Grrrrr! What do I wrong?

[Half-a-dozen]

sorry to hear about your hatch. Better luch to you for next time. I'm trying to absorb as much as I can myself for our own "soon" attempts and probably many heart aches in hatching.
Best of luck :aww

 

[playswithfowl]

The box said that model is a 1602N. I took them out of the incubator at day 18. I picked these eggs up at a breeder I know. Thanks for the help.
AJ

 

[MissPrissy]

First, before you try to incubate another egg - go to the library and get a book on hatching eggs. Read. Read. Read. You need to understand the process and how the embryos develop so you can get a handle on your current hatching problems and how to troubleshoot and over come them.

Buy a good thermometer. The cheap $5 are generally off by a degree or two. If you have a trustworthy therm then put new batteries in it.

Make sure the incubator is in a room with stable temps, no drafts and not much human foot traffic.

Get a surge protector and plug it in and use it. Don't plug any thing else in but your incubator or a turner.

Next try to regulate the temp at 101 - 102 while empty and let it run idle for a few days. If your temps functuate you should consider replacing the wafer thermostat. They cost $6 or so.

Put the thermometer in the bator and use something to raise the thermometer to the height that the tops of the eggs would normally be at.

Let the bator run for a few hours before you try to dial in on a hair fine temp reading. Move the adjustor only a hair at a time and leave it for a few more hours then come back and recheck the temps. If it needs adjusting do so but only the tiniest of movement. Do not move the adjustor more than the width of a hair at a time. Do not go over 102. It is better to be a little cool and closer to 101 than to be high and kill the embryos.

Once the temp is set and it is running consistantly in temps LEAVE IT ALONE. Do not unplug it. Do not adjust it for any reason. Hands off.

Use warm water and fill the center tray in the bottom of the bator. If you don't have one you can get one for a few dollars. They really make clean up easy.

Wait about an hour and take a humidity reading. If it is higher than 45% take out some of the water. Doing this you will have a general idea of how much water is needed to maintain your humidity and you can go a few days before adding more.

Once your temps are reading 101 - 102 and your humidity is between 30% and 50% you can put eggs in it.

Do not adjust anything when you put the eggs in. The temperature will fall and it will take several hours for the temperature to come back up. The eggs have to warm and then level off. The temps should become stable and go back to between 101 and 102. If you do not fill the bator with eggs you may have to put a couple of small sealed jars of water in there to act as a heat sink and keep the air temps from changing fast.

Feel free to ask as many question as you need gto. We will be glad to help you with your problems.

I must stress again that you really would be better at hatching if you will get you a good book and read it and then read it again while you are working out the temps in your bator.

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Why did you take them out at day 18?

If you are using a turner take them out of the turner on Day 18 but put them right back into that incubator. Raise the humidity to 70% and wait. They may not even pip until day 21. With low temps some can go as long as day 25.

 

[playswithfowl]

Sorry, I meant to say that I took it out of the turner at day 18. My bad

I didn't check the eggs until the end of day 22. After making sure that there were no peeps, or pips coming from any of the eggs.
AJ

 

[Leslie In North Pole]

Hello, AJ,

I have the same bator. I installed a fan in mine and bought a second without a fan. The fan really does help stabilize the temp and so does changing out the wafer if an issue does develop.

It sounds like you are getting your eggs local from someone you trust, so I would mark it up to irregularities in temp inside your bator. Both of my 1602's hold their temp pretty steady but I can definitely vouch that the still air has hot and cold pockets.

Many very experienced people who use still air recommend actually rotating the position of your eggs on a daily basis so that no eggs sits in a hot or cold air for an extended period of time. I would also note where the eggs that you had hatch in your bator incubated... I will bet there is a pattern.

When it comes to incubating, I am more comfortable using my forced air and saving the still air for hatching. I have successfully hatched quail eggs from start to finish in my still air but I always tried to roll the eggs into a different spot every day, like moving the eggs in the center to the outside and visa versa. It kept the eggs all hatching within a couple of hours of each other.

Definitely read up, there are also some awesome sources here on the web that can help you get a handle on your hatching problem.

As Ms. P has mentioned. definitely calibrate your bator for a couple of days. Go as far as to get a couple of different thermometers and change their placement around, checking to see if they are reading the same variations in the same spots. Also make sure your bator is in a draft free spot, on a flat, smooth surface. Some people will mistakenly place them on a towel or blanket, not realizing that they can be blocking the ventilation holes along the bottom. If that happens, the convection like air movement that should be happening, won't. This will magnify the temp differences.

Last year, I made similiar recommendations to some of the local classes that I donated eggs to and gave them digital thermometers and water weasels. They ended up having hatches as high as 95% and they were using still air incubators. PM me and I can forward you some of the classroom resource sites I found that can greatly help you.