Dragon, you need to cut the hot wire and put the end coming from the plug under the screw closest to the heat adjustment knob. The other end goes under the other screw. This allows the t-stat to act like a switch cutting the power to the bulb when it gets too hot. The other wire (neutral)...
Darcy, my first hatch was a disaster! I started with 8 eggs in the bator. On day 12 or 13 I candled them and found I had a few that started to develop and quit while 4 were showing definite development. I candled them again before lockdown and pulled the 4 that had quit. The other 4 were...
Well, apparently everything went well, since all 4 of my (fertilized) eggs hatched! Also, my broody has hatched 4 so far and I'm waiting to see what happens with the other 4 eggs under her.
Thanks, everyone! I'll post some more pics soon. When I got home today, I found that my broody hen has hatched 4 so far and there are 4 more eggs under her. Good luck Lauren - let us know how your hatch goes!!
Well, I came home from work this evening and my daughter informed me that three chicks had hatched and there was one more pecking at the egg. We went to the basement to look at them and while we were there, the fourth chicklet hatched. I had originally set 6 eggs, but threw two out on day 13...
I have two chicks that hatched today and possibly several more on the way. I'll be moving some to the brooder tonight or tomorrow morning, but I have a question regarding what I should feed them. I had purchased some 32% protein, medicated turkey "pre-starter" for some quail I had purchased...
Well, chick #1 was born at 12:04 am on August 3rd. Chick #2 has pipped and now I'm just waiting for it to hatch. Egg #3 and #4 are not showing any signs of anything happening, but there was movement when I candled them before lockdown, so I'm hoping they will pip soon.
A second egg has pipped! I'm so eggcited!! My first hatch was a disaster (4 eggs quit around day 8 and 4 fully developed, but never hatched) and I contemplated giving it up. BUT, everyone here encouraged me to try again so, I gave in and put 6 more eggs in a new & improved bator. Around...
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You're telling me...I can't believe I had to sit on those eggs for 21 days!! Now I just hope the other 3 pip soon and I also have 8 eggs under my broody that are due tomorrow. Where, oh where will I put all these chicks???
Murano, it is a homemade bator made from an old Omaha Steaks cooler. I am using a 25 watt bulb as a heat source and have it covered with a sheet of aluminum coilstock for a heatshield. The water heater t-stat is in direct contact with the heatshield to create metal-to-metal contact for faster...
Well, my temp has been steady at 100.4 and the humidity is 75%. Chicks are due on Monday, but is seems like they have been in lockdown for a week now!! It is so stressful not knowing what's going on inside those little eggs. I want to open the bator so bad, but have NOT done it. I got the...
I went into lockdown at 8:00pm tonight. I set 6 eggs and 2 were clear on day 13, so I tossed them. I candled right before putting eggs in lockdown and all 4 were moving. My last hatch was 0%, so anything will be better this time. Good luck with the rest of your little chicklets!
My first hatch didn't go very well at all. I had 4 eggs that quit around day #8 and 4 eggs that completely developed, but never hatched. I posted another thread regarding the eggtopsies. ANYWAY, I wasn't going to try hatching any more, but all of you enablers here at BYC convinced me to try...
Well, I'm fairly new to the world of chickens, but I have gotten over 350 eggs in the 3 months I've had a flock and I've rinsed each egg that was going to be eaten (some went into the bator) under cool water and dried it with a paper towel. I've never had a problem with bad eggs or anything...
Blaine, try putting a heat shield over / around the light bulb and fastening the t-stat to the metal shield resulting in metal to metal contact. This should help the t-stat react quicker to the temp changes rather than relying on it to detect the air temp. Here is a pic of my homemade bator...