Do hovabators ever go bad? UPDATE 11/24

[silkieluver_07]

I've had my Genesis for a little over a year. Hatched everything perfectly. Now when I try to use it, the temperature is only running around 60-70 (room temperature). What replacement part should I get?

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Quote:
They were styrofoam. Hmmm...
Maybe I'll try one last time and go back to hand turning. It can't hurt. I just hate to kill off another round.

 

[EweSheep]

Try paper and see if it makes the difference. Can't hurt to try!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I still think there has to be something else I'm screwing up. I know people on here do use the styrofoam cartons for hatching because they don't absorb water and affect the humidity. I'll go back to hand turning, but something else is wrong...

 

[chickee]

I have always used the egg carton for lockdown/hatching. Come to think of it, I usually buy NEW cartons from the feed store to hatch in but these last few times I used egg cartons that store eggs came in!!! Maybe it is contamination!? It looked like my chicks died during lockdown since they were fully formed with their yokes half absorbed. WOW! I think you might have helped me figure out what my problem might be!

I would try another hatch, but like you I just don't want to deal with winter chicks! We are having rain right now and it is miserably wet and muddy out at the chicken pen!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

That is exactly what mine have looked like. Fully developed with a partially absorbed yolk sac. I just thought they had drowned because I was messing up the humidity. Weird.

 

[chickee]

Well, looks like we are just going to have to do some more research and keep trying different things! Could be as simple as the time of year since a friend of mine who uses a Hova Bator and gets good hatches just hatched chicks and out of 30 only 3 hatched!! Hope you have better luck next time!!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

So I tried one more round. I went back to turning by hand twice a day. No styrofoam egg cartons anywhere near the bator on this one. I kept humidity at 30-35% until day 18 and then added a second glass of water bringing the humidity up to about 60%. I got 11 out of 12 silkie eggs to hatch and 3 of 3 ameraucana eggs to hatch. WHOOHOO!! I'm not sure what the big difference was, but at least it worked this time!

 

[chickee]

Congratulations! How did you position the eggs for hatching? I'm wondering if I should stop putting my eggs in cartons to hatch!?

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I put down the squishy shelf liner and then laid the eggs on their sides. I rotated them morning and night. It is easier to tilt them in the egg carton, but this way apparently works for me.

I can't think of anything else that it could have been. The humidity was higher in the ones that died, but it was the same as what I had done all summer. The only think I changed was using the egg carton. Weird.