August Hatch-A-Long!

[jammyjammy2112]

I am up to 4 pips out of 21 eggs. My poor knee is going to be wore out....lol

haha thats good i think my fella is starting to start zipping

 

[jnjmanning]

Hahaha you sound like me! I finally got pillows to sit on my chair in front of the incubator and more to lay on the floor in front of the brooder cage. I have Osteoarthritis in my left knee and right hip so watching this all has been quite painful, but so worth it!!!

I need to have the left knee replaced, been bone to bone for awhile now, but I refuse to. I have to go down 13 stairs to the basement to watch mine!!!! Going down isnt so bad, but coming up is like being stabbed with a knife 13 times!

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

I can get 6 turners in, 3 on each shelf, each turner holding 42 eggs. And my hatching drawers hold 170 each, in cartons or trays. If I place them alone I am sure I can get more. But very sure I dont want to be hatching that many at one time....lol Mine cost us $200 and $150 of that was the heat/temperature/fan unit we bought at incubator warehouse. Temp reads to the .1 degree, and the probe is super sensitive. It holds readings every 24 hrs, tells you high and low temp for the day. It stays between 99.5 and 100.3. The cabinet we got for free. The rest of the cost was insulation, misc wood for shelves, plexiglass for viewing windows. The drawers were cut out and lined with hardware cloth. Doors cut out and plexiglass placed for viewing. The PVC tube at the back is where I add water for humidity. The 2 white caps on the side are air holes for circulation, just remove the caps. The eggs go in the drawers for hatching and lined with shelf liner to keep debris from falling on eggs below, and a softer surface for the bitties. Dead center on back wall is there the heat/fan/temp unit is placed. Temp probe hangs dead center inside through a hole drilled in the top. I will get a pic of it later. First hatch was 11 of 12, this is my 2nd hatch. If all goes well I hope to add a hatching service too.

That is awesome! How well does it keep even temps throughout? Is the center much different than the sides or top to bottom? Wondering if the temp differences in different areas would effect hatch times...which might not be a bad thing since you don't necessarily want 250+ chicks hatching at the same time lol.

 

[jnjmanning]

That is awesome! How well does it keep even temps throughout? Is the center much different than the sides or top to bottom? Wondering if the temp differences in different areas would effect hatch times...which might not be a bad thing since you don't necessarily want 250+ chicks hatching at the same time lol.

I have 4 thermostats placed throughout and 5th in dead center. Even temp everywhere. That is because of the fan, it brings air in the front and blows out in all 4 directions!

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

I need to have the left knee replaced, been bone to bone for awhile now, but I refuse to. I have to go down 13 stairs to the basement to watch mine!!!! Going down isnt so bad, but coming up is like being stabbed with a knife 13 times!

You should think about the replacement surgery. My friend (age 68) just had it done after years of pain from bone on bone. They had her up and walking the night of the surgery and she went home two days later. She said pain from recovery was less than she had been dealing with and now (1-1/2 months later) she is even able to climb up in her jeep again. She wasn't ready to be slowed down and as bad as the pain was she figured it couldn't get too much worse. She gave me this speech about my hip...when the time comes...and it will, don't suffer if you don't have to.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

I have 4 thermostats placed throughout and 5th in dead center. Even temp everywhere. That is because of the fan, it brings air in the front and blows out in all 4 directions!

I might just have to show this to my husband. He has an electronics degree and is a general contractor so I am sure he would understand everything you mentioned doing. He wanted to tweak the electronics in my Hova-bator as soon as my eggs are out of it...now I think he will be wanting to tweak my dresser in the guest room, LOL

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

I don't think my two chicks are the same breed after all. I just noticed that chick #2 has fur on her legs!? I will try to post a pic...

 

[pickitfarm]

Well, my first hatch was a total bust

ugh I feel horrible for losing all those chicks! They were shipped and stopped growing at various stages. My incubator was steady the whole time. But, I will succeed at hatching! Set some this morning, this time in a paper carton with the bottom cut open for ventilation.... When I turn these, I just prop up one side by placing something under the carton, right?

baseballchick - Sorry about your hatch. We are on our third hatch. The first hatch we succeeded in hatching 8 rhodebar out of 12. The buff orps we had were in terrible shape when received them and the all failed to hatch. Our second hatch like yours was a bust. 10 SFH and 12 BBS Ameraucana. That does put a dent in your confidence. We now have 30 Speckled Sussex in the bator. Things look good so far. You just have to keep good notes to see what worked and what did not. Sometimes, you just cannot figure it out. Keep up posted on those new eggs.

 

[jnjmanning]

First shot is Thermostat registering the temp inside the hatching drawer, plus room temp and humidity, 2nd picture is in the empty drawer and registering temp at top of incubator plus the humidity inside, 3rd is the monitor panel for unit and showing temp in center plus the % on the power used for the heater unit, as you can see only 11% to keep the temp steady. Last is the heater/fan/temp unit. You can see the probe hanging in the center of my bator. This is where the temp on #3 picture is coming from. Unit pulls air in center and blows out top, bottom and both sides. Excellent air flow inside. To the left you can see my old thermostat. We tried using a different heat/fan source. But could not get a steady temp throughout. That is when we bought the complete unit. That is a water heater thermostat. Temps would range from 98-103. Just couldnt get airflow to keep temps a constant steady number.

 

[roostersandhens]

My broody is on a break! It always stresses me out when she comes off the nest. This is what goes through my mind: "Oh know what if she doesn't go back! The eggs will die" But she always goes back!

I feel so relieved she just went back like 5 minutes ago!