Hatch Troubles...advice needed

[honeybird farms]

I'm hoping for words of wisdom. I bought a Farm Innovators, styrofoam, still air, incubator - I know...super cheap, bad reviews. But, I'm on a really tight budget and don't mind turning often. I put 15 mail ordered eggs in it and turned them like clockwork. I was pleasantly surprised that temps remained pretty consistent (2 thermometers, in addition to the useless one on the top of it) and I kept humidity at recommended levels. However, 0 hatch. I opened them and it looks like most stopped growing around day 7-8 (small, unformed chick) but some earlier and some later. This says to me that it wasn't one temperature anomaly but rather something ongoing?

Thinking maybe this was a function of shipping I tried again with 7 local, fertilized eggs. I moved the bator in case their was some unnoticed draft. I also added an extra digital thermometer to verify temps. And I tried the dry hatch method (add no water until lock down, humidity stayed around 30-35%). Still 0 hatch. It looks exactly the same as before - when candled early on there are veins and small embryo. At second candling shortly before lock down they haven't changed much. Most died around 7-10 days.

I can understand if the bator was malfunctioning and not holding temps or something. But I'm really perplexed and bummed. I've done tons of research before and after each round. I don't know what else to try. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong or offer tips for better success?

thank you,
Lisa

 

[polarbearpilot]

If you have a small fan that you can put inside the box, that would circulate the air and warm the eggs evenly. I used a small bathroom vent fan, made a hole in my homemade carton box incubator big enough to put the plug through and plug it in the electric outlet. I know some people use a fan from a computer. Still air is not good. Shipped eggs are not good.

Good luck this time!

 

[honeybird farms]

Thanks for the tip. The fan would have to be really small to fit in there, though. I'm assuming I wouldn't want it touching the eggs and the incubator doesn't have much extra space. Anybody have tips on a type of fan small enough to go in there?

I'm also still confused on the reasoning behind moving air - there's little wind under a chicken's bottom. Is it simply keeping the temps more even? (I do have two thermometers in different spots to check) Or is there more to it?

Thanks! My husband tells me that's what I get for buying a cheaper incubator, but I guess I really thought that the higher price was about convenience (not adjusting temps, turning, etc) - I didn't realize that I'd get a zero hatch rate even while the stats all look fine. Hmmm...

Anybody in Denver want to sell/rent/loan me their better bator?!

 

[polarbearpilot]

I hope you will find a good incubator.

Or if you don't mind making your own, it's actually pretty simple. It might be beginner's luck, but I got 17 chicks from 18 local eggs using my homemade bator. The material I used were a very thick cardboard box with lid, a small table lamp without shade and a 25w bulb, a small fan, a temp/humidity monitor, a piece of chicken wire, a small water container, and a wet towel. That was everything. You can go to youtube and do a search. You will find a lot of videos showing you how to do it. However, I really had to watch and kept the temp in check. I woke up twice a night to add water. A lot of work put in, but the result was great.
Good luck with your 3rd attempt. Hopefully it will be a charm.