first time wanting to incubate some eggs?

[tonyfunhouse]

What steps should i take to put the eggs in the incubater? Should i start collecting them? Where do i store them until i get enuff? And so on. thanks Tony

 

[Becci]

The hatch rates supposedly begin to rapidly decrease after 7 days of storage, however I almost always store mine 14 days and have very good hatch results. Storing in 55-60 F and 70% humidity is ideal. Turn once a day, or whenever you think about it. If you store in a carton (or even the egg turner) It's extremely important to store the eggs with the pointy end facing downwards.

Reason being, is because the air sac is located at the fat end of the egg. If the pointy end is facing upwards, the air sac may try to migrate to the pointy end. If it succeeds, your chick will not be able to hatch. If your eggs are more oval shaped and you cannot determine which end is which, candle. The air sac will be visible.

 

[tonyfunhouse]

ok awseome i will try thanks for the info i will start collecting eggs now.

 

[Becci]

Good luck!

 

[gabrielle1976]

You can collect eggs for 7-10 days. I would say unless your only getting 2 or 3 eggs a day I would gather for 6 days and whatever you get on the 7th day befor you set. Sure you can hatch eggs that have been stored for 10 days or 14 days or even longer but the viablity goes down as the days go on so for the best chance I wouldnt collect for more then 7 days. You want to store them fat end up in egg cartons if you can at less then 65 deggres and more then 45 degrees with 50-55 being the best . Set them in the early afternoon if you want to be awake when they hatch lol I have found at least for me if I set them in the night time or early morning they do alot of hatching over night.

 

[tonyfunhouse]

Thank you guys very much im getting pretty excited and the kids are pumped

 

[Sally Sunshine]

AWESOME!!! Remember to store them pointed end DOWN like everyone said and TURN 3 times a day by adding a book under one end of the carton and then just moving it to the other end!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 all my links notes pics and vids are in that link, your welcome to have a look and Looooooonnnnnnggggg read!! LOL

What kind of incubator do you have?

 

[tonyfunhouse]

we do not have an incubater yet but we will try to get one this weekend. do u recamend any of the icubators?

 

[Sally Sunshine]

we do not have an incubater yet but we will try to get one this weekend. do u recamend any of the icubators?

I am trying to clean up my incubating article and I just added a section to it! https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 I only got to humidity but this part is a paste from the article!!!

Choosing an incubator
Many different styles of incubators are available, most common are Styrofoam types found at most feed stores. These incubators hold more eggs and are usually less expensive, but they require more involvement in the hatching process. Egg turners are usually optional that can be added for convenience. There are also some great “hands free” incubators, commercial incubators as well as Simple Inexpensive Homemade Incubators. My husband and daughter made a “Coolerbator” it works 100% better than our store bought incubator because it has less than .5 degree variance and we have very successful hatches in it! The Coolerbator link and how to make it… https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubator-incubator​

Links to help you decide on an incubator…….
http://www.backyardchickenkeeping.com/chicks/chicken-incubators/
http://incubatorwarehouse.com/egg-incubator-buyers-guide
http://poultrykeeper.com/incubating-and-hatching-eggs/choosing-the-right-incubator-for-your-hatching-eggs
http://www.love4myplanet.com/incubators-for-chickens.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-chicken-egg-incubator-designs-pictures

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[tonyfunhouse]

ok we will look at some of them and i hope we find an incabaters thanks Tony