Hatching eggs

[bensteph821]

Hello, just a reply to the lockdown thing..we have a large cabinet incubator/hatcher 3000 egg...does that stand true for that as well??? Do not open at all during the hatching phase?

 

[koda55533]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=14596-incubation-cheat-sheet&PHPSESSID=6a9ef75252d048761e502795e39964f4&PHPSESSID=24edf233c822d53adf9ec69d785d8fb7&PHPSESSID=282a1e8597ec6d1a28a87c9172dc2263&PHPSESSID=4192d74cadbe3dfe3107953d2a70f1c4

heres the link to that cheat sheet for styro incubators!!!

 

[Rebjilek]

Thank you. Also, how long should I let the eggs go before I give up? It's day twenty two but I've been keeping the temperature at between 99 and 100 and I have them in a still air incubator. I read somewhere it can take eggs longer to hatch at lower temperatures. Is there a way to see if the chicks are still alive?

I was also wondering how long I can store my chickens' eggs that I want to try hatching?

 

[Rebjilek]

Can you actually hear the chicks before they hatch?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
Yep, generally it does. There are climates that lockdown is not needed an there is humidity setups that work without locking down but those are the exception rather than the rule.

 

[hlf1996]

Temperature or humidity. I just got finished with my first hatch and they didnt start pipping until day 24 and finished today.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
Two or 3 days late would be expected. give them a while longer.


For best hatch try to stay under 7 days storage. But you can keep them till day 14 an do ok. There are ways to extend past that but its better to try to collect for 7 days.

Yes sometime they make noise before hatching but not always.

 

[andalusn]

My first incubator was a styro one, non name brand and I found this sheet in the Learning Center to be very helpful. There are other docs as well but I took this one to heart and have had good success with the incubator. I still use it even though I now have a non styro type. Both work great.

Dry incubation

I usually get a chick or two on evening of day 20 and then they get to rockin and a rolling on day 21 / 22. My last hatch drove me crazy as I had one chick 5 days early and from there it seemed like 1 or 2 a day into lock down and then on day 21 my main group started. The early peeps were from eggs that a broody had started and I got them at day 3 of her set. Started with the bantams, followed by LF EE and then my fresh ready to set LF eggs. In a good hatch, I find it very hard to read the humidity in the Brinsea Octogon 20. Still looking for a good hygrometer I can see well in that style of incubator.