First time incubating Marans and Olive Eggers

[manukannijoy]

I am excited to receive our first hatching eggs in the mail this week! We have a Hovo Bator that we borrowed from a friend. I have read and watched You Tube videos on how to ensure maximum hatch rates. If you can share your personal experiences I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Marans and EE eggs are very hard to candle.
I raise Penedesencas whose eggs are hard to see into.
I prefer to weigh eggs to get the correct amount of weight loss rather than struggling with candling.
An egg should lose 0.065% of its weight per day. If it loses more than that, humidity is too low. If it loses less, the humidity is too high.

 

[FridayYet]

Chicken Canoe is right in that you need to monitor your eggs! I like candling, and have a pretty strong LED light where I can see into most eggs. The ones I can't, I just go by the others in the bator that I can see into.

That said, shipped eggs are always a gamble and can often have unseen damage that lowers your success rate. I know some people have had good hatches, many have had poor hatches, and I can't tell you how many people have only ended up with one or two chicks out of 2 dozen set. Distance, heat, altitude change, shaking, dropping, etc can all do a number on eggs.

Dark eggs are less permeable due to the dark coating, so starting at a lower humidity can often help.

Good luck!