Good mornin gang,
3 years into raising hatchery stock chickens, we decided to acquire an incubator and breeder quality eggs to hatch out. Our focus was more on breeding than hobby. We acquired a relatively good incubator with all the desired features necessary to get started without too much major expense. Customer feedback was pretty good on this unit and the store we bought it from also backed it. I also did much reading on incubation do's and don'ts and ifs ands or buts. Much more information than was provided in the instructions that came with the unit.
The first and utmost concern with incubators was the concerning issues with temp and humidity gauges possibly being inaccurate. It was suggested to purchase an alternative set of gauges to check out the ones on the unit you purchased and make necessary adjustments if needed. Pretty vague topic with not much help on an alternative product deemed to be one of the most important first steps before getting started. I called several hardwares and agriculturally related suppliers seeking a dual purpose and highly accurate temp and humidity gauge.Finally I acquired a digital unit accurate within a tenth of a degree. It was really a wall mount unit not designed for an incubator but based on its size, I could definitely makeshift a spot in the incubator for it. Cost was around $21.00 but on sale for 50% off was a real bargain!
Our first batch of eggs got fried as the factory settings on the unit we purchased were off on the temp by 13 degrees and the humidity was off by about the same. So we may have drowned the embryos as well.
Our second misfortune was candling eggs. The main purpose is to distinguish a fertile or non fertile egg, life, death, blood ring, air sack, rotten smelly eggs and a whole bunch of other tell tale signs to aid you in the incubation process. This can be a true art and an amateur like myself or first timer who isnt familiar or hasnt really investigated this process can be lost in this effort. Another vague subject matter requiring critical attention to before getting started! Dark brown shelled eggs ( much like what we purchased) are very difficult to have any real success when candling.The light just doesn't penetrate the shell very well if at all.Sometimes its best not to candle period and let mother nature take its course observing other things within the unit.
Humidity was our last concern. 3 water pockets were available to fill for water. So we filled them as we thought they should be for the initial start up. Wrong! You must first run your incubator for several hours and read your gauges once everything has been adjusted to and reached the correct settings. Then add a tablespoon or so of water and wait again for several more hours. Careful not to overdue it as humidity can be just as important as temp. It is best to start your unit dry before adding any water in my opinion.
I have our second batch of eggs in and have my fingers crossed on its sucesses. It is and has been very frustrating to say the least to learn the ins and outs on the incubation process. I hope this little bit of information is correct and will help some of you before you get started.
3 years into raising hatchery stock chickens, we decided to acquire an incubator and breeder quality eggs to hatch out. Our focus was more on breeding than hobby. We acquired a relatively good incubator with all the desired features necessary to get started without too much major expense. Customer feedback was pretty good on this unit and the store we bought it from also backed it. I also did much reading on incubation do's and don'ts and ifs ands or buts. Much more information than was provided in the instructions that came with the unit.
The first and utmost concern with incubators was the concerning issues with temp and humidity gauges possibly being inaccurate. It was suggested to purchase an alternative set of gauges to check out the ones on the unit you purchased and make necessary adjustments if needed. Pretty vague topic with not much help on an alternative product deemed to be one of the most important first steps before getting started. I called several hardwares and agriculturally related suppliers seeking a dual purpose and highly accurate temp and humidity gauge.Finally I acquired a digital unit accurate within a tenth of a degree. It was really a wall mount unit not designed for an incubator but based on its size, I could definitely makeshift a spot in the incubator for it. Cost was around $21.00 but on sale for 50% off was a real bargain!
Our first batch of eggs got fried as the factory settings on the unit we purchased were off on the temp by 13 degrees and the humidity was off by about the same. So we may have drowned the embryos as well.
Our second misfortune was candling eggs. The main purpose is to distinguish a fertile or non fertile egg, life, death, blood ring, air sack, rotten smelly eggs and a whole bunch of other tell tale signs to aid you in the incubation process. This can be a true art and an amateur like myself or first timer who isnt familiar or hasnt really investigated this process can be lost in this effort. Another vague subject matter requiring critical attention to before getting started! Dark brown shelled eggs ( much like what we purchased) are very difficult to have any real success when candling.The light just doesn't penetrate the shell very well if at all.Sometimes its best not to candle period and let mother nature take its course observing other things within the unit.
Humidity was our last concern. 3 water pockets were available to fill for water. So we filled them as we thought they should be for the initial start up. Wrong! You must first run your incubator for several hours and read your gauges once everything has been adjusted to and reached the correct settings. Then add a tablespoon or so of water and wait again for several more hours. Careful not to overdue it as humidity can be just as important as temp. It is best to start your unit dry before adding any water in my opinion.
I have our second batch of eggs in and have my fingers crossed on its sucesses. It is and has been very frustrating to say the least to learn the ins and outs on the incubation process. I hope this little bit of information is correct and will help some of you before you get started.
