Fertile eggs, bad hatches every time!

[Problem hatches]

I like the idea of having two incubators,one for turning then one for hatching. My question in....how much per month does it cost to run an incubator. My boyfriend has been complaining because he thinks the electricity bill will skyrocket. I don't know if it is true but I'd like to know! And I'm not good with figuring it out myself!

 

[duluthralphie]

I like the idea of having two incubators,one for turning then one for hatching. My question in....how much per month does it cost to run an incubator. My boyfriend has been complaining because he thinks the electricity bill will skyrocket. I don't know if it is true but I'd like to know! And I'm not good with figuring it out myself!

I have no idea, The small insulated boxes cannot take much electricity, I would think. They are in a 70 degree room and only need to raise the temp 30 degrees.

I am willing to bet a 40 watt light bulb running inside the "box" would raise the temps too high. I would think it only raise the bill as much as a 40 watt light bulb, with a turner and a fan maybe a 60 watt bulb. If you have one for a hatcher you do not use the turner.

I took the turner out of that incubator and use it to hold the eggs until I get enough space in the incubators. That way the eggs turn and I do not have to mess with them.

 

[bobbi-j]

My thinking on the temperature changes was, if your incubator is set, and the eggs in it are a certain temp, that putting cooler, room temperature eggs in there might bring it back down. When the hen gets off the nest for her daily constitutional, all the eggs are at the same temperature and will cool down (if they do) at the same rate. She's not putting cooler eggs in next to the ones already in her nest every day. I may be totally off base here, it was just a thought.

To figure out if it raises the electric bill, look at your past months' statements to see what they were before you started incubating.

DuluthRalphie - Do you do staggered hatches? Just wondering why you use a separate incubator for hatching instead of leaving them where they are.

 

[duluthralphie]

My thinking on the temperature changes was, if your incubator is set, and the eggs in it are a certain temp, that putting cooler, room temperature eggs in there might bring it back down. When the hen gets off the nest for her daily constitutional, all the eggs are at the same temperature and will cool down (if they do) at the same rate. She's not putting cooler eggs in next to the ones already in her nest every day. I may be totally off base here, it was just a thought.

To figure out if it raises the electric bill, look at your past months' statements to see what they were before you started incubating.

DuluthRalphie - Do you do staggered hatches? Just wondering why you use a separate incubator for hatching instead of leaving them where they are.

Yes, I do staggered hatches. Which is why I use three. I do not get enough eggs at a time that I want to hatch of one species. By staggering hatches I can keep my incubators full. Right now I have turkey, guinea and chicken eggs in the incubator. Today I will remove my Creamettes from the hatcher. clean it, warm it and put in this weeks hatch. (Creamettes are little CLs)



Today is a huge day, I have 34 eggs to move to the hatcher!

 

[wynn4578]

The 4200 uses 40 watts of electricity. The national average is 12 cents per killowatt. so the average if you run it 24/7 for the whole month is about $3.50. That's not counting the automatic turner. I can't find any specs on the turner without seeing the motor and mine is loaded right now but i'd be surprised if it added more than a buck.

 

[duluthralphie]

The 4200 uses 40 watts of electricity. The national average is 12 cents per killowatt. so the average if you run it 24/7 for the whole month is about $3.50. That's not counting the automatic turner. I can't find any specs on the turner without seeing the motor and mine is loaded right now but i'd be surprised if it added more than a buck.

That would make sense to me. I use 2 - 4200 and 1 little giant with the turner whatever number that is. I enjoy hatching eggs and I figure it is cheaper than buying chicks. Even if it cost 20 bucks a month I would still do it,

I hate when they fail to hatch or die, but the ones that live make it worthwhile.

 

[Problem hatches]

Ok so eggs have been in the incubator for about a week and a half. I candled them today and they look empty, only yolk. No veins, saw a few bloodlines. One dark one. I decided to take them out because I knew they were not good, I cracked open a few eggs and they were empty, then I cracked open the dark one and it was a baby chick with its poor little heart still beating. Why did only one progress? Why didn't it move at all when I candled it? I felt so bad. I couldn't believe it! It was the only one out of 15 eggs that grew. ?? I don't get it! Also I see my rooster mating with my Dutch leghorn and I cracked an egg open saw the bullseye, I incubate her eggs and they didn't work. I'm so lost.

 

[wynn4578]

This may help when candling https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/candling-pics-progression-through-incubation-of-chicken-eggs If you want to try again, There is tons of information on here and plenty of people that are willing to help you out. I would start by getting a dependable thermometer and spend a day or 2 getting your incubator equalized before re-loading it.

 

[duluthralphie]

Ok so eggs have been in the incubator for about a week and a half. I candled them today and they look empty, only yolk. No veins, saw a few bloodlines. One dark one. I decided to take them out because I knew they were not good, I cracked open a few eggs and they were empty, then I cracked open the dark one and it was a baby chick with its poor little heart still beating. Why did only one progress? Why didn't it move at all when I candled it? I felt so bad. I couldn't believe it! It was the only one out of 15 eggs that grew. ?? I don't get it! Also I see my rooster mating with my Dutch leghorn and I cracked an egg open saw the bullseye, I incubate her eggs and they didn't work. I'm so lost.

I am unsure of myself when candling. If I see blood vessels or a "lump" I would not throw them away, I have only seen them move a couple times. You will learn when it is a chick like mass and a dried egg mass, they look different. When in doubt I say leave them in. If they were fresh when they went in they should last till day 23.

 

[Drewnkat]

OK I admit I am relatively new at this, but I do have a successful hatch under my belt, AND I just candled my day ten eggs and they're all looking great so far (I had to chuck one at day 7 because it was clear).

First, make sure your parent birds are getting absolutely prime nutrition. If you can let them free range (and I know not everyone can) they should be getting loads of new spring greens and bugs/ worms to eat. The healthier the parents are, the healthier the chicks/ducklings. Make sure they have access to calcium (oyster shell free choice, or whatever) so the egg shells are nice and sturdy to keep out bacteria.

Second, As everyone else has said DO NOT TRUST the thermometer/hygrometer built in to your unit. Get a second and third opinion. Calibrate your separate hygrometer by doing a salt test (Put salt in a small cup. Add water until it's a consistency like mud. Place the cup in a plastic zip seal bag with the hygrometer sitting next to it - NOT in it - then seal the bag walk away for 6 hours. When you come back, if it doesn't read 75% mark how many percentage points off it was + or -, so you will know what the actual reading is). A separate hygrometer does not have to cost a fortune, I got mine off Amazon for ten bucks and it works perfectly.
Leave the incubator set up and running for a full 24 hours before you put ANYTHING in it. And by set up and running I mean consistently staying at the temp you want it for that full time. If you run the incubator for 24 hours and it's at 105 half the time and 94 for several hours, and then 99 degrees the last half hour... it's not ready yet.

Third, Carefully collect eggs from your birds. Gently brush off dirt, but do not wash or scrub them. Store them wide end up in paper egg cartons. Either turn them several times a day, OR place one end of the egg carton elevated, and switch which end is elevated 3-4 times a day. Do not store any longer than 10-12 days before incubating. Do not refrigerate. DO NOT place in the incubator on different days or try to incubate different species in the same batch until you have more experience. Just don't do it. You need to get the feel for how your incubator works best first before trying to do stuff like that. While it may be tempting to pack the incubator full in hopes that something will work, keep in mind there are benefits and drawbacks to each scenario: full incubator or small-batch. Decide what you can live with and go from there. I started with a small batch, and I'm working on a bigger one this time now that I've seen how my incubator works.

Fourth, Look up different photos of candling eggs. Realize that there's a wide variation in what's normal, and egg shell thickness/color will affect how much you can see. Commit to not throwing any eggs away unless they smell and are clearly bad. This will prevent situations where a viable egg is mistakenly destroyed.

For circulated air incubation, you want to shoot for 99.5 or so temp, and humidity seems to do best between 30-40%, but monitor your air cells and adjust as needed.

These are just the thoughts I had as I was reading your story. I feel for you, as you seem frustrated. I hope you will soon get to experience the thrill of watching a new little feathery friend hatch, it's amazing, and worth the wait!