First Mail Order Hatch

[Erics Signs]

I am setting my first mail order hatch today. I have hatched several of my chickens eggs but never any from the internet. I got 18 today that I won off of eBay. (Bantam Buff Sebright) Out of the 18, only 2 were bad. I will keep my fingers cross and keep you posted. Is anyone else setting today?

 

[teach]

I set my first shipped eggs three weeks ago. They are due today (so nervous). I've heard some pipping but no peeps just yet. I used a Little Giant bator and had them in an auto turner, but when I stopped turning I put them in a carton because some of the air cells were detached I wanted to make sure they weren't disturbed too much. Humidity and temp have been harder since putting the carton in because I also had a paper towel underneath to distribute humidity, so now the bottom of the egg cartons are damp. I think this could be an issue and am thinking about risking opening the bator to remove the paper towel so that I can keep the temp right easier. It might be too risky though.

 

[Erics Signs]

Well let me know how they go. I hope all is well with the eggs, and you get a good hatch.
I built my two incubators, one is a still air and the other I added a fan and a variable switch to control the heat light. I had good luck with both, but I like the still air better.

 

[BlackAce]

I ordered eggs of eBay too. I ordered 12 received 14, with one breaking while being delivered. So we had 13 eggs and out of those 13, we only had 2 hatch. The chicks are growing really well and it been almost two weeks now since they hatched. This was out first time doing this and had a lot of issues with maintaining temperature on our home made incubator. So that could have been why we only had 2 hatch. We placed another order of 8 Cayuga Ducks and 8 Rhode Island Reds off eBay again. This time we watched the temp a lot better and all of the Cayuga eggs are developing great. The Rhode Island Reds we have all but maybe 1 not developing, but the Reds are about a week behind the Cayugas. We will see in a few days how they are doing. I just candled them today and we are definitely doing a lot better now then we did before.

 

[Erics Signs]

Well, after several days of getting my temperatures regulated, everything seem to be going good with my first ebay egg endeavor. I am on my 14th day and candle last night. Out of the 15 set I had 6 with good life and one questionable. Out of the ones I discarded, one had the red ring of death and the other showed no signs of fertility.
I also got my second order from another ebay seller set this week. I got 6 Silkie/Showgirl bantam eggs and 1 surprise egg. All of them seem to be very healthy eggs with good shells. That first order I set had several questionable eggs to begin with. Anyway I hope everyone else is doing well in all there chicken adventures.

 

[Erics Signs]

I am putting my incubator on lockdown tonight! Keep your fingers crossed! I will post photos as things develop.

 

[BlackAce]

I put my eggs in lock down on Sunday, so far nothing yet.