August 2016 Hatch-A-Long

[ChickenCanoe]

Hi all, i am a silkie lover and have tried now 3 times to hatch with no success yet, twice under a hen and now under a incubator. Had 24 eggs in this incubator, discovered yesterday at day 21 that only 3 were feetile. Checked one of the three today, it was under developed for day 22, still had a full yolk sack. Im leaving the other two but am sure they will be weak hatches. Im wanting to try again in an incubator, please give me tips as i am using a yellow ce incubator that is unable to be seen through . Only way to see is to open it. I am thinking to put the next eggs in and just not touch

Sorry to hear of your struggles.
IMHO, if you are unsuccessful with both broody hens and an incubator, your problem isn't the incubator. Broody hens, left to their own devices (not disturbed) have excellent hatch rates.
If I were you, the first places I would look are breeder nutrition, inbreeding and breeder disease - in that order.
Most feeds are appropriate for body maintenance and egg laying, however not quite adequate for high rates of hatchability.
Inbreeding causes lack of vigor and thereby, hatchability.

 

[two j farm]

How many hens and roosters do you have?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you are asking me, I usually have about 40 hens and 5 to 7 roosters. Currently I only have 10 hens and 3 roosters since 2 flocks were wiped out by predation.
Right now I have 50 chicks from day old to 2 months, 20 eggs in the incubator and 3 settings this coming month. So the numbers will be getting back up.
I've had as many as 100 hens and 12 roosters in the past.

 

[melmel89]

Hi all, i am a silkie lover and have tried now 3 times to hatch with no success yet, twice under a hen and now under a incubator. Had 24 eggs in this incubator, discovered yesterday at day 21 that only 3 were feetile. Checked one of the three today, it was under developed for day 22, still had a full yolk sack. Im leaving the other two but am sure they will be weak hatches. Im wanting to try again in an incubator, please give me tips as i am using a yellow ce incubator that is unable to be seen through . Only way to see is to open it. I am thinking to put the next eggs in and just not touch

Sorry to hear of your struggles.
IMHO, if you are unsuccessful with both broody hens and an incubator, your problem isn't the incubator. Broody hens, left to their own devices (not disturbed) have excellent hatch rates.
If I were you, the first places I would look are breeder nutrition, inbreeding and breeder disease - in that order.
Most feeds are appropriate for body maintenance and egg laying, however not quite adequate for high rates of hatchability.
Inbreeding causes lack of vigor and thereby, hatchability.

 

[two j farm]

I still have 55 eggs in my incubator due to hatch Aug 16. Im only hatching them because a dog killed all my chickens and ducks. Luckily I still had eggs sitting on the counter in a basket. Bad thing about it is it was my dog that killed them. Good luck with everyone's hatch!!

 

[jessicanickell]

I set 36 eggs in my incubator on July 18th and eggcitedly awaiting a hatch on August 8th. 12 welsummer and 24 blue copper maran eggs. First hatch for us. I tried candling at day 9, but the eggs are so dark. I questioned 5 of my welsummers as to whether they're fertile or not. Although slightly dark and speckled, at day 9 I could see top to bottom the light coming through. I'll be excited if I get three or four to hatch.

 

[teaton]

I made my own incubator after my production red went broody sat on eggs long enough for them to develop and then ditched them, I candeled them and I have 7 that are questionable and 1 really good looking one, Aug 15th should be my hatch date if everything goes good, this is my first time incubating or hatching, any advise would be appreciated!

 

[two j farm]

How did you make your incubator? I have one home made incubator I hatched 6 white leghorns in. It is a ice chest with a light bub and a wafer to turn it off and on when it got to 99 degrees and I had to put a cup of water in it to keep humidity up. I now use the little giant to hatch eggs. Good luck with your eggs hope they hatch!

 

[teaton]

I made mine out of a Styrofoam cooler in an emergency situation. My humidity is too high to have water-the joys of living in Tennesse i guess! Currently I have 8 in there that passed candeling so far. It can hold 12. We'll see if it works or not. Between the hen sitting and not sitting, and me taking them in and out of the coop for candeling and the fluctuations of the incubator at first I'll be lucky if any hatch!

 

[MBK Farm]

Finished July and hatch mode continues. Just set 30 eggs in a new incubator; Rite Farm 3600 Pro. Will be first time using this model. We'll see how we do. Eggs are Black Copper Marans (cock) X Cuckoo Marans (hens).


Happy hatching to all!