might be a good tip. Kern