EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[daxigait]

@LittleLakePhil are you staying thawed?

 

[daxigait]

I'm on day 21 of my 2nd attempt at incubating my chickens eggs, and again, it's looking like its gonna be another failed attempt, the first 16 eggs made it all the way till day 21 as well and they were all dis, after I held hope that something would happen all the way until day 25 when I finally threw them out, which by the way was heartbreaking. My temps been consistent at 37.2-37.8, humidity has been between 50-65, I can't seem to get it regulated. Any help would be appreciated, I bought the roo and hens grown and laying, so I'm not sure of their age, I'm thinking about buying some fertile eggs via ebay n trying my luck there, thoughts are welcomed.

I might try somebody else you know locally if you're worried at your eggs before I worried about shipped eggs they're even harder to hatch. Of course so speaks someone who pays somebody to hatch their eggs for them.

 

[daxigait]

Bullchick is dead on about the calibration and the humidity too

 

[aliciaplus3]

I'm on day 21 of my 2nd attempt at incubating my chickens eggs, and again, it's looking like its gonna be another failed attempt, the first 16 eggs made it all the way till day 21 as well and they were all dis, after I held hope that something would happen all the way until day 25 when I finally threw them out, which by the way was heartbreaking. My temps been consistent at 37.2-37.8, humidity has been between 50-65, I can't seem to get it regulated. Any help would be appreciated, I bought the roo and hens grown and laying, so I'm not sure of their age, I'm thinking about buying some fertile eggs via ebay n trying my luck there, thoughts are welcomed.

Jennifer glad you are joining us! I am a little rusty on the Celsius thing ..... you didn't mention whether your incubator is forced air or still?? that makes a little difference, in Fahrenheit 99.5 is the sweet spot for forced air whereas still air is 101? did you track your air cells?? the humidity is hard to give someone a solid number because every location, even in the same house sometimes, is different. most folks find that by tracking the air cells they can adjust accordingly, air cell is getting too big? add a little more humidity. air cell is not growing fast enough drop the humidity a little, find the sweet spot. I even struggle from winter to summer here. Did you open up the eggs to see what stage they quit? sometimes it can be nutrition, sometimes a heat spike, maybe the hubby unplugged the bator for an hour on accident??? (my DH is a goofball) I have a different location for my bators summer and winter.... gotta find the room with the most steady temp and humidity so the bator doesn't have to work as hard. My first incubator was a struggle in itself, it was a cheap Chinese one and it fluctuated all over the place, I managed to hatch some chicks but I had to babysit it all the time, double check the temperature, at one time I had 4 extra thermometers in there trying to keep an eye on hot and cold spots. I think someone already mentioned it but make sure that you calibrate your thermometers and hygrometers,,,, no way to be spot on if they are reading a couple degrees off.... or 10 in the case of one of my hygrometers.
welcome and best of luck!

 

[fire370]

I'm on day 21 of my 2nd attempt at incubating my chickens eggs, and again, it's looking like its gonna be another failed attempt, the first 16 eggs made it all the way till day 21 as well and they were all dis, after I held hope that something would happen all the way until day 25 when I finally threw them out, which by the way was heartbreaking. My temps been consistent at 37.2-37.8, humidity has been between 50-65, I can't seem to get it regulated. Any help would be appreciated, I bought the roo and hens grown and laying, so I'm not sure of their age, I'm thinking about buying some fertile eggs via ebay n trying my luck there, thoughts are welcomed.

A couple of questions Jennifer... Where are from? Have you verified your incubators temp/humidity readings? What kind of incubator? Does it have a fan? Answer these and we can help you more.

 

[Jennifer72274]

A couple of questions Jennifer... Where are from? Have you verified your incubators temp/humidity readings? What kind of incubator? Does it have a fan? Answer these and we can help you more.

The incubator remains nameless, got it from China off ebay, it has a fan and automatic Turner that I remove on the 19th day of incubation before lockdown... Incubator has a built in thermometer, but I bought another external one in which the wire is inside near the eggs and they both stay close in temperature

 

[Jennifer72274]

Hello, Jennifer. Welcome to BYC. I’m sorry to hear you’re having issues.
First, did you calibrate your equipment to be sure they are accurate?
Second, perhaps lower humidity would help. More like 40%.

That's where I can't get it right, the humidity changes and I don't know why. I live in southern ga, its been chilly but not freezing, my broody hen has been setting on eggs since the 16th of January as well

 

[Jennifer72274]

Jennifer glad you are joining us! I am a little rusty on the Celsius thing ..... you didn't mention whether your incubator is forced air or still?? that makes a little difference, in Fahrenheit 99.5 is the sweet spot for forced air whereas still air is 101? did you track your air cells?? the humidity is hard to give someone a solid number because every location, even in the same house sometimes, is different. most folks find that by tracking the air cells they can adjust accordingly, air cell is getting too big? add a little more humidity. air cell is not growing fast enough drop the humidity a little, find the sweet spot. I even struggle from winter to summer here. Did you open up the eggs to see what stage they quit? sometimes it can be nutrition, sometimes a heat spike, maybe the hubby unplugged the bator for an hour on accident??? (my DH is a goofball) I have a different location for my bators summer and winter.... gotta find the room with the most steady temp and humidity so the bator doesn't have to work as hard. My first incubator was a struggle in itself, it was a cheap Chinese one and it fluctuated all over the place, I managed to hatch some chicks but I had to babysit it all the time, double check the temperature, at one time I had 4 extra thermometers in there trying to keep an eye on hot and cold spots. I think someone already mentioned it but make sure that you calibrate your thermometers and hygrometers,,,, no way to be spot on if they are reading a couple degrees off.... or 10 in the case of one of my hygrometers.
welcome and best of luck!

Thank you so much, I am gonna order a hydrometer and see if that'll help... I have a forced air incubator and it's a cheap Chinese version, like $60 and holds 48 eggs.... I've never tried doing that many at once, as I've only got 5 hems and one rooster,

 

[Jennifer72274]

A couple of questions Jennifer... Where are from? Have you verified your incubators temp/humidity readings? What kind of incubator? Does it have a fan? Answer these and we can help you more.

I'm from south ga

 

[BullChick]

Humidity of course changes as the water evaporates, the temperature changes, and the relative humidity changes. If you are opening the incubator, or it’s not closed properly, that is an issue as well.
Humidity is about surface, not volume. Three inches of water deep is less humidity than three inches wide.
I’m thinking (ouch!!). That is all I have tonight. Of course, my late fiancé always said of StoneMountain, “you go to school in a snowsuit, and come home in a swimsuit!” If it’s that bad, you might want to have a humidifier in the room.