We hatched four barred rocks yesterday! Woot! There are more pics & video here--including video of an actual hatch. Out of 11 eggs, we ended up with four chicks. Four eggs went under the mama, and she had trouble with them from the start. She's a first-time mama and a bantam silkie. I gave her 4 full-size eggs, and she just couldn't seem to keep them all under her. Plus, due to a problem in her nest area, the eggs kept slipping into a gap where she couldn't keep them warm. Out of the 7 eggs in the incubator, one was infertile, one died around 14 days of incubation, and one died right before lockdown. Of those that made it into lockdown, all hatched. Not a great hatch rate, but I'll take it. We didn't know if the eggs were even any good, and then the incubator had to be prepped at the last minute (I thought the hen would take them all), and then it was fluctuating from 97 degrees to 102 degrees through the whole incubation period. So I'm pretty happy with 4 eggs. By the way, think I should replace my wafer thermostat? Is that the most likely cause of temp fluctuations (this is a Hovabator circulated air incy that has hatched hundreds of birds and, in its prime, held steady steady steady throughout every incubation)?
