2015 August hatch-a-long!!

[butterfliesdoku]

I have a question. I have never hatched before because the eggs I have set have all turned out to be infertile (I've tried 3 times) but now I have my first broody, she is on day 3. Are the eggs in the incubator supposed to be warm like the ones under my broody or is it ok if they feel slightly cool? The incubator is a Brinsea Mini advance and it reads 37.5 degrees Celsius but I'm afraid it might be off a few degrees?

 

[GitaBooks]

I have a question. I have never hatched before because the eggs I have set have all turned out to be infertile (I've tried 3 times) but now I have my first broody, she is on day 3. Are the eggs in the incubator supposed to be warm like the ones under my broody or is it ok if they feel slightly cool? The incubator is a Brinsea Mini advance and it reads 37.5 degrees Celsius but I'm afraid it might be off a few degrees?

Congrats!

You can get a thermometer and check the temperature to that, to see if it is calculated right.

If the momma is covering all the eggs, they should be okay. If they feel cold there may be something wrong with them, like there are too many for her to cover.

 

[GitaBooks]

So, I took others advise and lowered my humidity to around 45-48% instead of the 50-55% that it was. Is this the right move? What humidity do you use to get the best hatch rate?

 

[butterfliesdoku]

Congrats!

You can get a thermometer and check the temperature to that, to see if it is calculated right.

If the momma is covering all the eggs, they should be okay. If they feel cold there may be something wrong with them, like there are too many for her to cover.

Right now she is on one infertile egg from my flock but she will be getting a few fertile eggs tomorrow from a trusted source and I will also be putting a few in my incubator to see if they develop. Would it be a problem that she has been sitting on an infertile egg for 3-4 days now? I was afraid if I removed it I might break her broodiness.

 

[GitaBooks]

Right now she is on one infertile egg from my flock but she will be getting a few fertile eggs tomorrow from a trusted source and I will also be putting a few in my incubator to see if they develop. Would it be a problem that she has been sitting on an infertile egg for 3-4 days now? I was afraid if I removed it I might break her broodiness.

It shouldn't be a problem, most broodies are really patient.

 

[blkjak]

So I had a broody silkie, tried to move her 3 nights ago but in the morning she was off and eggs were cold. Stuck them in the bator. Now a second silkie has decided she wants babes so she is setting on 3 eggs but I am going to give her the 3 in the bator. Tonight I go out and an EE hen is setting in the main nesting box and gives me a couple of wacks when I go to gather eggs so I leave her. Crazy birds! Guess there will be chicks in August.

 

[GitaBooks]

So I had a broody silkie, tried to move her 3 nights ago but in the morning she was off and eggs were cold. Stuck them in the bator. Now a second silkie has decided she wants babes so she is setting on 3 eggs but I am going to give her the 3 in the bator. Tonight I go out and an EE hen is setting in the main nesting box and gives me a couple of wacks when I go to gather eggs so I leave her. Crazy birds! Guess there will be chicks in August.

I find that when one goes, they all go. It is chaos!

 

[blkjak]

I find that when one goes, they all go. It is chaos!

Yes I find that too. This EE hen is out of the blue though. With my silkies you can tell when they are going to go broody.

 

[GitaBooks]

Yes I find that too. This EE hen is out of the blue though. With my silkies you can tell when they are going to go broody.

Same here! My EE Eagle went broody last year all of the sudden, along with my Leghorn! This year neither of them went broody, but my Red Star did! Crazy girls.

 

[Dramaqueen21888]

Yes I find that too. This EE hen is out of the blue though. With my silkies you can tell when they are going to go broody.

How do you know if a hen has gone broody. My girls are still too young to lay eggs but when they get older I d dad want to use them to hatch eggs