December hatch-along

[NysiaAnera]

Well, I went ahead and gave this hen eggs yesterday evening. I was going to do it later today, but the way she looked when I went out to check on the chickens, after I had collected eggs, almost broke my heart!

Everyone was up on the roosts, the other mommas were all nested with their babies, and she was just standing there staring at the nest boxes, which had no eggs in them. I wondered what she would do if I put an egg in an empty nest box, so I quickly went inside and got them. Before I could set the first egg down, she saw it in my hand, ran over and attacked my hand while climbing into the box, and shoved the egg under her! Lol! So I continued with the rest, and I could not pull then out of the carton fast enough. She wasn't even all the way into the nest box. I would say she was ecstatic to have those eggs!

 

[NysiaAnera]

I still think she is crazy. But apparently hens do not pay attention to seasons and temperatures when the mommy mood strikes.

 

[kie4]

I looked into the incubator and one of the eggs was cracked on day 5. Yesterday it was fine. Can eggs just crack like that? Or does t have to be caused by my rough turning and I didnt notice?

The egg that cracked is long and skinny compared to the others, everything is intact inside.

 

[lakones]

Well, I went ahead and gave this hen eggs yesterday evening. I was going to do it later today, but the way she looked when I went out to check on the chickens, after I had collected eggs, almost broke my heart!

Everyone was up on the roosts, the other mommas were all nested with their babies, and she was just standing there staring at the nest boxes, which had no eggs in them. I wondered what she would do if I put an egg in an empty nest box, so I quickly went inside and got them. Before I could set the first egg down, she saw it in my hand, ran over and attacked my hand while climbing into the box, and shoved the egg under her! Lol! So I continued with the rest, and I could not pull then out of the carton fast enough. She wasn't even all the way into the nest box. I would say she was ecstatic to have those eggs!

That's awesome!!! Sounds like a good mother hen.

 

[Bug n Flock]

Peeper says I didn't get its coffee fast enough. Lol

For real, how can an animal be this cute??

 

[Thenewgoat]

Okay everyone I tried a hatch in november and out of 6 1/2 dozen eggs none hatched. I had all the extras except a turner and nothing even started in a single egg. So here i am again with more eggs from a different person. I did a bad and did not wright down the date i put them in so i am just going to do a run down of how it has went. Day 1 the temp was at 104 all day and then part of day 2 i got it to drop to 99. That worried me some. Day 3 it was at 100 all day and Day for power was out for a couple hours. Day 5 it stayed at around 93 all day no matter what i did. Day 6 It was back to 100 which i believe to be today. I candled last night and the once closest to the heat have developing chicks veins and a black dot i believe is the eye. I set 5 dozen and i only candled about a dozen and a half randomly threw the incubator because i did not want to mess up the temp to much their was lots of them with large yokes so hopefully it all turns out well the once in the corner is still the same as when i put them in so i moved some around and kind of emptied the corners i do not have a fan but would love to get one soon. I have around a dozen bantam eggs i only saw one with a vein and it was very small only about a half of inch long but thick. The rest are black stars i think. Wish me luck i am very hopeful that the others with catch up soon and we will have a high hatch rate. Any tips on how to regulate the temp better i have to change it everytime i check the eggs. Could i cover it with a sheet or cloth to help it is a little giant and i have only had it for a month.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Okay everyone I tried a hatch in november and out of 6 1/2 dozen eggs none hatched. I had all the extras except a turner and nothing even started in a single egg. So here i am again with more eggs from a different person. I did a bad and did not wright down the date i put them in so i am just going to do a run down of how it has went. Day 1 the temp was at 104 all day and then part of day 2 i got it to drop to 99. That worried me some. Day 3 it was at 100 all day and Day for power was out for a couple hours. Day 5 it stayed at around 93 all day no matter what i did. Day 6 It was back to 100 which i believe to be today. I candled last night and the once closest to the heat have developing chicks veins and a black dot i believe is the eye. I set 5 dozen and i only candled about a dozen and a half randomly threw the incubator because i did not want to mess up the temp to much their was lots of them with large yokes so hopefully it all turns out well the once in the corner is still the same as when i put them in so i moved some around and kind of emptied the corners i do not have a fan but would love to get one soon. I have around a dozen bantam eggs i only saw one with a vein and it was very small only about a half of inch long but thick. The rest are black stars i think. Wish me luck i am very hopeful that the others with catch up soon and we will have a high hatch rate. Any tips on how to regulate the temp better i have to change it everytime i check the eggs. Could i cover it with a sheet or cloth to help it is a little giant and i have only had it for a month.

ok, here are a couple things that can help with a little giant.

1. You'll want to rotate your eggs around to different spots in the turners every couple days. Since it's not forced air, they tend to have warm and cool spots.
2. You need some heat sinks in the bottom. It'll help keep temps more constant and help control those wild temp swings. Those goofy little water wiggler things work well for that and I believe rocks do too.
3. One thing that I used on the little giant that I used to use as a hatcher was masking tape around the edge of it where the top and bottom sections came together. It really helped to seal it up and keep air from slipping out that way. Masking tape or painters tape work good for that because they're so easy to remove and won't damage the bator.

I hope these tips help you out. I've since sold my little giant and use all GQF brand incubators. I've been VERY happy with how well they work and hold temps. I have a 1202 cabinet and 2 styrofoam hova bators (one forced air, 1 still air). Good Luck!

 

[Bug n Flock]

That size difference, tho! Baby button quail and a baby coturnix quail. :3

 

[Thenewgoat]

thank You i will do that but did you put new tape every time you opened it i have to hand turn them so i open three times a day. I will go gets some rocks and warm them up in some water dry them then add them to the bottom to help with temp that is a great idea. I compared my embryo growth with the candling images on the learning center and mine are showing around 3-4 days so a couple days behind but that is most likely from my temp dropping so low also everything said still air you run at 101 because it warms the top of the eggs not the middle and bottom the same way that a forced air incubator does.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

thank You i will do that but did you put new tape every time you opened it i have to hand turn them so i open three times a day. I will go gets some rocks and warm them up in some water dry them then add them to the bottom to help with temp that is a great idea. I compared my embryo growth with the candling images on the learning center and mine are showing around 3-4 days so a couple days behind but that is most likely from my temp dropping so low also everything said still air you run at 101 because it warms the top of the eggs not the middle and bottom the same way that a forced air incubator does.

yes, run at 101 (as measured at the tops of the eggs. I always used mine for lockdown so I didn't need to open it often. You could just wrap a towel or blanket around the edges instead of using tape or depending on how many you have in there, I used to get to the eggs inside via the top windows.