Day 13 First Time Incubation

[Crazyhenlady]

First time incubating , using a still air Little Giant 9200, started with 16 silkie eggs, 2 infertile tossed on day 10, 6 early death which I tossed today ( day 13) , I was holding on to the " maybe " that they may be underdeveloped but there's a pretty clear difference between the live babies verses non at this point. I'm pretty excited about what I've learned only using a thermometer for temp and everything else was just be intuition ( no turner/fan or humidity thermometer) What's the standard hatch rate? If all I have left that looks healthy remaining hatches mine will be exactly 50%.

 

[Welshies]

Are you turning the eggs? They should be turned 2 or 3 times daily.
No fan would decrease hatch rate.
You should have a humidity thermometer (hygrometer) in there for lockdown so the humidity is at 70%.

 

[JaeG]

Humidity is very important to ensure that the egg loses enough moisture, but not too much, and if the humidity is too low come hatch time the chicks' membranes will dry out too fast once they externally pip, trapping them in the inner membrane of the egg which shrink wraps them, suffocating them. So I would invest in a hygrometer. Track that air cell to ensure it's looking correct for the day you are on - too small, reduce the humidity; too large, increase the humidity.

If you don't have a fan there will be cold spots in your incubator. A way to counteract the affect of that is to simply rearrange the eggs so that they are never in quite the same spot, and overall they will be exposed to the same average temperature.

This is the best website for information and candling comparison:
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/incubation-day-1.html

 

[Crazyhenlady]

Are you turning the eggs? They should be turned 2 or 3 times daily.
No fan would decrease hatch rate.
You should have a humidity thermometer (hygrometer) in there for lockdown so the humidity is at 70%.

Yes, I turn 3 days times a day , morning , afternoon and before bed. My plan is to fill the " wells " to full capacity with water and remove both plugs for ventilation.

 

[Welshies]

Yes, I turn 3 days times a day , morning , afternoon and before bed. My plan is to fill the " wells " to full capacity with water and remove both plugs for ventilation.

You should have ventilation throughout the incubation period. You need a hygrometer- filling the wells all the way will not give you a good hatch rate.

 

[Crazyhenlady]

Humidity is very important to ensure that the egg loses enough moisture, but not too much, and if the humidity is too low come hatch time the chicks' membranes will dry out too fast once they externally pip, trapping them in the inner membrane of the egg which shrink wraps them, suffocating them. So I would invest in a hygrometer. Track that air cell to ensure it's looking correct for the day you are on - too small, reduce the humidity; too large, increase the humidity.

If you don't have a fan there will be cold spots in your incubator. A way to counteract the affect of that is to simply rearrange the eggs so that they are never in quite the same spot, and overall they will be exposed to the same average temperature.

This is the best website for information and candling comparison:
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/incubation-day-1.html

I've been moving them around and candling all chicks are currently active, so after lock down do you still open your incubator if needed? What happens if humidity is too high?

 

[Crazyhenlady]

You should have ventilation throughout the incubation period. You need a hygrometer- filling the wells all the way will not give you a good hatch rate.

Yes, I understand that

 

[Welshies]

I've been moving them around and candling all chicks are currently active, so after lock down do you still open your incubator if needed? What happens if humidity is too high?

You want humidity between 65 and 70 percent.
Don't turn eggs during lockdown.

 

[Welshies]

Chicks can drown if the humidity is too high.

 

[Crazyhenlady]

I should mention I do daily research, I guess my objective is to use as little resources as possible and compare with others. I may invest in the humidity thermometer