Jan 20th: Begin collecting a saving my eggs for hatching. Store them in unused egg cartons in a cool dark room and turn 3 to 5 times a day by propping the egg carton on a book and rotating. Using only the cleanest and healthiest looking of eggs.
Jan 22nd: My Incubator, egg turner, and thermometer/hydrometer arrives. Set up and run incubator for the next 3 days to insure everything is working correctly as well as to insure it maintains proper temperature and humidity.
Temp. will be sat at 100.5*F and Humidity will be sat at 55%.
If in the still air mode, this measurement (100.5 F) needs to be at the top of the eggs. Since warm air rises where you take the temperature is very important in a still air. If you use forced air (fan on mode) the temperature should be 99.5 F. Use a calibrated thermometer to confirm temperature readings. I never trust the preset temperatures.
You can get a lot of opinions on humidity for a very simple reason. Different ones of us get better hatches at different humidities. Different factors affect this. How and how long the eggs are stored before you start, the type of incubator (still air versus forced air), differences in the individual incubator (even the same make and model), where the incubator is set up in the room, height above sea level, temperature and moisture level of the air going into the incubator, and who knows what else. My suggestion is to try something, try to be as consistent as you reasonably can, and keep notes. After the hatch open the unhatched eggs and see if you can tell if you need to change humidity. There can be some trial and error involved to find your sweet spot.
Jan 25th: If all goes well with equipment, SET EGGS! Eggs will be sat in turner with large end up
Feb 4th: Candle eggs. Remove just a couple at a time and candle to check for development. Any eggs not developing properly, any cracking or smelling will be discarded.
Don't be too quick to toss eggs based on candling until you get more experience. If they are smelling definitely toss them. But if they are not smelling it is highly unlikely they are going to cause any problems. White eggs are pretty easy to see inside but darker eggs can be rough. Blue or green eggs can be really rough.
Feb 12th: Egg turner will be shut off or removed. If left in, eggs will be in upright position with larger end facing up. If egg turner is removed, eggs will lay on their sides.
What do you guys recommend? Temperature will remain the same but humidity will be raised to 70%. Get brooder up and running to insure a temperature of 95*F is reached and maintained so it is ready for chicks.
The date is good but remove the turner. You do not want a chick to get a leg, wing, or neck caught in a tight spot. Besides, hatching is messy. Clean-up will be easier if you don't have a really messy turner to deal with.
I lay mine on the sides but some people take egg cartons, cut away most of the cups to get that out of the way, and store the eggs skinny side down. Either way works.
Feb 15th: HATCH DAY! Once the chicks have completed hatching lower incubator temp to 95*F and allow to completely dry up. Up to 24 hours?
Be aware that the 15th is a theoretical hatch date. There are a lot of things that can cause the eggs to hatch as much as two days early or late. That can make this a really stressful time, especially if they are late but it can surprise you if they are early. Heredity, humidity, how and how long they were stored before you started, and just individual differences in the eggs can make a difference. I've read that smaller eggs hatch earlier than larger eggs but I have not observed that. A huge factor in when they hatch is incubating temperature. If it is a bit low they can be late, a bit warm they can be early.
A lot of my hatches are over within 24 hours of the first one hatching, whether under a broody hen or in my incubator. But I've had broody hatches and incubator hatches stretch out for more than 48 hours. Those slow ones can really stress you out. A chick absorbs the yolk before it hatches. That chick can live off of that yolk for 72 hours or more before it needs to eat or drink. That's why they can be shipped in the mail. This is nature's way of allowing a hen to hatch the later eggs if some do hatch a couple of days earlier.
It is always possible you will get lucky but it would be a bit unusual for hatching to be as clear and crisp as your calendar shows. You need to be flexible.
It is generally recommended that you do not open the incubator from lockdown (12th for you) until the hatch is over. The reason for that is that it is possible to shrink-wrap a chick if the hatching humidity gets too low. Shrink-wrap means that a membrane inside the egg shell but around the chick can dry out and trap the chick so it can't move to hatch. Just because it is possible does not mean it is likely, but it is possible. Some people open the incubator and remove chicks as they dry off and don't have many if any problems, but it has happened. I shrink-wrapped on myself so I know it can happen. My philosophy on that is to leave the incubator closed until hatch is over unless I have a problem I need to deal with inside the incubator. If I have a problem I deal with it, even if it means opening the incubator. It is a calculated risk I'm sometimes willing to take.
Feb 16th: Place chicks in brooder that has been up and running.Bedding will be puppy training pads for the first week to ensure no bedding is consumed. Water and feed will be in place as well.
Feb 17th: Dip each chicks beak in the water to ensure they know where it is when they need it, which I know might not be quite yet. Sprinkle food around brooder to entice chicks to start eating.
Do not wait to dip the chicks beaks in water. As you put them in the brooder for the first time dip each one's beak. Just because they may not need food or water does't mean it is a good thing for them to wait. I want them to eat and drink as soon as reasonable.
Feb 22nd: Start introducing tiny amount of treats such as scrambled eggs, meal-worms, chopped up grass and weeds, and fresh herbs. Include grit to insure proper digestion.
A broody hen introduces them to grit and treats as soon as she can get them on dirt or vegetation. It will not hurt for them to get treats pretty early as long as they have grit and that their regular chick feed is at least 90% of what they eat so they maintain a balanced diet. My broody hens take care of feeding their chicks I don't worry about that part. My brooder raised chicks get no treats, I do not consider them necessary or really all that beneficial but they will not hurt in moderation. I do give my brooder raised chicks dirt from the run to give them grit and to start building their immune system with what is going to be in their environment we they get outside.
Once feathered and temperatures rise they will go outside in a teen brooder/coop and then the process will start all over again!
Extra Key Points:
- The incubator I am using is the HovaBator 2370 with fan.
- The egg turner is Hovabator 1611 auto turner that turns 6 times a day.
- From Hatch to a month old will be feeding 24% chick starter and then down to 20% percent flock raiser.
Thanks, that information was helpful.
