Doing it wrong (so you don't have to)

[JillZ]

Thank you for the encouragement. I'm now a little past day 20 and haven't seen movement or heard a thing. Pretty crummy. I had candled them at days 11 and 14 and other than the chocolate brown Marans and the Olive and Blue Araucuanas I could see movement and development. 6 were definitely not fertile. It seems that most people have egg movement, chirping or pipping at this point. I hope that mine may just be a little late on the escape plan. My temps have been great this entire time, however humidity has been difficult. Fluctuations from 49 to 65 often and I'm having a hard time keeping it above 69 right now. (Even with a warm washcloth and adding water through the vent hole.)

Does your humidity stay more stable?

 

[ForrestGump]

How is this for doing it all wrong...

Last week our power went out. It was out for a long time and the eggs were on day 17, more or less.

I filled some jars with water that was heated up on the wood stove. I put them in the incubator and covered it with blankets. The temp was holding steady at 95 - 97. I wanted it a little warmer so I added two more bottles of hot water. Then I left to go out to eat. When I got back the temp in the incubator was 104.9. I was sure I had cooked my chicks, but it had only been 2 hours so I thought there might be hope. The power came back on a few hours later and the eggs went into lockdown. The wait began.

In the end, 29 hatched out of 34 eggs, which is 85%. One chick died due to an abdominal deformity. Overall, not too bad for eggs I thought were gonners.

 

[chiques chicks]

If I incubate in my basement, humidity control is easier. Old house, damp basement. In this experiment, I have no idea on my humidity.

I don't trust most meters unless calibrated. Humidity will have spikes during Hatching, I just leave it.

I've had Brodie's hatch in the middle of winter and high heat of summer. It's amazing what they can withstand in nature. Fortunately their mass doesn't heat or cool as quickly as the air around them.

 

[Nksg75]

Just curios Chiques chicks, you mentioned your fan running constantly. If you were trying to do this right, and couldn't turn off the fan, how would you compensate during lockdown?
Just keep adding humidity pads and hope for the best?
Reason I ask is because I have a incubator I built, and I bought one of the kits from incubator warehouse. It's the incustat basic. The fan does not turn off, and I find it very difficult to keep humidity high(even after adding a ton of sponges) enough during lockdown. I ended up having to buy the incustat mini to hatch. However the mini has a tough time maintaining high enough temps.

 

[chiques chicks]

I'm not familiar with the kit, but...

The first thing I would do is try to find a way to install a switch in the fan circuit.

Barring that, my second choice would be a separate hatcher without a fan. I use a coolerbator made from an old cooler, light bulbs for heat and a water thermostat. If you search this forum, you should find several threads and instructions on their construction. My primary incubator is basically a coolerbator large sized into a small repurposed freezer or mini fridge.

Option three if those can't be done is lots of water and sponges. We do what we can with what we have available.

Hope this helps.

 

[chiques chicks]

It's day 18! Lockdown day.

I removed the turner and added water cups to increase humidity. The coops are cut down soda bottles, hoping they hold enough water to get me through hatch. I also flooded the bottom of the incubator and fully opened the tiny little vent hole. The fan is running since I haven't found a way to turn it off.

Today's ambient temperatures: 59-79°F. My Woodstove is out and a accidentally left a window in this room cracked open last evening until I got home from work at 12:30

 

[Ruthannnall]

following, very curious on how this is going to turn out

 

[plmcmillan]

I just found this thread! I'm on pins and needles here! I'm thinking you'll have 6 out of 11 hatch.

 

[chiques chicks]

After this hatch, or non-hatch, as the case may be, I may just have to actually clean this incubator, move it to a better location, and monitor it more closely, just to see what happens.

 

[Hammie919]

I set 23 eggs this Sunday in my lg 9200 still air as this is my first time ever trying to hatch I think I may have messed it up. The thermometer I put in was to low (more like the middle of the egg than the top) and read 100. Today I moved it up to near the top of the eggs and it read 108. Is it totally ruined or do I still have a chance.

I forgot to mention that these eggs are of unknown age and were only incubated because nobody wanted to risk eating them.