About to incubate for the first time

[ntsorvas]

bought a farm innovators 2100, 6 ameraucana eggs and 6 blue laced wyandotte eggs to hatch, hopefully I'll have a good amount hatch to add to my 4 red stars and 2 barred rocks I already have. any helpful info much appreciated

 

[Puddin Fluff]

I have only done it once and came out with a 30% hatch which I am told is not bad. Watch the humidity, make sure you are turning and start your count on the day after you set your eggs. there are lots of threads with incubation advise. Patience is the hardest part esp. when hatch time arrives. Good luck and I hope you have a good hatch!

 

[gabrielle1976]

Lots of articles around here , Im sure you will find lots of info.
Just bare basics,
Set up the icubator in a room with a constent as possible temp, cooler is always better then warmer room wise,
Set up and run the bator for at least 12 - 24 hours befor you put the eggs in to make sure it stays the right temp,
Expect the temp to drop once you put the eggs in the bator then has to bring the eggs up to temp , dont adjust the temp unless it spkes up reallyhigh or unless it does not go back up to 99.5 (forced air ) or 101 (still air) withen about 8 - 10 hours,
Set the therm ontop of or at top egg hight , its always nice to have 2 or even 3 diffrent ones to make sure of temps
Read and follow the insturctions that the incubator comes with
Carefully mark X on one side of the egg and O on the other and turn them by hand 3 times a day (unless you have a turner)
I like to keep a little note book with info on the eggs , types , color , date laid if i know , date set, date to stop turning (day18) and hatch day
Stop turning the eggs on day 18 fill the all the water recepticals with water double check everything is well and go into lock down
Try not to open the incubator till all the eggs have hatched
Make sure you have everything you need for new chicks , ( heat source , food and chck dishes and bedding ect)

 

[mcoleman12]

I can't tell you anything about incubating yet... but I have been collecting parts to build one! And I love your egg choices! Good Luck!!

 

[mcoleman12]

Just came across this thought it might be helpful for you!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/728057/incubating-chicken-eggs-a-quick-guide

 

[ntsorvas]

so I bought a room thermometers/hygrometer,right now it reads 50% for humidity, is that an actual reading or do I need to do some calculation

 

[gabrielle1976]

should be right , you could check by takeing it to the bathroom the next time you tke a shower sit it on a counter ect dry surface and check it when your done should go up

 

[ntsorvas]

looks like something is growing, this is one of my americaunas, 6 out of 7 like this. I can't see anything thru 6 my wyandottes. Egg color? They are medium brown in color, others are light green

 

[Becci]

Quote:
It's likely it's not reading right. I've never had, nor have I heard of anyone who had a hygrometer that read spot on. You need to calibrate both thermometer and hygrometer. Find out how far off they are reading (if they're reading off at all), and find out how much you need to +/- when reading them. For example, my current hygrometer reads 9% too high, so I have to subtract 9 digits to get the actual humidity%.

Depending on your thermometer, you may be able to adjust it to read correctly if it's reading incorrectly. With others, you just have to add or subtract to the reading to find out the actual temperature.

 

[Roxannemc]

bought a farm innovators 2100, 6 ameraucana eggs and 6 blue laced wyandotte eggs to hatch, hopefully I'll have a good amount hatch to add to my 4 red stars and 2 barred rocks I already have. any helpful info much appreciated

What are you running your temp and humidity at?Are they your eggs? Or shipped ?

Ask question on here as they come up. Always someone with some answer also read a lot of the hatch threads and quesioin many newbie hatchers on here so you will find you wil have the same questions in many instances.
Basically each hatch in your climate and your incubator is different from someone elses. Its trial and error to see what works for you.Temp is always suppiosed to be 99.5-100 NOT higher than 101.
As little variation as possible is your aim here .
Humidity should be 30-50 % day 1-18
and 18-21 65-75

the biggest problem PPL have is keeping the temp at 99.5 -100 Will jump up and down and stress you out,.. Some ppl say use" heat sinks " IE rock in your bator which help hold the temp even
Also a draft free room. will help keep it even too. I use my closet.
GOOD LUCK!..