First time incubator questions.

[DesertBrahma]

As always I have to look it up again. I found it on Amazon. It's the Magicfly Digital Fully Automated 12 egg incubator. It has a completely digital temp reading, hygrometer, egg turner, pretty much complete set up. I've been reading the reviews, and I can add my own back up temp and humidity gauge. It looks really cool and it's number 8 on the list of incubators. It costs around $90 compared to the Brinseas $300. I would love to get a Brinsea but I have to consider what I can afford compared to what I really want lol. The Brinsea was rate #1 or 2 on the list reviews. I've got my husband on board after I showed him the Brinsea price tag compared to the Magicfly. I'm becoming disenchanted with Styrofoam incubators. I finally have this one staying within a 3 temp range of 102 to 104. Usually it's at 103. My humidity is back down to 62 and going down. I'm only using damp sponges for humidity. I had to wring these 2 out and then pop them in the dryer for a little to dry them out more lol. I have 8 eggs so far from my Brahmas I want to try hatching out. If this doesn't work then my Bue Brahma Big Mama will have a job hatching me some, or my Dark Brahma Madea will lol. Or I'm just going to scream. I just don't know which of these 3 choices I like best right now lol

 

[duluthralphie]

As always I have to look it up again. I found it on Amazon. It's the Magicfly Digital Fully Automated 12 egg incubator. It has a completely digital temp reading, hygrometer, egg turner, pretty much complete set up. I've been reading the reviews, and I can add my own back up temp and humidity gauge. It looks really cool and it's number 8 on the list of incubators. It costs around $90 compared to the Brinseas $300. I would love to get a Brinsea but I have to consider what I can afford compared to what I really want lol. The Brinsea was rate #1 or 2 on the list reviews. I've got my husband on board after I showed him the Brinsea price tag compared to the Magicfly. I'm becoming disenchanted with Styrofoam incubators. I finally have this one staying within a 3 temp range of 102 to 104. Usually it's at 103. My humidity is back down to 62 and going down. I'm only using damp sponges for humidity. I had to wring these 2 out and then pop them in the dryer for a little to dry them out more lol. I have 8 eggs so far from my Brahmas I want to try hatching out. If this doesn't work then my Bue Brahma Big Mama will have a job hatching me some, or my Dark Brahma Madea will lol. Or I'm just going to scream. I just don't know which of these 3 choices I like best right now lol

102 to 104???


Nevermind your talking still air...Duh,,,

 

[DesertBrahma]

I think that's what went wrong on this last batch. The temp was too low. It kept swinging too much. Now with us not using our heater as much, and keeping the house at 78 during the day, and 70 at night it will help. I'm only putting 6 in in the center of the incubator with the sponges on either side of it. I'm doing manual turning with the eggs in a cut apart cardboard egg crate. With a piece of cardboard as a wedge to lift the ends. That way they tilt but not much. You know what? I'm going to go ahead and just get an egg turnerfor it. IIt's on sale at TSC lol. That way I don't have to keep opening the incubator, and I don't have the possibility of touching them except to candle them at 10 15 and 18

 

[chant]

I got the egg Turner too, can't even imagine having to do it by hand... don't trust myself to remember when to do it, if I did it, or not as it is.
I really envy those ppl who've been able to get any kind of success with these Styrofoam bators (who knows, maybe after I get the fan kit in, I'll have success too and can envy myself lol). Thanks for sharing the magicfly, maybe I will try that instead of brinsea. Their prices are really too ridiculous for me. I have some hens that will go broody but I don't want to wait, plus they start molting around the same time the chicks hatch. So, that's 2 more am months of no eggs.

 

[feedman77]

Sorry your eggs didn't make it.

Hope this batch is better.

The small temp fluctuations are not as critical as humidity. As like the stones your going to put in eggs also act like a heat sink.

There are several threads on here about dry incubation. After I went to that my hatch rates have seemed to go up substantially.

I have 14 turkey eggs in the incubator. Right now the humidity is 20-25 percent. As of my first candle all byt 3 are showing development.

If the eggs passed when you stated they may have pipped and not lost enough moisture and drowned in fluid in the air sac.


50 percent humidity may work for you bu that seemsto high for me during incubation.

I shoot for about 60 - 70 percent for hatching.

Good luck.

 

[DesertBrahma]

I live in the NM desert. It's really dry here. I was told to keep the humidity between 50 and 60% because it's so dry here. Yes mine is still air incubator. I'm going to try to keep it as close to 50% humidity as I can so they have a chance to dry out more this time. That's why I'm not putting in until I get the humidity down. I don't want them drying out too fast because that can kill them too. The membrane would become basically a plastic bag tied tight around the little thing. I just need to wait for my hubbyto get done iinstalling a ceiling fan in my youngest sons room before I can get the egg turner. Then I can get that put in and hopefully be set to put the eggs in. Again.

 

[DesertBrahma]

I got the egg Turner too, can't even imagine having to do it by hand... don't trust myself to remember when to do it, if I did it, or not as it is.
I really envy those ppl who've been able to get any kind of success with these Styrofoam bators (who knows, maybe after I get the fan kit in, I'll have success too and can envy myself lol). Thanks for sharing the magicfly, maybe I will try that instead of brinsea. Their prices are really too ridiculous for me. I have some hens that will go broody but I don't want to wait, plus they start molting around the same time the chicks hatch. So, that's 2 more am months of no eggs.

I take meds 3 times a day so I have my alarm set on my phone for it. I have the note on it say meds, turn eggs lol. I cheat on it kinda doing it that way lmbo.

 

[duluthralphie]

I have gotten better with the foam incubators. But there is so much that can go wrong. I do almost dry incubation in the foam ones if it gets to 12% I add a drop or two of water.. I am now officially done incubating in them. I use them for hatchers now. I have three, 2 farm innovators and one little giant. They all seem to work about the same.


This time of year I am getting around 40-50% hatch rates. BUT I live in Minnesota the weather is cold, my eggs get cold (read frozen) I try to collect them enough times a day so they do not freeze. but when it is 15 below they may die off in seconds.


Also the rooster are not as potent in this weather as they will be a few weeks. I have thermometer like crazy. My wife thinks I have too many. I have one "girlie thermometer" ( used to check ovation in women, certified to a +or - 0.2 degrees F.) I used that thermometer to "check" all my others. I use the ones with probes on wires and the read outs sit outside the incubator). I am finding they do not even stay the same. I have marked on each one the temp I need to go for to get 99.5. They vary too much, as battery charge changes and the phases of the moon change. They are just not reliable. I run three thermometer out of each incubator.

Last batch I had 24 eggs in the incubator. 12 were non-starters. 12 eggs went into the hatcher of the 12. Of the 12, 2 were early quitters and 2 died in last few days 2 were non-starters that I could not make out through the dark shells. I am not happy with 6 out of 24 eggs hatching. But it is not the incubators fault in this case.

I think we have a tendency to blame the incubators when it is not there fault. I have a sportsman 1202, old one but good one. It holds the temp and humidity rock tight!

I took my first eggs out yesterday from it..


31 eggs were set. 3 were toad eggs. ( a cross between CX broilers and Rainbows I have been working on. I get a very large thighed and legged chicken with huge breasts ) I have not had much luck on this generation I am thinking do to the size of the CX hens and the Toad rooster. That can not be blamed on the incubator.

That drops me to 29 eggs. I had 12 clears. This is my fault not the incubator. I have 7 CLB hens, I did not want to be at the mercy of 1 rooster living or dying, so I have 2., That means the roosters get knocked off before the job is done, clear eggs, not the incubators fault. Also some of my eggs have froze, they will not start. down to 17.

I had two quitters in that 17, down to 15. and 2 maybes which I classify as having the same chances as a snowball in a hot afterlife home for many.
So I am down to a dozen if I am lucky. of that dozen, 3-4 will not hatch, they never do. Some always die in the last couple days.

I guess I am just trying to say do not blame the incubators. There is a reason ground nesting birds have large clutches. Not many hatch. The last 2 years my turkey hen has had 15 eggs each year , and hatched 5 of them each year.


I am not saying do not try to do better. Just be realistic with the results you expect.

Me, I am going to order 3 more girlie thermometer today, it's Valentines day, How upset can she be if they were ordered on Valentines day!

 

[FridayYet]

I live in the NM desert. It's really dry here. I was told to keep the humidity between 50 and 60% because it's so dry here. Yes mine is still air incubator. I'm going to try to keep it as close to 50% humidity as I can so they have a chance to dry out more this time. That's why I'm not putting in until I get the humidity down. I don't want them drying out too fast because that can kill them too. The membrane would become basically a plastic bag tied tight around the little thing. I just need to wait for my hubbyto get done iinstalling a ceiling fan in my youngest sons room before I can get the egg turner. Then I can get that put in and hopefully be set to put the eggs in. Again.

I'm going to have to disagree with whoever told you to keep the humidity that high.

I just had a great hatch (10/13 with one more that might hatch) and had to keep decreasing my humidity by watching the air cells. First week I was at 40%, and my day 7 air cells looked too small. Decreased to 35% for the next week, and at day 14 the cells were better, but still smallish. So days 14-19 I ran at 30%. Locked down at day 19 to give those cells a chance to grow a bit more, then jumped to 70% for lockdown. Next batch I'll start at 35%

Of course, I am running a Brinsea 20 Advanced with the humidity pump, which is rock solid with temperature no matter what the room is like, and gets back to the correct humidity in about 30 seconds after opening. Due to the air being so dry here, I do keep some water in the channels though so the pump doesn't have to work so hard.

If you watch and mark your air cells, they will tell you what the humidity needs to be.

 

[chant]

I take meds 3 times a day so I have my alarm set on my phone for it. I have the note on it say meds, turn eggs lol. I cheat on it kinda doing it that way lmbo.

That's a good idea too! I'm about as good with figuring out this phone as I am with the incubator... lol it's times like these when I think we should of had kids.

Ralph, I'm on my phone (a hassel to go back in the thread) but suffice it to say I got a kick out of the way you wrote your post! 1st, I'm sorry your eggs didn't have great luck either - I agree about weather and user error, and thermometer issues. The latter being my biggest problem and irritation. The LGs digital reader, I would think, should be accurate and its not.
The way you wrote your post reminded me of a horse racing announcer LOL. Made me laugh, smile and giggle- and for that, I thank you! Will check back when I can get to a real computer.