Building a new flock

[ScottKelly1974]

I started out with two Buff Orpington chicks. One survived and has played eggs. I also got a second bird and they both played eggs. In march I bought another chick and she began laying eggs about 5 months of age. Then one went broody and I got hatching eggs, and she cared for them. Seven eggs hatched, three are roos. I looked at the timeline for my three hens, and all had began laying eggs during their five month age.

My hatched chicks will hit their five month age the last week of November. I have no experience with raising roos, and don't know when they would be breed ready. I am looking forward to the new eggs production, but I also know their may be some fertile eggs. I have no experience in this area. If, and when, I do find fertile eggs, and the hens will not hatch the eggs, what is the best incubator?

At the local ranch supply store they have two different one. One is a basic, and the other states it has canceling view and automatic egg turner. I would like to ensure the survival of the fertile eggs they will lay. Does anyone have experience they can share?

 

[17 chickens]

I personally prefer the automatic egg turner and would not have it any other way. They can be extremely expensive for just starting out but it will be a good investment.

 

[pineapple416]

Incubators with automatic egg turners and very nice, I agree that it would be a good investment and probably much more reliable than a more basic incubator. Incubators can be tricky though, in my experience sometimes it works better to let hens incubate the eggs themselves.

 

[17 chickens]

I never incubate eggs in the winter, We seem to lose power here more due to snow, Ice and lots of trees. Once you loose power your done....

 

[ScottKelly1974]

Thanks for the information. I too would prefer to let the hens do the job, but if they don't, I would like to have an incubator as backup. Is there any behavior I should look for if the hens do lay fertile eggs?

 

[ScottKelly1974]

So one of my roosters has been trying mate with the hens. I've been checking the eggs for signs of being fertile. The eggs look the same to me as the non-fictile eggs. Can anyone give me help in determining how to feel if new egg is fertile or not?

 

[HCB]

Thanks for the information. I too would prefer to let the hens do the job, but if they don't, I would like to have an incubator as backup. Is there any behavior I should look for if the hens do lay fertile eggs?

1) Having roosters, 2) seeing roosters mate females, 3) heating the eggs to about 99.5F for 7-8 days will cause veining in vertilized eggs. 4) (with little experience) there seems to be a small ghost dot on the yolks of eggs which I believe have been fertilized (I've hatched about 60+ now from the same system and the ones I've cracked have had this little "Jupiter spot" thing on the yolk).

This is not a definitive answer, just some info. :-/

FWIW I've had great results with a homemade styrofoam incubator with a 100 watt bulb and a dimmer switch (okay, "pretty good" results (the bulb burned out...twice)). I then bought a Hova-bator 1588(?) with the auto egg turner and digital temp and humidity. Love that thing. Kinda pricey per egg but with the auto-egg turner, it's awesome. I now use the styrofoam cooler/incubator as the hatcher. I replaced the dimmer switch with an electronic temp controller (STC-1000, about 20 bucks or less). AWESOME! "Hatcher" is very reliable now.

Again, FWIW.
YMMV.
HTH.
EIEIO.

--HC

 

[ScottKelly1974]

1) Having roosters, 2) seeing roosters mate females, 3) heating the eggs to about 99.5F for 7-8 days will cause veining in vertilized eggs. 4) (with little experience) there seems to be a small ghost dot on the yolks of eggs which I believe have been fertilized (I've hatched about 60+ now from the same system and the ones I've cracked have had this little "Jupiter spot" thing on the yolk).

This is not a definitive answer, just some info. :-/

FWIW I've had great results with a homemade styrofoam incubator with a 100 watt bulb and a dimmer switch (okay, "pretty good" results (the bulb burned out...twice)). I then bought a Hova-bator 1588(?) with the auto egg turner and digital temp and humidity. Love that thing. Kinda pricey per egg but with the auto-egg turner, it's awesome. I now use the styrofoam cooler/incubator as the hatcher. I replaced the dimmer switch with an electronic temp controller (STC-1000, about 20 bucks or less). AWESOME! "Hatcher" is very reliable now.

Again, FWIW.
YMMV.
HTH.
EIEIO.

--HC

If I don't know the egg is fertilized, would putting the eggs in an incubator anyway be good for the eggs, even if the egg is not fertilized? also, I still have the heat lamp for the chicks, would using that be OK as opposed to using the incubator first?

 

[HCB]

If I don't know the egg is fertilized, would putting the eggs in an incubator anyway be good for the eggs, even if the egg is not fertilized? also, I still have the heat lamp for the chicks, would using that be OK as opposed to using the incubator first?

The first thing is to know that after 7 days at incubation temperature, the eggs will probably be unfit to eat. I think it's a "go", "no-go" kind of thing. If they aren't "veined" after 7 days, toss them.

Next, the heat lamp could work but understand that if you don't have a way to move the air, the egg temp will vary depending on where the egg is located in relation to the heat source (closer = hotter, farther = colder). You must, also, have a way to measure and read the temp in the incubator. I use a small Accurite temp/humidity gauge which has been calibrated for humidity (easy search for calibrating humidity gauges using salt and water). It's not hard to incubate eggs, I've hatched 98 in about 6 weeks and I didn't have boo for experience. But I am a detail freak and I did a lot of reading before starting. That said, you will need a way to maintain temps at an acceptable level. I've read (and adhered to) 99.5 IIRC degrees for chicken eggs.

Like many things in life: 1) you'll learn faster doing than reading and 2) failure is likely, success comes from experience. Just try stuff. Incubating eggs is easy. I do, however, still love my Hova-bator 1588 with the auto egg turner. It's pricey at about $200 for the incubator and an auto egg turner, but easier than manually turning the eggs. However, I did hatch 6 of 7 in my first manual-turn POS styrofoam lightbulb incubator. I still use that unit for hatching, BTW. But my incubator now is the Hova-bator. Too easy. Expensive, I guess, but, so far, bullet-proof.

HTH
YMMV
FWIW
EIEIO

--HC

 

[HCB]

If I don't know the egg is fertilized, would putting the eggs in an incubator anyway be good for the eggs, even if the egg is not fertilized? also, I still have the heat lamp for the chicks, would using that be OK as opposed to using the incubator first?

I found a link on here regarding determining if your eggs are fertilized. It will require opening a few. Once you've opened a few and found that they are fertilized you can safely gamble that they're all fertilized and set them without too much concern. They won't all be fertilized but it's probably the best you can do.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

--HC