Anxiety over my first ever hatch! Oh my...

[MrsKluck]

Today was day 19 of my first attempt at incubating chicks. I so want my own flock, having been obsessed over my brothers birds forever!. I have been reading endlessly here on the forums to ready myself....but when it come to incubating.....I am confused what to do...so many opinions and methods and theories. I am just plain anxious and worried because since I am just learning, I found that I have done some things wrong. (hopefully...the little peeps won't have to pay for my mistakes) OK. I may as well 'fess up. A neighbors chicken would cross the street every day, and lay her eggs in a nest she made under my tangled nasturtiums. I took the first 8 and started incubating. The mistake? Each day she laid another, I kept adding it to the incubator. I now have 16 in there. Staggered hatch I guess its called. This was before I learned about humidity, lock-down, shrinkwrapped chicks, drowning chicks and so on. So much to worry about.

Anyway...From candling.... they all look good. But now, on day 19 for the 1st 8, I'm keeping the humidity around 55. I have them sectioned off with a rolled up towel to hopefully keep little ones away from the later ones. I have really complicated it for myself with all the different due dates, but am just going to keep doing the best I can, and hope it all turns out well. At least I kept records of which number I put in there, so I know what to expect if all goes well.
Thanks for reading thus far. I tend to get really wordy, and actually have contained myself here. I know people say keep out of it, but I keep sneaking in there REAL FAST to turn the younger ones, and add a cotton ball of h2o if needed.
Please cross your fingers for me. This site is wealthy in information, and I hope to make some friends to turn to along my way to flockhood. Also, I'm not sure of forum etiquette. Whenever I have a new question, do I start a new thread??
Off to bed....hopefully wake to some pips??
I think this is the start of an obsession....oh my.

 

[mix3dbreed]

Good luck. You nailed that part where the eggs should have the same incubation time. 7-8 days its going to get a litle tricky.

I just finished my 1st incubation. Still 2 letf there getting the feathers heathed before joinig the others.

Post some pics-

 

[speney]

I did the same thing with a staggered hatch. I built my own incubator and took a few eggs from my broody hen she had to many to cover and than a n other one went broody for a few days than quit so I put them in and that was just the start of my problems. At one point my power went out and the temp dropped down to 69 degrees Fahrenheit in my incubator for about 6 hours. But in the end on my first time incubating eggs I ended up with a 73 percent hatch rate ant just about everything that could go wrong did. You will be just fine good luck and I'm rooting and praying for your eggs.