First time Incubator...

[Yorkshire Coop]

Do you guys know what a polish x Cochin chick will look like? Im incubating this last egg laid by my blue Cochin this morning before she got killed by a dog.

RIP. The babies name will be named blue in memory of her.

Sory to hear you lost your hen to a dog losing flock members is very hard and I know just how you feel. I've not had a mix of these but you could expect a top knot on the chick. Also I believe but don't take this as gospel the chick may be blue. I'm not good at genetics etc but I've been incubating my eggs from my polish gold lace girls and polish blue splash roo. Every egg has produced a blue chick some with a slight white crest. I'm not sure how it would work for you with having a WCB roo. He is very pretty by the way!! I'm not sure if the black would over power the blue gene. Good luck with your egg I hope you have lovely baby from it

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I'm on day 22 of my first hatch. I only have 4 chicken eggs in the incubator. Humidity is at 63%. I haven't heard any peeps. None have rolled. I candled this afternoon and saw some movement in 3. I'm not totally sure about the 4th. But it doesn't look as if any have gotten into the air sack yet. I'm so worried and anxious.

Hi Glad you could join the flock!
Try not to worry I know this is easier said than done but 21 days is just a guide not set in stone. When did you start counting your days days? The day you set or after a full 24 hours of incubation?

 

[Sidhe13]

Hi @Yorkshire coop
I live in the desert. The last 4 days have been 35-40 deg Celsius of dry searing heat... would a wee fan on low pointed at the incubator help? Or just wait until we are further along and see hownit looks?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks guys! The eggs arrived early and they are only staggered by one day, but I will keep that in mind for future...


New question: the humidity in the incubator is 55-60% and I am really struggling to get it down to the recommended 50-55%. How serious an issue is this? There is no water in the channels, and I even got in there with paper towels last night to try and find any excess moisture that I might have missed! The vents are all open. I know it is only Day 1.5 and some say that there is no real set humidity and that it all depends on how the air cell is looking...but I really would rather have it too low now, and raise it later if needed, because I can't seem to get it any lower! The only thing I haven't tried is having a wee fan blowing on the incubator to try and circulate some more air in the vents.

The temp is holding beautifully between 37.5 and 37.9.

Also, on 2 of the eggs when I candled them before setting them I couldn't see an air cell. I am not sure if this is a clue for later culls. Some of the eggs were really porous too. Again, I don't know enough to feel comfortable culling successfully so I figured I would wait until day 10-14 when I may be able to get a better idea of the development inside.
None of the eggs are shipped. 15 are mine, 7 are from a friend down the road.

Has your hygrometer ever been calibrated? Being in Australia I would think your relative humidity would be dryer, not more humid,no? Your hygrometer could be off. If you have no water in the bator, I would wait it out a week and keep an eye on the egg's air cells. I wouldn't worry too much unless the air cells are not growing (or growing too large too soon,) and then at a week you should have a better idea of whether you need to adjust it or not and it will still give you time to adjust before lockdown.

As for putting a fan directed at the bator, you will probably find that if you blow a fan on your bator you are going to have issues with the temp falling due to the air blowing on it. I would just leave it for a week and check progress then determine how to adjust if you need to.

Good luck!!

 

[Sidhe13]

The humidity fairies must have heard all my pray/cursing/muttering...dry dry dry, yet a incubator with a humidity that is too high!
3am I woke up wondering what that beeping noise was and why it wouldn't stop...the alarm! I raced out to the incubator imagining all kinds of dire issues to find a humidity of 46%! Hallelujah! I left it and reset the alarm to 30...i will see how it looks at noon before I go adding water...a few hours of dry won't hurt after 2 says of too humid...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

The humidity fairies must have heard all my pray/cursing/muttering...dry dry dry, yet a incubator with a humidity that is too high!
3am I woke up wondering what that beeping noise was and why it wouldn't stop...the alarm! I raced out to the incubator imagining all kinds of dire issues to find a humidity of 46%! Hallelujah! I left it and reset the alarm to 30...i will see how it looks at noon before I go adding water...a few hours of dry won't hurt after 2 says of too humid...

I do dry incubation for the first 17 days (as long as my bator stays above 25%, so far my hygrometer reads an average of 40% dry) and I prefer the dry incubation. I just keep a close eye on the air cells to make sure the growth rate is right. Then at day 18 when I go into lockdown I jump it to about 75%.

 

[Sidhe13]

I know it is only Day 4...but I was curious and impatient so I candled a couple eggs! I SEE BABIES! Well...ok...I see the octopus shapes of a baby and blood vessels...BUT STILL!
I didn't look at all of them, just a few.
Tried to get some photos but my phone camera is soooo not up to the task and my make-shift candler doesn't help. It just looks like a darkish smudge in the photos...
I can't wait until Day 7....and 10...AND 21!!
The humidity is somewhere in the 30s mostly...it dropped waay down to 23 this morning so I misted some water on the side with no eggs and that popped it back up

 

[lazy gardener]

At this point, I wouldn't worry too much about keeping that humidity on an even keel. It's the AVERAGE that is important IMO. I find a sponge in a cup, with a length of aquarium tubing to add water is great. The sponge wicks the water up from the cup, and has massive surface area for dispensing the humidity. I use a 1.5" x 4" piece of sponge, and add more when I get to lock down. Some wise soul used a sanitary pad stuck to the wall of the bator to keep it hydrated. What ever you do, never leave a water source, even a sponge in a location where a hatching chick can have contact with it.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I know it is only Day 4...but I was curious and impatient so I candled a couple eggs! I SEE BABIES! Well...ok...I see the octopus shapes of a baby and blood vessels...BUT STILL!
I didn't look at all of them, just a few.
Tried to get some photos but my phone camera is soooo not up to the task and my make-shift candler doesn't help. It just looks like a darkish smudge in the photos...
I can't wait until Day 7....and 10...AND 21!!
The humidity is somewhere in the 30s mostly...it dropped waay down to 23 this morning so I misted some water on the side with no eggs and that popped it back up

It's fantastic isn't it? Seeing a little life developing and tracking it all the way to hatching is a wonderful experience. It's really cool when they start moving around. I actually got a couple videos during my first hatch of one of them moving in there.

 

[Sidhe13]

New problem. My heat lamp bulb busted and i can't afford a new one before the chicks are due. All I have is a 7watt heat mat (sfa i know!!)....
Can they brood in the incubator for a few days or a week-ish?