Are the chances as slim as I think?

[Manda0227]

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You could always go to walmart, and get one of those thermometer/hydrometer (to measure the humidity). There's on problem Im seeing as far as that is you can't really control the humidity. Like you have to raise it up during lockdown. However..... Chickens don't have hydrometers, thermometers, and egg turners. Soo.. I don't know..

 

[srsmith69]

There's an issue in your plan that nobody has mentioned but I bet lots are thinking. You can't make a hen go bbroody by putting a peeping egg under her. You might be successful in your incubation attempt. It will require constant monitoring of temperature since you don't have a thermostat. The humidity might be too high with 17 aquariums causing the chicks to drown in the shell. If you are successful and get to the peeping egg stage, you would be taking too great a risk with those almost baby chicks hoping that a nonbroody will all of a sudden slap herself on the head and say"oh yeah, I'm supposed to be a hatching machine instead of a scratching, egg-laying,pooping and eating machine"

 

[Andi]

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Seeing as I don't know how to sex chicks I'm going to have to keep as many as hatch until they are old enough to make sure I get 2 pullets. I can't have roos where I live. There's 11 eggs. I realize even if I did have a broody girl and these eggs went in right away that some wouldn't hatch. So, it (hopefully) will be more than just 2 chicks for a while.

 

[Julie08]

okay well you can keep 8 chicks "just about" anywhere until they are old enough to tell if they are roos or hens, what kind of accomadations can you provide? People have hatched eggs in all kinds of untraditional enviroments, I have heard people doing it on a skillet.. its alot of time work heartache and disappointment if it goes bad, if buying an incubator is an option at all thats what I would do if not try it some other way, humidity in your fish room seems to high you want about 50 to 55%...... whatever you decide to do you will have support here to help you along

 

[Andi]

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I was using human tendencies to base that off of. People, most women in particular, have a natural mechanism to want to nurture babies. Many other species do also, if not all to a certain degree (otherwise they would have gone extinct). I understand your point of assuming they would turn all sentimental and go broody is quite a generalization, and not a good one at that. Not all people like babies and I'm sure not all chickens like chicks.

 

[srsmith69]

Chickens are much more like velociraptors than they are like humans. Luckily, raptors are extinct. Think it would be much more likely that the hen would abandon the nest or even crack the eggs to figure out what that annoying peeping is. Now I didn't ask the breed of chicken and if you said I don't remember it right now. If we are talking silkies, they'd likely adopt a wind- up peeping plastic chick

 

[Andi]

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I do appreciate all the support. If I thought I could do it how ever I felt like, I wouldn't come here to learn and get some feed back. Right now I'm just trying to work with what I have available.

I don't know what the humidity level in the fishroom is, so yes, I could see that being an issue. I didn't realize the chicks could drown in the shell.

 

[Andi]

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No silkies. I have them listed in my sig. The girl that takes the most interest is an EE.

 

[Julie08]

get a hydrometer and thermomter and do some test with the fishroom and the heat lamp get it at 50 to55% humidty and 102 degrees at the top of the egg height. If you can manage to get it stable you might have a chance.

 

[Andi]

A thermometer I already have in there with the eggs. I just ordered a hygrometer online. Haha. Never thought I'd be buying anything from a cigar place.

What do people do when the humidity outside is like 80% or whatever? Its not uncommon where I live. How would a broody chicken regulate the humidity?