Are we doomed?

[NoVA Chicks]

Has anyone had any luck with the chick-bator? I just put our first three eggs in there on Friday and of course found a very bad review this morning. I'm a little worried . . .

 

[NoVA Chicks]

I candled our eggs and two of them the yolk looks darker, the third one I don't see anything. :-(

 

[FenDruadin]

I don't know anything about the chick-bator, but you can make anything work with enough persistence. There are folks on here who have incubated with a desk lamp and wet rags; someone who incubated in her bra (yes, successfully), folks who are incubating with frequent power outages (I'm thinking of mulia, in Indonesia), and so on. What you need is a good, reliable thermometer and hygrometer, so you can be sure your conditions are right, and you can adjust as needed.

As for candling--you will not be able to tell anything at all until at least Day 4, and nothing for sure until Day 7. If you just put them in on Friday, candling will tell you nothing meaningful. Darker yolks could mean any of a million things, so I wouldn't worry about it. Just let them be for a few more days, and then you should start being able to see something.

Good luck!

 

[Akane]

You can't make everything work without modifications and just because someone does get an egg to hatch doesn't mean there won't be a ton of failures. The chick bators just lack insulation, heating ability, and mass. They can't maintain temperature or humidity well and after the chicks hatch several people have had them die for various reasons because of the small size of the bator. The last problem can't really be helped. You can improve the insulation by just putting the bator in a large cheap styrofoam cooler. Cut plenty of vents. Then it will be about as insulated as a standard styrofoam bator. You'll still have a rather weak heating element but it will have a much better chance of keeping things stable. Other option is just to spend $40 and get an actual styrofoam bator at your local feedstore. These still need to be placed in a room with a stable temperature or they can have fluctuations but they will work much better than a chick bator. With the extra space you can put in sealed containers of water to add more mass and help hold in the heat.

Also setting 3 eggs isn't really a good idea. Single chicks do very badly to the point they may die if you try to raise them alone. Hatch rates from shipped eggs are only about 50% or less and then add in the trouble with a bator like that and you are lucky to hatch 1 egg. If you aren't using shipped eggs your odds are a little better but it's really a good idea to go ahead and set at least 6 eggs even if you don't want 6 chickens. Should they all hatch you can sell or give away the extras. Plus what if you don't get any hens out of the chicks you hatch? Half of the chickens that hatch are roosters. When you only hatch 3 eggs there are very high odds you won't get enough hens to start a flock even if you use a good bator. You'll have to spend another 3 weeks doing it again and again and again until you finally get what you want.

 

[NoVA Chicks]

Well, we're planning on doing it again, anyway, but I've already realized that if we only end up with one chick I'll have to make an emergency run to a local farm to get a couple more to him her (hopefully) company.

I put the incubator in one of my kitchen cabinets for added insulation and I've been checking the temperature constantly. At night as the temp drops in the house I adjust the foil and close the door and it seems to be doing well.

Ah, well, I guess we'll just have to be extra vigilant. If we're a complete failure we can always just buy chicks but I'd really like to hatch our own. I think it will be such a great experience for my daughter.

 

[Sillystunt]

Are they the little ones that hold 3? I believe they have a 50% hatch rate. Keep us posted

 

[NoVA Chicks]

Yes, it's the little 3 egg plastic incubator. No sign of any veining or anything today. I'm trying to be patient.

 

[FenDruadin]

Good luck! It's much more difficult to incubate with crummy equipment. And the success rate is lower. But that doesn't mean you're doomed--it can be done successfully. Good luck, and also, good luck saving up for a better bator.

 

[EweSheep]

As long as I have been in BYC and having chickens for a lot longer, those three egg incubators are not worth the time and investiment. Shipped eggs would do alot worse and it is like throwing money away like water.

If you can, make a homemade bator or save $$ (or income tax refund) for a better bator. I personally do not like Little Giant incubators, it was ongoing battle with them for years I've had it. Hovabator Genesis, I had success with it and done well with it! well worth the money if you ask me!

 

[NoVA Chicks]

Well, the incubator ended up costing about $5 and the eggs cost $7. At this point that's all we can afford. I found out this year that when your tax deductible bills (not counting things like food) are way more than you made and you owe $0 in actual taxes but you had to take money out of your IRA to pay your mortgage, you still have to pay penalties to the IRS. What a joke. Anyway, I'm discouraged, but not ready to give up yet. ;-) Someone is giving us a humidity gauge this morning and I'm keeping my eyes open for a styrofoam cooler on freecycle.