Biggest Incubation Mistakes

[Conan]

I never have.

I knew it! FAKER!

 

[Ryguy3684]

From Brinsea (Water matters - Brinsea)

Makes sense. Good to know.

 

[casportpony]

I've never used distilled water either. Wondering what potential issues peeps have had using tap water because I've definitely not experienced them.

Hard water can leave deposits which make it very difficult to clean. A friend of mine use to use well water, which in this area is very hard, and he was forever having difficulties.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Relied on a Little Giant junk box.

 

[Kiki]

Relied on a Little Giant junk box.

 

[R2elk]

What's a problem with using tap water? I didnt know that was an issue. I've always used it straight from the sink with good results.

If you use an automatic fill system, using tap water will eventually plug the tiny inlet valve. It will happen at the most inconvenient time.

If you are just hand filling trays, decent tap water is fine to use. If you have as hard of water as my well water, it can cause the pores in the eggs to become plugged and suffocate the embryo.

 

[MGG]

I cracked an egg that I thought was dead open and it was still alive.
I did also use tap water too, until I got my incubator out of storage once to discover little salt crystals on EVERYTHING. The fan, the heating element, all of it. We have filtered water easily accessible now so it's no problem for me to just use that. I never want to scrub those stupid crystals off the fan again though. Had to take the whole dang lid apart.

 

[FeatherTay]

Doing Lockdown.

 

[casportpony]

1 - What did you do?

I helped too soon.

2 - What were the consequences?

The chick or duckling died.

3 - Did you fix it? How?

It could not be fixed.

4 - What did you learn?

Learned when assisting, chicks & ducklings that are malpositioned like these two, that they need an extra day or two before helping more.

For info on assisting, check out this article by @Pyxis:
Guide to Assisted Hatching for All Poultry

 

[sdm111]

Water don't use water till day 18 with any Styrofoam incubator