Hello everyone! Haven't had time to post on the introduction page, but I am new to the forum. However, I am not new to chickens and incubating eggs. It is a passion that both my husband and I share. I am the mama hen of the operation and run the incubator, which leads me to my situation. I am used to operating a Sportsman, but we sold it several months back because it was getting up in years and we eventually wanted to get a new one. I am in nursing school and couldn't shell out $700 at the moment, so we bought a small Hovabator Genesis 1588 with the automatic egg turner to meet our needs for now. I got the incubator out of the box, put it together and fired it up. The instructions to the turner didn't mention any assembly. I plugged it in and didn't pay much attention to the turner, regretfully. It sounded as if the motor was operating, and when I checked on it after being plugged in a few hours the racks were turned at an angle rather than being centered so I thought all was well. I set some test dummy eggs a friend gave me before I put good eggs in it, and my neighbor wanted a few chicks so I set some of hers. That was last Saturday.
I monitored the humidity and temp, everything seemed fine so I just went with it. Yesterday was when I began to suspect the turner hadn't moved since it turned the first time. I got to piddling with it and noticed the little white plastic arm that the motor turns wasn't in the yellow slot on the turning rack where it should be. The turner motor was also hot and no longer humming. It was jammed in the position it was in and couldn't move, and the motor overheated I imagine. I unplugged the turner, put the little arm in the slot where it was supposed to go and manually turned the eggs the rest of the day. Apparently this is a common mishap with this particular turner from what I have read in similar posts. The turner arm on the motor is often out of the slot on the turning rack when the turner leaves the manufacturer. Anyway today I plugged the turner back in and it seems to be functioning.. now. A week after I set 16 eggs, all of which are developing beautifully.
What chance is there that the yolks haven't stuck yet and the hatch will be fine? It upsets me that these developing chicks are doomed to die because their yolks may be stuck. Sorry for the long post. Just wanted you to get the full picture. Anybody experience this with good results in the end? Or should I scrap the hatch now while it's still fairly early? Thanks in advance!
Kayla
I monitored the humidity and temp, everything seemed fine so I just went with it. Yesterday was when I began to suspect the turner hadn't moved since it turned the first time. I got to piddling with it and noticed the little white plastic arm that the motor turns wasn't in the yellow slot on the turning rack where it should be. The turner motor was also hot and no longer humming. It was jammed in the position it was in and couldn't move, and the motor overheated I imagine. I unplugged the turner, put the little arm in the slot where it was supposed to go and manually turned the eggs the rest of the day. Apparently this is a common mishap with this particular turner from what I have read in similar posts. The turner arm on the motor is often out of the slot on the turning rack when the turner leaves the manufacturer. Anyway today I plugged the turner back in and it seems to be functioning.. now. A week after I set 16 eggs, all of which are developing beautifully.
What chance is there that the yolks haven't stuck yet and the hatch will be fine? It upsets me that these developing chicks are doomed to die because their yolks may be stuck. Sorry for the long post. Just wanted you to get the full picture. Anybody experience this with good results in the end? Or should I scrap the hatch now while it's still fairly early? Thanks in advance!
Kayla
