August Hatch-A-Long

[ChickenCanoe]

Hi everyone!
Tonight I am setting my first batch of eggs ever! I never thought this would be something I'd be interested in, but about a week ago I went to check on the girls and found a baby! Watching the momma and baby has been the cutest thing I've ever seen and I'm am now hoping to hatch some more and have her raise more babies! Ill keep my favorites and find homes for the others.

I bought the little giant still air incubator with the egg turner. I've been keeping the temp at 99.5-100 and so far my humidity has stayed around 53 54. Is this how it should be? I've heard a couple different things but I'm open to any opinions! I'm labeling my eggs now and about to put them in.

I have 14 eggs and I've been collecting for the past 4 days. To be honest I don't need 14 more chicks so I will be excited if 2 or 3 hatch! I'm not expecting much since this is my first time, but I was wondering what is the normal hatch rate give or take?

The funnest part is I have 4 different breeds of chickens (cochin, barred rock, buff orpington, and silkies!) I have 7 total so I have no idea what kind of mixes I will end up with, but I'm excited to see how they turn out. I'm super excited about the 4 Silkie eggs I have since my rooster is a frizzled Silkie "sizzle?"

(My original random baby chick that started all this is a frizzled barred rock with furry feet! I can't wait to see what she looks like as an adult!!)

Please don't judge me for having a mutt mix I love them all and I'm not trying to make money off of them

.

Also any tips I will use! Thanks everyone! Glad to be here!

You shall not be judged for mutts.

Keep in mind that the hen with the chick probably won't adopt the ones you hatch since hers will be a month old already and she'll be over the mothering instinct. However since you have silkies and a cochin, one of them may go broody by then.

A zipper and four pipped a day early so far.....

Pretty eggs. What breed/s?

Well I have had the incubator turned on monitoring it for the past 3 days and didn't think about when I put my egg turner in that it would take a while for me to have it perfect again. So I have gone ahead and placed them in there. I've waited about an hour since I put the turner in and the temp is kinda staying around 99.5 but the humidity has been up and down. Will this be ok if I go ahead and put them in? It's getting late and ill be working all day tomorrow.

That LG will fluctuate a lot when anything is added as Calichicken said. Don't be too quick to adjust. It will take a long time for the 40 watt heat element to warm up the insides of the eggs. I don't worry nearly as much about the humidity at the beginning. Just follow the instructions that came with your incubator.
Actually, I don't even use a hygrometer. I weigh the eggs when I set them and each week. They should lose 0.65% of their weight each day if the humidity is correct. I then adjust if the weight is off. My hatcher holds humidity well so it's easier for me to raise it for lockdown.

This might be an odd question, but when can anyone join in? I am asking because I just got some Brown Leghorn hens and a rooster and was hoping to start incubating eggs ASAP. That being said I am under the impression that I should give them 3 days of laying before assuming they are fertile and was also told to check on rooster and see if he is

but am not sure how to do that as they are enclosed and will be for the next week according to the guy we bought them from so should I be checking on them multiple times through the day?

There enclosure is not see through at all

So getting to back to the first question when is the latest to join? Do the chicks have to be due in August?

How old are the leghorns? Had they been with a rooster before you got them? You can open the egg and look at the blastodisk to see if they're fertile. http://www.reddogsroost.com/697/
By the 3rd egg after mating they should be fertile.
In my experience, the roosters don't breed much indoors but that could be different if the coop is bigger. Most of my coops are small units for pairs and trios. At least that's the way it seems because when I let them out in the morning, that's the first thing they do.

Just one question about your building. Where's the ventilation?

Well for joining, it's early August so I'm sure you're ok.

 

[ChookyGirl]

My 8 babies are in lockdown!

I candled them all today, and could see a few of the chicks were starting to nibble at the inner membrane! Super cool. "Crackle" (my miracle egg with the broken shell) is in the incubator and I tried to take off as much tape as I could without taking more shell off. As a incubator and hatching novice, can any one tell me please is 37.8C (100F) and 65% humidity a good temperature to have? I think it's right, I just need some reassurance I'm not going to make a big mistake. Happy hatching!

 

[Iko127]

My 8 babies are in lockdown!

I candled them all today, and could see a few of the chicks were starting to nibble at the inner membrane! Super cool. "Crackle" (my miracle egg with the broken shell) is in the incubator and I tried to take off as much tape as I could without taking more shell off. As a incubator and hatching novice, can any one tell me please is 37.8C (100F) and 65% humidity a good temperature to have? I think it's right, I just need some reassurance I'm not going to make a big mistake. Happy hatching!

I believe you are good! Maybe close to 70 on humidity but this is my first time! Good luck!!

 

[ChookyGirl]

I believe you are good! Maybe close to 70 on humidity but this is my first time! Good luck!!

Thanks hun! So hoping that things go well.

Good luck with your chickies too!

 

[calichicken]

My 8 babies are in lockdown!

I candled them all today, and could see a few of the chicks were starting to nibble at the inner membrane! Super cool. "Crackle" (my miracle egg with the broken shell) is in the incubator and I tried to take off as much tape as I could without taking more shell off. As a incubator and hatching novice, can any one tell me please is 37.8C (100F) and 65% humidity a good temperature to have? I think it's right, I just need some reassurance I'm not going to make a big mistake. Happy hatching!

YAY!!!!! And yes temp is good! I try to keep my humidity around 70% but don't stress too much at 65%...more important to keep that bator closed at this point

And the adventures of Crackle continue!!!!

By the weekend you should have some fuzzy babies

Good luck!!!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

3 of the 9 eggs in the hatcher are pipping. I have three chicks 4 days old, so the new ones will go with them.
I also have an 11 day old that is with two 4 week olds.
I have four that are 2 months old.
I had six that hatched under broodies on Easter but a mink killed them all.

 

[COsteveo]

Checked on my eggs this morning and there's a definite foul odor in the room. Not looking forward to getting home from work and inspecting ~170 eggs to see which one is bad.

 

[Iko127]

Good morning all! Well I had to get in my bator since I had thought I had done such a good job with putting a sponge at bottom with tubing going to it from outside so I wouldn't have to open the bator to add water..lol Since I needed to lower the humidity a little I needed the sponge

While I was in the bator and had all the eggs out in a warm towel I decided to take a peek again

Honestly I'm not touching them until lock down and have to take them out to get turner out! I did take 7 eggs out and was happy to know I didn't make any mistakes when I opened them to look at before tossing them. I have 9 babies going very good from first group with only one egg that I believe does have a detached air sac. The second group, I really feel I only have 1 baby but I only pulled 2 out today. None of my eggs have odor or leakage so for now we're good. I did take a couple pictures of the eggs where I made the mark where the air sac is and thought I would post them for any thoughts. They are day 13. So happy for all the chicks everyone has and all the ones to come. Hope we all do good

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Good morning all! Well I had to get in my bator since I had thought I had done such a good job with putting a sponge at bottom with tubing going to it from outside so I wouldn't have to open the bator to add water..lol Since I needed to lower the humidity a little I needed the sponge

While I was in the bator and had all the eggs out in a warm towel I decided to take a peek again

...

The sponge will increase the surface area which increases humidity.

Surface area, not volume, increases humidity.

 

[Iko127]

The sponge will increase the surface area which increases humidity.

Surface area, not volume, increases humidity.

Yes...I needed it out to lower the humidity...It was the only place I had water..I think it will lower the humidity taking it out. I hope! It was staying around 50 to 55 so hoping with it out I can keep it back to the 35 or 40 till lockdown ... Some of the eggs look ok to me on the air sacs but a couple are a little small so hoping this is the right thing to do.