Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[Gardeningmama]

Oh and Sally I saw your feather sexing pic on the last page. Does that really work for most of you guys? I heard they had to be bred for feather sexing so I have not been doing it for my last 2 hatches. My first batch is 2.5 weeks old now, so I guess we will know in a few weeks if I am any good at it.

I'm not Sally, but I will say it has worked for me most of the time. I have no clue the difference between fast feathering and not. The first time I tried it out was with Lavender Orps, but I thought it HAD to be wrong because who's lucky enough to get 4 roos and 9 pullets?? Me! I grew them out completely and ended up with 4 roo's and 9 pullets. With Seramas it told me 4 roos 3 pullets and was correct again. My newest hatch is just a flat out miracle if it's right again because out of 10 Barnevelders it's indicating 3 roos and 7 pullets. We'll see!!

 

[MommaBee]

[COLOR=800080]I know how hard it is... This is for you [/COLOR]

Thank you! Before I started hatching I would have been in the NEVER assist camp! I even refused a c section with my son, if his delivery would have lasted 5 more minutes they would have made me. But we made it! But after seeing that dead internal pipper... Ugh! You just never know the right time with eggs. Haha we need heart rate monitors on them!

 

[MommaBee]

I'm not Sally, but I will say it has worked for me most of the time. I have no clue the difference between fast feathering and not. The first time I tried  it out was with Lavender Orps, but I thought it HAD to be wrong because who's lucky enough to get 4 roos and 9 pullets?? Me! I grew them out completely and ended up with 4 roo's and 9 pullets. With Seramas it told me 4 roos 3 pullets and was correct again. My newest hatch is just a flat out miracle if it's right again because out of 10 Barnevelders it's indicating 3 roos and 7 pullets. We'll see!!

Haha same here. Out of my first 15, only 4 feathered as cockerels and 2 were questionable! I'm doubting my abilities, haha, but wouldn't that be awesome!

 

[cochins1088]

About a month ago I think? Brand new, first time around for it. Don't get me wrong, my thermometers always read what I want them to read, but that's quite a temp swing. Granted, it does it fairly rapidly but it seems like such a waste of energy. Difference between proportional, which gives the heat source just enough energy to keep the set temp, and non which kicks on and off.

And that's fine, but please remember that we're all entitled to our opinions and mine is that I think Hovabators are junk. Ask any reptile breeder who has more than a few breeding animals what they think of Hovabators. I figured I'd give it a try, and now I see why none of the reptile folks use these. *shrug* This might be my first time hatching poultry, but it ain't my first rodeo when it comes to eggs, at all. I've probably hatched close to $50k worth of reptiles in that cooler you see there. Do I think the Hovabator is trustworthy enough for even one of those eggs? No way. I understand how incubation works. I understand how incubators work. Or, how they should work. I've built many of them over the years, from all sorts of things. I understand the limitations of flimsy styrofoam. I just didn't think it would perform this pitifully. It's like I stepped out of a rolls royce at the dealership, and they handed me the keys to the beater pinto. Road safety orange, of course.

My room temps are stable. The incubators are in my reptile room, as I talked about several pages back, which has a steady temp (oil filled radiators on wired in thermostats and a fan to circulate air) of 80 degrees, and ambient humidity of 60%. There are no drafts. Windows are caulked and I have transparent film over them to keep out any cool air - also have heavy shades on them to keep sunlight off electronics, and the vent system to that room is completely closed off. My 24 hour temp swing for that room is less than one degree. There is no reason at all that shouldn't be a perfectly acceptable environment for this styrofoam incubator to work in. Don't even get me started on that ratchety turner.

My thermometers are precise. And when I say precise, I mean to less than a tenth of a degree accuracy. They also measure humidity accurately.

My cooler required absolutely no playing with electrical wire. Everything plugs in. Heat tape into the thermostat, thermostat into the wall. Fan also plugs right in. I purchased all of those items that way.

All I'm saying is, I'm not impressed. Why you old timers are taking such offense to it is beyond me. I'm just chatting about the normal daily goings on as is everyone else here, and that includes the fact that once I've got myself a hatcher built this thing is going out the window. Sorry if you are offended by my opinion on what I feel is a shoddy product for $200.

Last post on it. You guys have at it, but you'll never convince me my cooler isn't a million times better than styrofoam or that Hovabator isn't laughing all the way to the bank. If I'm not wanted here with the good ol boys just say so and I'll pack up my ball and go play elsewhere. There's a difference between a friendly debate, and calling someone an idiot without bothering to read the rest of their posts for the info that proves they're not (temps, thermometers, etc).

I don't want to start an argument, I was simply saying that if yours is fluctuating that badly, you may want to complain to the company. You could probably get your money back or have it replaced. I understand that your cooler-bator is better and if I get the time, I'd like to build one my self. From what I saw, I believe it was a friendly debate. Oz and you both made great points. I understand that Styrofoam incubators have many flaws(especially the 1602N), but I have had 100% hatch rates in these.

and for the record, I'm not old. I'm a first year college student.

I wasn't taking offense, I'm not offended and I hope that you aren't either. Please stay on the thread, it's a great group of people. We all take turns sharing our opinions and experiences about hatching. Sometimes those opinions are conflicting, but no one has been rude about it. We can all learn from each other's experiences. Even though I don't completely agree, I enjoyed reading your opinions on the incubator.

 

[cochins1088]

Slowest hatch ever.... Watching a large set is so much more fun than a little one! In my last small hatch all 5 hatched within 12 hours of each other. This one started 36 hours ago... 2 out, 1 to go. Dum dum dum!

I have been waiting on my last egg. It's been rocking and rolling for 2 days now. Pretty sure it pipped internally 24 hrs ago. Trying to sit on my hands but the image of that dead interal pipper from my first hatch is haunting me!

I once had a hatch last 5 days. It drove me absolutely nuts. It was one of my first hatches and the temperature ran a bit on the low side because of an inaccurate thermometer. The first chick hatched on day 22, the last chick hatched on day 27. and the chick that hatched on day 27 only had 1 leg. poor little guy... If I remember correctly, I had one hatch on day 22, 2 hatch on day 23, 2 hatch on day 24, 1 hatch on day 25, none on day 26, and then 1 on day 27.

This was the hatch which led me to realize how important it is to calibrate thermometers.

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote: With the rate that technology is growing, just give 'em a couple more years and I'm sure we'll be able to get those heart monitors at Wal-Mart for $9.99, LOL!

 

[cochins1088]

As far as feather sexing goes, I believe it really only applies to certain breeds. I've tried it a couple of times with a few different breeds and it hasn't really worked for me.

I have noticed that females tend to feather in faster, but that's not always accurate either.

I promised myself that I would try to vent sex my next batch of LF chicks. I tried it with my ducklings and did it with 100% accuracy. Hopefully chick won't be too much harder.

 

[cochins1088]

With the rate that technology is growing, just give 'em a couple more years and I'm sure we'll be able to get those heart monitors at Wal-Mart for $9.99, LOL!

 

[Gardeningmama]

As far as feather sexing goes, I believe it really only applies to certain breeds. I've tried it a couple of times with a few different breeds and it hasn't really worked for me.

I have noticed that females tend to feather in faster, but that's not always accurate either.

I promised myself that I would try to vent sex my next batch of LF chicks. I tried it with my ducklings and did it with 100% accuracy. Hopefully chick won't be too much harder.

You got my attention!! Next week I'm going to pick up my Call Ducklings. So, does the feathering look the same as chicks? The feather tips are there? I don't know why I had it pictured in my head that they would be all fuzz! I have never even held a duckling before, so this is good to know right before I have to go choose. With ducks you only want 1 drake, right? Or should they be in pairs?

 

[cochins1088]

You got my attention!! Next week I'm going to pick up my Call Ducklings. So, does the feathering look the same as chicks? The feather tips are there? I don't know why I had it pictured in my head that they would be all fuzz! I have never even held a duckling before, so this is good to know right before I have to go choose. With ducks you only want 1 drake, right? Or should they be in pairs?

No, the ducklings won't have any feather tips, I vent sexed them. Waterfowl are fairly easy to sex. I think it's supposed to be 1 drake with 3 hens, but this is my first year with waterfowl so I'm not sure.

For vent sexing, just gently pull apart the vent and if a little stick pops out, it's a boy. I wasn't expecting to be very good at it, but I sold the extra males as 4 day olds and now that the rest have matured, I realize that I sexed perfectly. I have 2 drakes and 6 hens.

This is the video I used:

Good Luck!