First time incubator questions.

[chant]

Desert Brahma, we're using the same LG incubator. I'm wondering where inside the box you have the temp PD located? I am still, even with the fan, getting sparatic readings. I had 3 non-viable eggs on day 7 (Tuesday) - 2 were clear and 1 was a nonstarter. I also drew the circles around the air cells and they're all over the place too. I have some of my Bresse eggs in there and honestly if I could get those put in the right spot and get at least those to hatch I will be happy. I understand the frustration for sure. And after reading Ralph's posts about the brinsea, I'm going to get one of those if this hatch doesn't work.
Thanks sharing and especially for all the help and encouragement from everyone.

 

[DesertBrahma]

I have a large sensor beside the eggs i move around every couple days, and 2 smaller probes i have directly on top of the eggs. I keep 2 sponges that are slightly wrung out on both sides of the eggs for humidity, and just watch them. I try to keep all the eggs in the middle of the incubator so i can move them around in the turner a bit. Of the 12 i started this batch with 7 were no goes. I candled on day 7 then again on day 10. I'll candle again on days 15 and 18 before I take them out of the egg turner and do lock down. I'm really hoping this batch hatches. I only have 5 left in there but I'm starting to hope again.

 

[duluthralphie]

Desert Brahma, we're using the same LG incubator. I'm wondering where inside the box you have the temp PD located? I am still, even with the fan, getting sparatic readings. I had 3 non-viable eggs on day 7 (Tuesday) - 2 were clear and 1 was a nonstarter. I also drew the circles around the air cells and they're all over the place too. I have some of my Bresse eggs in there and honestly if I could get those put in the right spot and get at least those to hatch I will be happy. I understand the frustration for sure. And after reading Ralph's posts about the brinsea, I'm going to get one of those if this hatch doesn't work.
Thanks sharing and especially for all the help and encouragement from everyone.

I don't have a Brinsea. I have a LG, 2 farm innovators and a 1202 CGF. Yea, I know, I am trying to find a 12 step program for incubation addiction, but have not found one yet....


I have fans and auto-turners for all mine. And I use A Glass Basal thermometer in each one along with 2-3 electric ones with probes. I would like to get more thermometers but my wife has banned me from buying any more.


I never move the eggs around, except when in the 1202 and that is just for ease of adding and removing new ones.

 

[DesertBrahma]

Well we're still truckin along waiting to see if we got it right this time. While we're waiting we're trying to do projects to keep our minds off the incubator and from going crazy with the waiting lol. So far I've staid between 101, and 103 in temp, my humidity dropped over night so had to re wet the sponges. My boys want to go see the eggs every day to see if they've hatched. I keep telling them we have a week and a half before they will lol.

 

[chant]

lol @ Ralph. I don't want to have this turn into an addiction, it's not looking promising at this point having to have to keep buying more paraphilia for this LG (egg Turner, fan, river rock for the water channels), and who knows what is next.
I was talking to someone who mentioned that I should let look into the RCOM20 - which is about the same price as the brinsea. I keep checking for deals on eBay, Craigslist, and Amazon for a used one. Just planning ahead, just in case.

Brahma, we live in FL so I am having to run the incubator dry until the last few days, but with the weather going from the 20's to the high 70's the biggest problem. I have about 18 eggs left in there now. I too moved them around like someone else had suggested. Last night I did a brief candling while moving the eggs and temp pad, and 1 egg I picked up was really heavy compared to the others. I hope that didn't get to jot or something making it grow faster or something. Crossing my fingers for both of us!

 

[DesertBrahma]

We have 1 week left for incubation. I also did a quick candling while moving the eggs this morning and saw all 5 moving around a bit. I also saw the air cell was a bit bigger than when I marked them on day 10. My temps are staying steady, and the humidity is about where it should be. Our temps have been going a bit bonkers here too. We're in the 70s for a few days then down in the 50s. Nights are going between the 30s and upper 40s. The boys are starting to get excited again too. My 4 yr old wanted me to put more eggs in the incubator but I had to explain why we couldn't do that. I think the end of March, beginning of April I'm going to let Big Mama brood a batch. I think the boys will love seeing her raise some. I'm hoping she'll adopt these I hatch and I won't have to keep them in the house for 2 months. Yes if these hatch the boys will get to decide if they want a Turken, or a Brahma chick. I know my oldest is leaning towards a Turken, but I'm not sure what my 2 yr old will want. In a week I can decide if I'm going to hatch Turken eggs or not. Heck might slip a few in the coop and see what happens lol.

 

[chant]

There is a couple here that has turkens. They're just too hideous for me to take a shine to lol; like the hairless rats my sister in law had who swore they were adorable. They said they're supposed to taste really good for a meat bird though.
This batch should hatch out on the 8th. I am thinking about just candling on Saturday before lock down instead of doing it tomorrow and Saturday in hopes of not messing around too much with the temp. since it's been so temperamental.

If you were to put eggs out in the nesting box would your Brahma go broody? (Cochin's are supposed to be like that). If she will, then you could set eggs under her for a few days and then go out at night, take the eggs out, and put the chicks under her. She should raise them then.. although I've done it during the day and the momma was fine with it and raised them anyway. Then your boys wouldn't have to wait either.

We've got red Rangers outgrowing their brooders already too! Hubby has already had to make another brooder on the fly, buy more lights and feeders. They're only 3 weeks old and aren't going to wait until they're 8 weeks to go outside. Generally we've raised the Cornish x for meat, but everything about them disgusts me so we thought we'd try these. Same brooder and same number of birds, but the differences are stunning! At least the brooder will be empty by the time this hatch is ready to go into it.

 

[DesertBrahma]

Big Mama is a broody, and Madea has already tried to sit some. I'm on day16 right now. I candled them today instead of yesterday so I could mark air cells, and saw movement on all 5 of them. Should I raise the humidity in the last few days, or should I keep it the same? It's been staying around 29 to 32 %. My temp is still holding well. With this LG still air incubator I had to keep adjusting it whe I had it in the kitchen but in the bathroom I just had to adjust it a couple times. Now is when I'm going to start getting nervous lol. I'm going to set up the brooder on Friday when I go into lock down. Probably just use a big tub in the laundry room so I can move it around some and let the boys see the babies. So between Sunday and Tuesday I'll hopefully have 5 babies in the incubator. I know if I let him my dog would raise them lol. He loves all kinds of babies, but doesn't understand he's too big at times lol. My cats would probably just want to play with them lol.
To me Turkens just look really cool. Hairless rats are nasty looking. If I ever have a pet rat again it will be a regular pet rat lol. Right now between husband, kids, cats, dog, and chickens I have my hands full lol. If the talk about egg shape is true I should get 3 boys and 2 girls out of this hatch.

 

[duluthralphie]

I hate to hijack the thread, (well, not really for this)..

These are my chicks that hatched last night. I still have 20 eggs in the hatcher. I do not subscribe to the "lockdown" you read about on here. Hens do not sit on the nest for three days straight. I had 27 eggs in the hatcher, if I do not remove them to another incubator they get over crowded in the little incubator.


I try to keep the humidity in my hatcher at around 40%. Do not worry if it goes higher. When the eggs start Pipping, the humidity will rise. I try to not let it fall below 30-35 in last three days. I use sponges on the bottom of the incubator and add water either through the air holes in the incubator cover or when I open it I put it on the sponges. I use a turkey injector syringe about half full when I add water so I do not get too much. I take the needle off and attached a plastic hose so I can add water right to the sponge without getting the eggs wet.






Now here are the pictures:

First 2 are my Speckled Sussex.. Third one is my White sport, a double recessive white gene Cream Legbar. I think he is a rooster!

 

[FridayYet]

Big Mama is a broody, and Madea has already tried to sit some. I'm on day16 right now. I candled them today instead of yesterday so I could mark air cells, and saw movement on all 5 of them. Should I raise the humidity in the last few days, or should I keep it the same? It's been staying around 29 to 32 %. My temp is still holding well. With this LG still air incubator I had to keep adjusting it whe I had it in the kitchen but in the bathroom I just had to adjust it a couple times. Now is when I'm going to start getting nervous lol. I'm going to set up the brooder on Friday when I go into lock down. Probably just use a big tub in the laundry room so I can move it around some and let the boys see the babies. So between Sunday and Tuesday I'll hopefully have 5 babies in the incubator. I know if I let him my dog would raise them lol. He loves all kinds of babies, but doesn't understand he's too big at times lol. My cats would probably just want to play with them lol.
To me Turkens just look really cool. Hairless rats are nasty looking. If I ever have a pet rat again it will be a regular pet rat lol. Right now between husband, kids, cats, dog, and chickens I have my hands full lol. If the talk about egg shape is true I should get 3 boys and 2 girls out of this hatch.

When I think about where the humidity needs to be, I look at this diagram and see how close I am to the marks:

If the air cells are, on average, small, I would keep the humidity low. If they are getting too big, I would raise it up a bit. I usually go up to about 65-70% on lockdown, because I have been known to take out old eggshells to get them out of the way. Last batch I locked down on day 19, since I felt the air cells needed to grow a little more.

As you do more successful hatches, you'll find out what works for you and what doesn't.

Hoping for the best on those 5!