1st time shipped eggs- advise please!

[Colorfulchickens]

Yes. I told the hubs he had a project. But just the one??? Or should I have him drill a few? Thanks again!!

 

[MGG]

Yes. I told the hubs he had a project. But just the one??? Or should I have him drill a few? Thanks again!!

I would do just the one for now.

 

[Colorfulchickens]

Will do, thank you again for your time this evening! I’ll keep on with the same humidity and drill a hole. And is upright ok for hatching, or should I lay them down??

 

[MGG]

Will do, thank you again for your time this evening! I’ll keep on with the same humidity and drill a hole. And is upright ok for hatching, or should I lay them down??

No problem!
Yeah, just do the one hole and go from there. You can always do more, but you can't do less.
I like laying them down for hatching the best.

 

[Colorfulchickens]

More advice please, pretty unfortunate turn of events. Incubator heating element literally just DIED... will not turn on. I caught it immediately. Husband is rigging up seedling mats to a thermostat and lining the bottom of the incubator (under the plastic tray, so still a barrier.... but that took time. Eggs at like 83 degrees while he was trying to finagle things (about 60, maybe 90 minutes). Any hope for them? Should I run the heat higher since it’s now virtually a “still air” incubator since both the fan and heating element quit?? I’m so sad. 5 of those eggs looked so beautiful with great veins and movement. We’re at the end of day 14. Thanks!!

 

[gunhoney]

Incubate until there is no debate! I had an incubator die as well for longer than that and still hatched plenty of eggs. My broody gets off her eggs sometimes for half an hour, sometimes more, a few times a day. And she is a solid broody. Keep them going until it’s definitely too late. I kept that batch of mine on until Day 25 just to be sure - most were regular size eggs but plenty of expensive ones and I lost a lot of money on that one cheap incubator in eggs alone. I did get a few chicks though.

I too had the first timer experience of cheap incubators and learned my lesson. Finally just plunked the money down for an R-com and my hatches are now 100% controlled temp and humidity 24/7. I’ve built my own animal ICU for the wildlife rehabbing I do and even so nothing comes close to a well-engineered device. To be honest, this isn’t a cheap hobby. It’s the difference between less headache/more money or more headache/less money. And of course if you’re buying eggs you’ll end up losing even more in eggs than just buying the good incubator to begin with. There are plenty of good brands out there. Even so, building my own ICU cost about $600 and I still ended up getting an R-com ICU anyway. It’s just a matter of how much headache you’re willing to put up with vs. what is in the budget for you personally. And to think I began hatching eggs thinking I could do everything for a few hundred bucks