Are any of these alive? (PICS INCLUDED)

[Geneticsnut]

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I was counting on my NH to hatch on day 22-23, but instead they started at day 19 1/2...SURPRISE...they were done by 21!  

I keep my incubators a degree or two over optimum (99.5) so that they hatch early. I get stronger chicks when they hatch early and if my eggs are not finished hatching by dy. 22 they are weak or straddled.

 

[lazy gardener]

I also ran my hatch a bit above the current standard. Does your bator have a fan? That makes a difference. Even with the fan, I ran around 100.5, and had a very good hatch in spite of 2 power outages, and one oops I unplugged it to candle, and forgot to plug it back in.

 

[Geneticsnut]

I've been using styrofoam little giant incubators w/o fans or turners for years with great results. I maintain a temp of 102-103 and add four strips of cloth to bottom which I keep wet for additional humidity. (The new Little Giants are now manufactured with additional water holding capacity.)

Speaking of power outages, last winter we lost power for 9 hrs. w/o my knowledge and a day later it went out for 24 hrs. at which time I covered them with blankets. When the power returned the tempurature was 65 degrees in the three that I had running. The eggs hatched six days later (on dy 21) with 80% of the standard fowl and about 50% of the bantams hatching. Amazing to me.

 

[lazy gardener]

It is truly fascinating when you think about it. They are resilient little buggers, aren't they!

 

[Tubbys Lil Farm]

Thank you Geneticsnut and Lazy gardener for the encouragement to this newbie. I had several PM's with baileyboy and I was encouraged to hear how much enthusiasm he and his sister had for this project. To hear your success stories makes me even more confident that their first set back was the eggs themselves.

Thank you again, and thank you to all of the other members that encouraged a new egg. They will hatch again and will be successful and then will be hooked like the rest of us...

RO