First time hatching advice

[oliverj102]

I'm in northern Scotland. It rains most of the year... the air within the house isn't humid but not dry. I'm keeping the incubator on the kitchen as it will have the most stable temperature.

The eggs just arrived. I have them a quick rince as there where polystyrene balls stuck to them, and sat them in the incubator.

When it comes to testing, I've made an egg candle, but is it safe to take them out for a minute? I've never seen a developing egg so I'm going entirely on Google! The hen MUST sneak off periodically else why would starve or dehydrate surely...

 

[GotCoop]

Resist the urge to check them too frequently. Just day 7 or 8, then again at transition to lock-down. It will not hurt to take them out for a few minutes when candling at those times.

I found it better to check at these times because you can tell a substantial difference in the development and gives you confidence in what your seeing.

 

[GotCoop]

Also, number the eggs when you put them in and keep a log of what you see at each candling.

 

[Fishkeeper]

You probably shouldn't disinfect the eggs, it could mess with the bloom.

Although, you shouldn't immediately discount something just because chickens don't have it. Chickens don't feed their babies perfect starter feed, or have protection from predators. But they don't always have a high rate of egg hatch, and sometimes they lose all their babies. We're trying to build the closest-to-perfect environment here to hatch and grow these eggs, after all. We look to nature to figure out how to hatch an egg, and then we look to technology to figure out how to improve on it.

 

[rascal66]

I have a very similar incubator and the only advice I can offer is to really get a separate thermometer. These things are known to be cheaply made with the temps being off a bit and hatch rates aren't the greatest. I was able to hatch eggs but never anything close to 100%.

To set the humidity, you should hold down the "set" button for a few seconds. It is the button that looks like a gear that is above the two arrows button. Once the letters pop up, press the up or down arrow until the screen says "AS". Then press the "set" button to select. This is the Humidity setting. Then use the arrows up or down to set your minimum humidity. I set mine to 30. When you are finished i think you can press "set" again to save the changes. Now if the incubators humidity drops below 30 it will alarm me.

When my humidity is too high I used a folded up napkins to squeeze in between the lip of the baton to crack it open. The extra venting should be enough to lower the humidity.

Don't worry too much about the dissinfecting. Most hatcheries do it and I have personally had no issue before washing eggs. Its merely a matter of preference. I only try to wash dirty eggs, otherwise if they are all clean I leave them alone.

You can candle them as early as day 5 to check for veins or blood rings. There are resources on google that show you what they're supposed to look like and what not.

wish you the best. I'm trying to get my stupid bator to give me better hatch rates

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm in northern Scotland. It rains most of the year... the air within the house isn't humid but not dry. I'm keeping the incubator on the kitchen as it will have the most stable temperature.

The eggs just arrived. I have them a quick rince as there where polystyrene balls stuck to them, and sat them in the incubator.

When it comes to testing, I've made an egg candle, but is it safe to take them out for a minute? I've never seen a developing egg so I'm going entirely on Google! The hen MUST sneak off periodically else why would starve or dehydrate surely...

Hi there.

You got some fantastic answers already!

As stated... "dry" hatch should be called drier hatch.

Definitely do NOT rely on those incubator read out.. its the difference between life and death!

Once the bator is running... the humidity inside with no added water MUST be lower than it is in your house because the heat will be drying it some in my experience. Completely dry, my house is about 65% humidity, outside about 99%, and in the bator is close to 30%. heavy rain and on the coast here, ambient humidity is always high here.

When you FIRST add eggs to your bator... the humidity will RISE a little more! I keep ALL my vent plugs out from day 1.

Hatching eggs should NOT be washed (rinsed) as it removes the bloom which is the natural protective coating left behind by the hen. Sanitizing by certain methods is okay. They should also not have droppings on them.

I go as low as 30% humidity for dark eggs and about 45% for lighter colored eggs days 1-18. Raise to 65-70% starting on day 18 through hatch. I also use external water (boats) for incubation and only use the bottom wells for hatching. I have several incubators, one slightly similar to yours that gives the absolute worst hatch rates ever.

The warm and cool spots mentioned do take place even in forced air bators. For this reason, I move my eggs to a new place daily... rotating them through different random locations inside the bator. It helped tighten my hatch frame a LOT.

So are these eggs shipped? Have you read up about setting shipped eggs? Seems like the might supposed to rest or maybe not be turned the first 24 hours if sat right away?? How far did they come from?

It is absolutely okay to take the eggs out for a minute when candling. Mama hens can leave for 15 minutes or more, but they always seem to use their judgement about when is the right time of day with regard to weather and how long they can be gone and such. Sometimes I leave my lid open other times I close it between eggs. but a short while should be fine.

Fantastic hatching resource...
https://www.hubbardbreeders.com/media/incubation_guideen__053407700_1525_26062017.pdf

Happy hatching!

 

[oliverj102]

I rinsed each egg of mine to ensure to fecal matter was there, since it would get vile in hot humid conditions.

They didnt soak and didnt get scrubbed. Just wipes with my fingers gently for a few seconds to clean it up.

The eggs where mailed overnight in heavy packing. They travelled a few hundred miles tho. The breeder only said get them in an incubator asap for best rates.

I'll check them in a week and look for activity. I've done duck eggs before and managed to get 4 ducklings... well mummy duck did.. she is a tamed one and wasnt bothered letting me vet her eggs!

 

[rascal66]

I rinsed each egg of mine to ensure to fecal matter was there, since it would get vile in hot humid conditions.

They didnt soak and didnt get scrubbed. Just wipes with my fingers gently for a few seconds to clean it up.

The eggs where mailed overnight in heavy packing. They travelled a few hundred miles tho. The breeder only said get them in an incubator asap for best rates.

I'll check them in a week and look for activity. I've done duck eggs before and managed to get 4 ducklings... well mummy duck did.. she is a tamed one and wasnt bothered letting me vet her eggs!

There are other threads that discuss whether or not to wash eggs. Some believe you shouldn't, some do! I have personally washed eggs and still had them hatch. But I only wash it I really need to.

Keep in mind that with mailed eggs, you may not get her greatest hatch rate with that factor alone. But still hoping the best for you

 

[Jess89]

I am also incubating for the first time. I live in East Tennessee and the humidity changes on the daily. I’ve read to keep humidity between 40-50% so it’s been pretty steady. I’ve had to adjust once a day usually just by adding water if it gets too low. The temp I’m trying to keep between 37.2-38.0 Celsius because that’s what my incubator reads. So 99-101 degrees Fahrenheit. Any advise would be greatly appreciated

 

[oliverj102]

My homes humidity is about 40%.. its shocking. I'm keeping my incubator between 55-65 and at 37.8-38.2 Celsius. The humidity is alass something I can't control easily. If I add nothing the humidity goes to 30 if I put any body of water inside it jumps to 75. Currently I have a spray bottle and I lift the lid and mist it on each side quickly so as to not release the heat. That then raises hunidity to 65ish for and it lowers to 55 over the next 8 hours.

I assumed when it said humidity control it meant automated vents or a fan..I'm bemused at how this is classed as fully automatic!