First time: Incubation Lavender Orpington Rooster w/ Welsummer and EE

[Millsa]

Very interesting! I'm at Day 8 of my first ever hatching. Using NR360 - but hygrometer shows it's temperature fluctuates a good bit. It seems to be doing better since it's been warmer in the house the last couple of days, but we like the house at 66 nights.

Let me know when you get to day 11 if you notice them rolling around a bit on their own.

 

[Millsa]

It’s day 15 here. just took the rollers out and put them all in pointy side down.. its hard to tell if there is development - i dont see new movement for a couple days now … because of my egg shell color its hard to tell if theres a bird filling the egg or a bloodline or what? so - im just going to keep on keepin on. humidity and temperature have been more consistent the last 10 days or so now that i really understand how my little hotbox works better. next week - when we get to day 21 im going to start putting NEW eggs aside to do another incubation. If my eggs hatch - GREAT i can give the next incubated chicks to my friend whos flock is down on ONE chicken. of course if this batch fails.. im going to want to start a new batch. i need more hens! my three to one ratio hen/rooster is not sustainable. my roo is also getting to be a real jerk, i think if he had more hens at the height of his maturity he might just be TIRED OUT and not notice if im coming or going. HAHAH.

 

[Millsa]

Day 16. Power outage, major winter storm. Switched the incubator over to our generator… but not sure thats going to last through the night. I may just move them near the fireplace… and monitor Heat and humidity really closely. Not sure what to do otheir wise.. i mean if they are still alive and we dont know why they wouldnt be alive, if they are still alive obviously we want to keep them alive so i might just have to sit up all night. It’s what a mother hen would do.
If my partner didnt think i was crazy before, its about to get REAL

 

[Bound to Sea]

Day 16. Power outage, major winter storm. Switched the incubator over to our generator… but not sure thats going to last through the night. I may just move them near the fireplace… and monitor Heat and humidity really closely. Not sure what to do otheir wise.. i mean if they are still alive and we dont know why they wouldnt be alive, if they are still alive obviously we want to keep them alive so i might just have to sit up all night. It’s what a mother hen would do.
If my partner didnt think i was crazy before, its about to get REAL

Hope for the best.

 

[Millsa]

Hope for the best.

My partner just confirmed we have enough propane to keep the generator running for a couple days.. god willing!

 

[Bound to Sea]

 

[Millsa]

Day 17, one more to go before lockdown. I candled them last night and the air sacs seem to be larger than they were at day 14.. since you cant see anything else due to shell color, im guessing this is a good sign at least SOME of the eggs are doing something.. and we may have a hatch. Looking forward to lockdown as i think i can more easily maintain a slightly lower temperature and higher humidity no problem with the reservours. Still on the generator here but Hubs is working out battery back ups for the egg-babies.

 

[Millsa]

Incubator: i also want to say that my no name incubator, which was a cheap one from amazon That cost $60.00 has humidity alarms and a low/high temperature alarm. It has an automatic egg turner too and turns eggs every 90minutes tho i stopped turning them on day 15.. i also have a secondary thermometer and humidity montior in there and it seems pretty accurate actually. I have been so grateful for these alarms - last night at 1am - we got a low temp alarm, so i started the fire and wrapped the unit in dishcloths which got the temp back up to 38c. being that we are on the generator power, i do notice its harder for the incubator to keep its temperature but the tea towels work well! SO FAR SO GOOD.

 

[Tennessee Tranquility]

It’s day 15 here. just took the rollers out and put them all in pointy side down.. its hard to tell if there is development - i dont see new movement for a couple days now … because of my egg shell color its hard to tell if theres a bird filling the egg or a bloodline or what? so - im just going to keep on keepin on. humidity and temperature have been more consistent the last 10 days or so now that i really understand how my little hotbox works better. next week - when we get to day 21 im going to start putting NEW eggs aside to do another incubation. If my eggs hatch - GREAT i can give the next incubated chicks to my friend whos flock is down on ONE chicken. of course if this batch fails.. im going to want to start a new batch. i need more hens! my three to one ratio hen/rooster is not sustainable. my roo is also getting to be a real jerk, i think if he had more hens at the height of his maturity he might just be TIRED OUT and not notice if im coming or going. HAHAH.

This is so much fun! I'm 8 days from hatching. One of the 13 (my lucky number) looks iffy after candling last night, but 12 look good. I'm liking this NR360 and the GoVee bluetooth hygrometer. Will start next hatch when this one is done. I have the dehumidifier in "cellar" on a timer and it stays real close to 70% at 60-65F in there. Hope I'm doing it right...?? How exciting - love your updates Millsa.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I don't know how long your power out was, if it was 12hrs, there may be a delay in hatching.