I see on a daily basis people have problems with their incubators and hatching. Here is something i learned over hatching eggs the last 40 yrs. Temperature is the biggest problem due to inaccurate thermometers. low temperature is the biggest problem. I have 2 gqf's and a dickey. There are so many variables to account for like where in the incubator are you reading temperature and where your incubator is located. Mine is in a horse stall in the barn. I tried it every part of the incubators and got different readings. For example if you check it at the top at the front door where most people do that is a hot spot because the heating coil is not very far away. The first tray right under the shelf was cooler. Anyway one day i put five thermometers in one incubator and all five gave a different reading. This really bothered me. I was frustrated and felt i had nothing to loose. So i took all of them out and put them in a bucket and decided i have to do something. So i adjusted the temperature up after each hatch until the eggs were hatching right. I then Put the best thermo hygro back in there and it was reading 102.4. Keep in mind i couldn't beleive what i was seeing. The bottom line is i increased my hatch 40%. They hatch great with very little pipping and dying in the egg. Every situation is different but this has worked very well for me.I am not telling anyone to do anything i am just sharing what works for me.
TIPS
A chicken egg will actually hatch in 18 days at a high temperature. I DON'T RECOMEND YOU DO THIS. The point is eggs will hatch at a liitle hotter temperature but if you are too coll it's a mess. there is not much worse then a baby strugglin for life and nothing you can do for it.
HOW I START A NEW INCUBATOR.
I start a new incubator out at 1021/2 to 103 degrees. If the birds hatch early i will back it down. I have found that it is better to start off hot than cool. Because the eggs will hatch just a little early. I usually set some small batches of eggs early to get it where i want it but we don't always have that luxury.
MY GOAL
I set my eggs on Sunday on the 21 st day i put my babies in the brooder after lunch. they usually start pipping late on the 19 th day and heavy on the 20th day.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The bottom line is the eggs will always tell you. They don't give wrong information. It's just too bad that it took me almost 40 years for them to teach me. It was right in front of me the whole time i just couldn't see it.
YOU CAN WHAT I HAVE SAID FOR WHAT IS WORTH TO YOU. I AM ONLY TRYING TO HELP!
TIPS
A chicken egg will actually hatch in 18 days at a high temperature. I DON'T RECOMEND YOU DO THIS. The point is eggs will hatch at a liitle hotter temperature but if you are too coll it's a mess. there is not much worse then a baby strugglin for life and nothing you can do for it.
HOW I START A NEW INCUBATOR.
I start a new incubator out at 1021/2 to 103 degrees. If the birds hatch early i will back it down. I have found that it is better to start off hot than cool. Because the eggs will hatch just a little early. I usually set some small batches of eggs early to get it where i want it but we don't always have that luxury.
MY GOAL
I set my eggs on Sunday on the 21 st day i put my babies in the brooder after lunch. they usually start pipping late on the 19 th day and heavy on the 20th day.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The bottom line is the eggs will always tell you. They don't give wrong information. It's just too bad that it took me almost 40 years for them to teach me. It was right in front of me the whole time i just couldn't see it.
YOU CAN WHAT I HAVE SAID FOR WHAT IS WORTH TO YOU. I AM ONLY TRYING TO HELP!
