Naliez
Songster
- May 7, 2015
- 822
- 155
- 138
Our set up goes so far goes something like this:
We have a brand new Little Giant, still-air, foam incubator (the one people love to hate) without an egg turner, as per our current budget allowed. We attached a computer fan to the inside of the incubator, so it does have circulation now. I ordered 5 bantam Silkie eggs and 5 Serama eggs from eBay. We live in NC and the eggs were shipped from Tennessee, so not a huge traveling distance, but it's hot, humid and the eggs took 5 days to get here. We let the eggs rest, pointy side down, overnight and have them in the egg carton in the incubator with a block under one side to tip the eggs at an angle. I switch the block from side to side 3 times a day with at least 8 hours between turning times. I candled the eggs before they went in, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for. There are a few that look obviously scrambled, (the air bubble looks runny and rolls easily from end to end), a couple look like they're solid, (dark spot in the middle and not moving around when tipped) but I'm not sure if I'm seeing the air pocket or not and then there are a few that look clear. None of them seem too porous, like the pictures I've seen and they are not damaged or cracked. I don't have a scale to weigh them right now and honestly I kind of have no idea what's going on. I read everything I could, but there is definitely no substitute for experience. The incubator holds steady at around 99.7, but the humidity is too high and fluctuates a lot, (50-60%) even though all the vents are open, I took the water out, and even put a bowl of salt in the incubator. I don't have a dehumidifier, but the incubator is in a dark, draft-free room. Today is day 3 and I managed to get the humidity down to stay around 50%. I feel like I am probably not going to get a hatch out of this small batch, with the rough start and everything, but I'm not going to toss them until I give them a few days and/or until I am certain of what I am looking at when I candle them. I realize that shipped, bantam and Serama eggs are all slightly more difficult to hatch and putting them in the Little Giant incubator isn't exactly helping to increase my chances at getting a hatch.
Anyway, this is my current set up and while I don't expect a whole lot out of my first attempt at hatching, I would like at least ONE to hatch to let me know that I am not completely messing this thing up! Thanks for reading! I will give updates and happily accept any encouragement and/or advice you may have! Have a great day, my chicken-loving friends!
We have a brand new Little Giant, still-air, foam incubator (the one people love to hate) without an egg turner, as per our current budget allowed. We attached a computer fan to the inside of the incubator, so it does have circulation now. I ordered 5 bantam Silkie eggs and 5 Serama eggs from eBay. We live in NC and the eggs were shipped from Tennessee, so not a huge traveling distance, but it's hot, humid and the eggs took 5 days to get here. We let the eggs rest, pointy side down, overnight and have them in the egg carton in the incubator with a block under one side to tip the eggs at an angle. I switch the block from side to side 3 times a day with at least 8 hours between turning times. I candled the eggs before they went in, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for. There are a few that look obviously scrambled, (the air bubble looks runny and rolls easily from end to end), a couple look like they're solid, (dark spot in the middle and not moving around when tipped) but I'm not sure if I'm seeing the air pocket or not and then there are a few that look clear. None of them seem too porous, like the pictures I've seen and they are not damaged or cracked. I don't have a scale to weigh them right now and honestly I kind of have no idea what's going on. I read everything I could, but there is definitely no substitute for experience. The incubator holds steady at around 99.7, but the humidity is too high and fluctuates a lot, (50-60%) even though all the vents are open, I took the water out, and even put a bowl of salt in the incubator. I don't have a dehumidifier, but the incubator is in a dark, draft-free room. Today is day 3 and I managed to get the humidity down to stay around 50%. I feel like I am probably not going to get a hatch out of this small batch, with the rough start and everything, but I'm not going to toss them until I give them a few days and/or until I am certain of what I am looking at when I candle them. I realize that shipped, bantam and Serama eggs are all slightly more difficult to hatch and putting them in the Little Giant incubator isn't exactly helping to increase my chances at getting a hatch.
I just found this post and have my first attempt to hatch sitting on my kitchen table. Mine is full of mixed breed eggs and five eggs from my neighbor. My humidity seems a mystery to me. I am using a used LG with turner and finally figured out how to gwet the temperature to stabilize. Mine now wears a big bath towel and I shove the lid toward the cool side so no air escapes. I also had a couple of hours where the sensor got closed Outside the 'bator and the heater made it 130 degrees inside. I have little hope for the eggs it contained when that happened but haven't removed them either!
It's amazing how out of control chicken math can get so quickly.... I wanted another 2-3 silkies and somehow I'm ending up with 2 incubators and 40 eggs... Oops.
