I ended up helping mine a bit last night, and woke up to 2 new babies this morning, from 2 separate eggs. I had 2 that had pipped yesterday and both were taking quite a while. I helped the one that was malpositioned and not the other. And everyone seems healthy! I appreciate all of the advice.
Thank you all for your thoughts. This has been a long hatch, so I moved the first 2 hatches to a brooder this evening. They were getting pretty pokey with the fresh hatches. I still have 6 more to hatch. A total of 5 have hatched so far.
Hello wise ones. I just had the first egg in my incubator hatch a day early, and is jostling around all the other eggs as it tries to walk and get its legs under her (I’m being hopeful!). As the other eggs start to pip and hatch, do I need to reposition them so they can free themselves easier...
Lils Roost, can you explain your decision process on reaching Ladies First please? You had loads of suggestions as I’ve read through all of this. I’m trying to decide now and I’m all over the board, and can’t seem to narrow this down at all. Thanks for any insights!
Thanks for sharing your thought process. I’m probably going to have to put a room humidifier in the room where the incubator is once I get to lockdown day. I’ve put in wet paper towels today and was only able to get it up to 51%. Since I bought these eggs with only the plan to eat them, and...
Thanks for raising the question. I have had to adjust my temp inside the incubator. On the incubator, I’ve had to increase the set temp after using 2 different thermometers to verify. Now it’s set at 103, but 2 other thermometers I’ve put inside, show it at 99.5-100. Am I misunderstanding...
I really am a data geek like that. Curiosity as well as learning. This is the 3rd time I’ve incubated eggs, but this time I live at 5500 ft elevation in Montana, where it’s quite dry. So it’s very different than when I lived in the humid Midwest.
I started with 16, and currently have 12 eggs in the incubator, on day 12, so just over 1/2 way. On average, these 12 have lost 8.55% of their starting weight, ranging from 5.88%-11.29%. I’m most concerned about 2 at the upper end of weight loss who have lost 10.95% and 11.29%. I’ve read...
I also wrap my dog crate in plastic to hold in the heat (and the mess) for the first few weeks. I leave space for air ventilation, but this traps the heat. I just brought home week old chicks yesterday, and have been able to keep the temp around 90 at one end, and 75ish around the other end.
@terribob, if you didn't get the photocell, how will you open and shut it? I think that is the best part, that I don't have to be here to close them in, or be out there in the early morning to manually let them out.
After watching the chicks for several days, staying under the MHP and not coming out to eat or drink much, I decided to put a heat lamp on them today. What a world of difference. They are out and about, eating and drinking, and sleeping! But my plan is to turn the lamp off during the night...
I bought one of these doors over 3 years ago when I first built my coop. The door is the BEST!!!!!! The chickens learn the timing of the door very fast. And the chickens are inside the roost long before the door shuts. The only thing to be mindful of is that when storms blow in and suddenly...
When I found this thread a few days ago, I jumped for joy! I am not a fan of the heat lamp either, and my chicks were due to hatch today and Saturday (I have two incubators going). I was able to find the large heating pad easily enough at walmart yesterday, and already had the dog crate. I...
I have looked at plenty of pics and know that a couple of them aren't where they need to be. But because of the continued weight loss from yesterday's weigh-in, I decided to go ahead. Hope I don't regret my decision. And you're right, this isn't about perfection. Mother Nature doesn't like...
I went ahead with the lockdown yesterday because most all of them had continued to lose weight when I weighed them. Most were close to or at the 13% suggested by day 18. Thanks for your suggestion.
I have 2 incubators going that are 2 days apart on the timetable. Today is day 18 for the first one, and 16 on the second one. In both incubators, moisture loss in the eggs is inconsistent. Some in the first incubator are where they should be (13%ish) and many are not (9-11%). Should I move...