Eggs in the Homemade Incubator - 1st attempt failed, 2nd attempt

[familyman888]

chicken boy sam i will post pics of my incubator, it was so easy to build!

Good luck buddy, hang around!

 

[SportChick]

Congratulations familyman!

How many do you have so far?? Do you have other pips?

Stampntam: Yes those are Black Copper Marans eggs. They are doing terribly. It's my first hatch and if my Barred Rocks hadn't done well, I would really be upset. One pipped yesterday and couldn't get out of the large hole it made in it's shell. I tried to help it a little but I went to bed, since it seemed to be working on zipping and I figured it would be better off without my interference. It was dead by morning. Poor baby.

I did an eggtopsy and it was a perfectly formed chick as best I could tell. The other 10 show no signs of life.

That being said, my 6 Barred Rock chicks are darling. So social. They really seem to want to be with people. They sit on my daughters' hands and their laps (just for a minute or two and then it's back in the brooder). They are figuring out the waterer and the oldest one has figured out how to eat a little. They all sleep in a cute little pile. We are in love!!

 

[marathonmultiplesmom]

hello familyman888,
Just wanted to drop in and add a little note on the type of digital therm/hydrometer combo you have there. Sometimes they are accurate and sometimes not. If I were you, I'd use that for a "ballpark" figure but get one of the alcohol thermometers and set it on top of the eggs so it takes the temp at the correct place. They are generally more accurate. I lost about a dozen goslings to the cheap wal-mart digital weather type thermometers and hydrometers. I've done away with using them. Now I use wet-bulb for humidity and just the regular alcohol types of thermometers that are made for incubation.

 

[chicken boy sam]

Yes....I will most definitely hang around especially for pictures of your little chicks!!!!!! I already have all my plans and measurements made up for my single egg incubator!!!!!!!!!!! What day is lockdown? 18th or 19th day?

 

[Surehatch]

Very innovative

 

[familyman888]

I have 4 chicks total.

Gonna keep the eggs in the bator in case of any late bloomers.

So 4 out of about 17.

Pics soon.

 

[familyman888]

Here are the little rascals!

We can all see the 2nd try was a success!!

Furthermore, as I did an eggtopsy on the remaining unhatched, I found a few had fully developed, most were partially developed, and only 2 had no development.

I ponder if I had a fan I would have better hatch rates? What would be the best for my setup?

I am also bent head over heels on getting some Buff Orpingtons! They are so pretty to me from what I've seen online.

 

[Cattitude]

Congratz on your babies!

A fan would help keep the temperature more even inside the incubator. It would also create a bit of heat of its own, so you'd have to readjust your heat source to accommodate it. Heatsink fans made for computers are cheap and easy to hook up; use a few spacers and attach some mesh so the little ones can't touch the spinning blades. I'm sure there are lots more suggestions in the DIY section of the forum!

 

[SportChick]

Glad it went better this go round Familyman. Your babies are cute! The BO's are really pretty with that golden honey color. What color eggs do they have?

My next set of eggs comes next week. I have 4 roosters for sure (maybe 5) out of 6 chicks!