First time incubating

[Tonyroo]

Some suggestions are based on people who had success with there method of using 30% humidity. Like if you live in a humid or dry climate you have to adjust your humidity to the correct number. But from day 1 to day 18 it should be around 30% to 50%, the range is an estimate. The purpose of that is the egg releases moisture each day to create an air sac while the embryo develop.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Some suggestions are based on people who had success with there method of using 30% humidity. Like if you live in a humid or dry climate you have to adjust your humidity to the correct number. But from day 1 to day 18 it should be around 30% to 50%, the range is an estimate. The purpose of that is the egg releases moisture each day to create an air sac while the embryo develop.

Thanks Tony! I live in the south. It is usually pretty humid here. Of course, right now it is the middle of winter so drier than normal. It is currently Day 4 of the cycle. I will wait until Day 7 (Sunday) to candle. I've looked at pictures of what the air cell should look like by Day 7. I would assume that I would adjust humidity up or down based upon that average, right? Right now my humidity is ranging between 30 - 53% based upon the time of day because the water pot goes dry overnight. When there is water in the pot, it typically stays between 40 - 50%.

 

[Tonyroo]

If your house stays at 65 to 70 degrees day and night, you should try to maintain your humidity 40- 45. Always check your incubator throughout the day to make sure it's maintaining the temperature and humidity. Usually being indoors your ambient humidity is way lower than the outside air because your heating your home and that come into factors with the incubator. Hope this can give you a sense of how to manage your incubator.

 

[TJAnonymous]

If your house stays at 65 to 70 degrees day and night, you should try to maintain your humidity 40- 45. Always check your incubator throughout the day to make sure it's maintaining the temperature and humidity. Usually being indoors your ambient humidity is way lower than the outside air because your heating your home and that come into factors with the incubator. Hope this can give you a sense of how to manage your incubator.

Thanks again! Your feedback is very helpful... My thermostat is set at 70 degrees. I'm keeping my incubator on a table in the corner of my kitchen. However, the wall behind the table is a window (kept closed) that opens into an enclosed sunroom. So it is possible that the temperature is a little lower in that area of the house but not by more than a few degrees, I'm sure. I do check the readouts several times a day. Temp is always 99.5 but the humidity fluctuates as I mentioned in my previous post.

 

[Tonyroo]

You might consider placing the incubator in a more sheltered placed that has low air flow movement. I have mine in a hall closet to prevent air movement around my Diy incubator, the temperature around the incubator is always stable and in turn keeps my humidity stable. I recently hatched out Serama and Swedish Flower hen chicks. This is something to consider for hatching in winter.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Today is DAY 7! I candled my eggs since the first time I set them last Sunday (12/27) evening. And I am very disappointed because I can't see much.... I thought for sure I should see spider veins by now??? There are a couple of eggs that are really dark in color but no veins. Other eggs look completely clear.

Here are some of the eggs that MY girls laid. I have 2 roosters so these eggs are likely to be fertilized.









I also set some store bought eggs from the Happy Egg Co. I suspect these are NOT fertilized....but can't really see much.








Should I just leave them in for another 4-5 days and candle again? Thoughts??? I really wish I was better at this....

 

[Flat Earth]

Today is DAY 7! I candled my eggs since the first time I set them last Sunday (12/27) evening. And I am very disappointed because I can't see much.... I thought for sure I should see spider veins by now??? There are a couple of eggs that are really dark in color but no veins. Other eggs look completely clear.

Here are some of the eggs that MY girls laid. I have 2 roosters so these eggs are likely to be fertilized.

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I also set some store bought eggs from the Happy Egg Co. I suspect these are NOT fertilized....but can't really see much.


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Should I just leave them in for another 4-5 days and candle again? Thoughts??? I really wish I was better at this....

Not my video, watch this and you see what day 7 looks like. Hope you the best!

 

[Tonyroo]

6 and 7 look iffy, the other eggs are too dark, leave them all in the incubator, re-candle on day 10. When you candle those dark eggs throw a blanket over you and the egg to make it completely dark to see them better.

 

[Flat Earth]

6 and 7 look iffy, the other eggs are too dark, leave them all in the incubator, re-candle on day 10. When you candle those dark eggs throw a blanket over you and the egg to make it completely dark to see them better.

Very Good Info!
I like white color eggs, they are much better to see inside, sadly not all chickens lay the same color. Dark red ones.. gasp need a strong light for that egg!

Hope the best! I am trying to hatch 30 eggs.. 3 incubators at work 19 eggs / 4 eggs / 7 eggs.. hatch dates are Jan 13 / 18 / 26

 

[TJAnonymous]

6 and 7 look iffy, the other eggs are too dark, leave them all in the incubator, re-candle on day 10. When you candle those dark eggs throw a blanket over you and the egg to make it completely dark to see them better.

Do 6 and 7 look iffy because they don't look fertilized (i.e. clear), right? That's what I'm thinking but since I'm new at this I would prefer a more experienced opinion.

As for the others, when you say they are dark do you mean they are too dark to see if they are developing? Or do you mean they are dark as in they may have died?

Sorry for the silly questions....

The eggs from my girls are either Rhode Island Reds (most likely) or Buff Orpingtons. Their eggs are pretty light colored. I was surprised to have this much trouble candling them. The Happy Eggs are much darker so I expected those to be tough. Of course, as I mentioned several times, I don't expect the Happy Eggs to be fertilized....which brings me to another question. What do you typically do with eggs you remove from the incubator? Do you compost them? Feed them to your animals? Just chuck them in the trash?

ETA - I have another handheld candler that is not part of my incubator. I might try to candle with it the next time and see if it works better than the one that is part of the NR 360.