Chicken (Poultry) Addiction Anonymous *Chat Thread*

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

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Checked the Leghorns. Miscarriages. All of them. My temperature stayed at a steady 99.5. My chickens died and I hate waiting and I'm never incubating EVER AGAIN!!!

Aww

So sorry!!! Don't give up! I had a horrible hatch or two also, sh*t happens.

Were these shipped eggs? pullet eggs? how was the humidity? Maybe get another thermometer to double check the temperature?

Shipped eggs, but I don't think pullets.

 

[featherz]

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Ah that explains it. Shipped eggs are a crapshoot -sometimes you get a great hatch and sometimes you get nothing. All depends on how the post office handles em. That's why I stick to 'cheap' shipped eggs - if nothing hatches I'm not out much. If I decide I need 'grand foo-foo' eggs I had better be able to get them locally!!!!

 

[bargain]

These were shipped eggs from our farm. I agree that shipped eggs can be a risk due to situations beyond our control when they leave the farm. We continually check fertility both by visuals and frequent hatching...There were No pullet eggs in this grouping. We don't sell pullet eggs and people have actually asked for them because they want a particular breed very badly and I will not even sell to them, because we don't believe that the pullet egg has the adequate nutrition to allow the little chick to fully develop.

I think the biggest problem on the shipping end was the extra days they travelled and possible rough handling. Please Do try calibrating your thermometer and hygrometer. It does sound that it was off a bit. on the low for temp..because the hatch was so prolonged on your eggs as well as the ones from the farm. .I'm so so sorry it wasn't a better hatch. Don't quit. It took me about 5 hatches in my styrofoam until I got it right. And styrofoam is still subject to so much more ups and downs on both temps and humdity than other kinds of incubators. It is hard to regulate and keep them at temp and humidity from my experience. I recommend calibrating your thermometers and hygrometers prior to every hatch. Don't rely on the thermometers being and staying accurate that come with your incubator...We just think of them as disposables as they rarely are accurate even ONE TIME. We also change the battery each time. I know it sounds like extreme work but these kind of things can really help.

Again, just know how much we care and were sorry the hatch was not a better one... Nancy

 

[featherz]

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/agree. I know one seller on ebay who has a few bad feedback based on poor hatch rates, but I pick up eggs from her farm and I get 100% hatches. It's the risk we take when buying shipped eggs, unfortunately.

And you are right, does sound like possible low temps going on as well.

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

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The incubator is borrowed... one of my neighbors hatches chicks in the spring and has great hatches, so I borrowed her incubator. And the thermometer, which helps the hatching ever since the incubator was bought. It's an LG bator...

 

[featherz]

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Styrofoam and especially LG can be problematic (although some people have great hatches in them). I retired my styrofoam hovabator when I could NOT manage to get the temp and humidity decent enough to get a hatch without shrinkwrapping and other problems. If I didn't get my brinsea I think I would have given up. Don't give up! check with another thermometer just in case.. does your LG have a fan? I only have fan bators, but I think you are supposed to have the temp set differently for bators without fans.

 

[Louieandthecrew]

Hello everyone!

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
The incubator is borrowed... one of my neighbors hatches chicks in the spring and has great hatches, so I borrowed her incubator. And the thermometer, which helps the hatching ever since the incubator was bought. It's an LG bator...

If it is an LG bator without a fan, the temps in your bator should be a little higher. 101 to 102. The thermometer that comes with the bator is NEVER accurate. I have 4 LG's. The thermometers are 4 degrees higher than they should be. I use two thermometers/hydrometers in each of my incubators...just to be safe.

Also, if your incubator is near a draft, it could affect the hatch. The yolk thing really says to me your chick was underdeveloped due to a low temp. Don't give up on hatching. Learn from it and try again. It truly is a magical thing when it works out right.

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
Styrofoam and especially LG can be problematic (although some people have great hatches in them). I retired my styrofoam hovabator when I could NOT manage to get the temp and humidity decent enough to get a hatch without shrinkwrapping and other problems. If I didn't get my brinsea I think I would have given up. Don't give up! check with another thermometer just in case.. does your LG have a fan? I only have fan bators, but I think you are supposed to have the temp set differently for bators without fans.

X 2!

Just posted something similar!

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Quote:
The incubator is borrowed... one of my neighbors hatches chicks in the spring and has great hatches, so I borrowed her incubator. And the thermometer, which helps the hatching ever since the incubator was bought. It's an LG bator...

If it is an LG bator without a fan, the temps in your bator should be a little higher. 101 to 102. The thermometer that comes with the bator is NEVER accurate. I have 4 LG's. The thermometers are 4 degrees higher than they should be. I use two thermometers/hydrometers in each of my incubators...just to be safe.

Also, if your incubator is near a draft, it could affect the hatch. The yolk thing really says to me your chick was underdeveloped due to a low temp. Don't give up on hatching. Learn from it and try again. It truly is a magical thing when it works out right.

Oh...

On the instructions it said to keep it at 99.5. Thanks for telling me that. I'll change it now.