Day 18 of Janoel24 incubator. HELP?!

[Livingsimply85]

I found a thread on here with some questions I had about this one, but not all. I am pleased to know I'm not the only one confused by those awful directions that came with it. So, my questions:

My husband set this up, and is now away for work. Today is day 18, and I'm understanding the vent on top was supposed to be open UNTIL today? Then closed? Ours has been closed the whole time

The temp has been at 38, and we've been adding the correct amount of water daily. I've read if you're confused about the temp, to just leave it, so we have. I know I need to disconnect the automatic turner, but I should take the dividers out as well, correct?

I read here someone's babies started hatching on day 18, so I'm in a complete panic lol. I'm still a fairly new chicken mama, but super new to incubating/hatching, and I'm fearing the worst lol. I know we have at least quite a few that were developing well. Some that we weren't sure about, we left in there anyway because we're not experts. I figure we can just toss them after day 24 if they don't hatch. Help? Thanks so much!

 

[Livingsimply85]

I just realized my profile photo is of our favorite rooster, who just recently passed away suddenly That's the reason for our impulsive incubating. We want some of his babies <3

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I just realized my profile photo is of our favorite rooster, who just recently passed away suddenly That's the reason for our impulsive incubating. We want some of his babies <3

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Sorry to hear about your loss. That's hard.

I have never had a chick hatch on day 18. Not even bantams, despite the much misinformation that's out there.

That being said... if your incubator happens to be hotter than you thought, they could hatch early. If it was colder they could hatch later. Neither is really ideal, but it can and does happen. I think day 24 should be late enough to call it for someone with less experience. The longest I've ever seen was 25 days, though I'm not sure how the vitality was if it was ever reported.

Was the right amount of water a certain humidity % or some other form of measurement?

Not sure about model and directions regarding vents. I keep both my vents on mine open from start to finish. Having it closed does reduce oxygen flow to developing chicks. I think my other incubator has only one plug which I also keep open start to finish. Removing it may drop your humidity some. I use all of day 18 to get my humidity right, around 60-65%. Of course not opening more than needed so it can stabilize, but not with fear of shrink wrapping an one. Once I've got it right then I leave it. until I think all hatching is done. I'm tight on my time frames, but that is with some experience and expectations from my flock. Unless I see active pipping or zipping I pull it at day 22. But that will be too soon for some (MANY) people. I know my incubation practice and have and expect consistency but there were a lot of variables to work out and get to that point. I *usually* get external pips on day 20 and all hatching on day 21. Sometimes your reading are off, even on stuff that was previously accurate. But sometimes even when think things have gone wrong, miraculous hatches happen!

What breed are your expected babies?

Pic of your beloved rooster in all his dignified more mature glory welcome!

 

[Livingsimply85]

What breed are your expected babies?

Pic of your beloved rooster in all his dignified more mature glory welcome! [/QUOTE]

Good morning. Thank you for your response! I've decided to just calm down, and what will be, will be lol. I know the first time is a really big learning experience.

We're expecting quite a mix. Our boy was an EE, and we have 2 EE hens. So we have 4 EE eggs in there, we're hoping to have at least one full EE chick. But, we have RIR's, Isa browns, 1 silkie, 1 porcelain d'Uccle, and quite a few I just don't know what they are haha. As far as boys; We had the EE, we have a Jersey Giant, a Mille Fleur d'Uccle, and a seabright.

 

[Livingsimply85]

Here is our beautiful boy <3

 

[MountaingateHomestead]

We hatch from a Janoel incubator and leave the vent open all the time. We only add water if it is needed based on the humidity. My Youtube has an instructional video if you are interested its linked below. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSSsSBy85-NWPQbzT-61brQ?view_as=subscriber

 

[WVduckchick]

Any pips yet??

 

[Livingsimply85]

Hey friends! YES! We had 24 eggs, and 13 hatched on day 20! Today is day 21, and we have 15 live, super healthy babies. We also have 2 more pipped. I know many say not to open the incubator, but there was no room to move, and many eggs still hatching, so we took out 6 dry fluffy butts fast, and some of the opened eggs. So we have 6 in a temporary brooder, and 9 in the bator, with 2 more pipped. I don't know if it's OK to share links, but here is our Facebook group where we've been logging and videoing our progress https://www.facebook.com/groups/166670680637482/

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hey friends! YES! We had 24 eggs, and 13 hatched on day 20! Today is day 21, and we have 15 live, super healthy babies. We also have 2 more pipped. I know many say not to open the incubator, but there was no room to move, and many eggs still hatching, so we took out 6 dry fluffy butts fast, and some of the opened eggs. So we have 6 in a temporary brooder, and 9 in the bator, with 2 more pipped. I don't know if it's OK to share links, but here is our Facebook group where we've been logging and videoing our progress https://www.facebook.com/groups/166670680637482/

Yes, links are OK.

Any chance of sharing a pic here... since FB won't let me view without an account?