Hi Guys,
I thought I would journal my last days/week of incubation. Today is day 18 of incubating Australorps and I am a first time incubator. Of the 12 eggs I bought from a breeder 5 were infertile and 1 had a blood ring, I am left with 6 I believe healthy and growing looking embryo's. I have attached images of my incubator that I am using, nothing special but so far so good. There are quirks with this machine eg. humidity fluctuations, and perhaps cold spots in certain areas, which is why I wrapped the majority of the machine in towels to give a more consistent temperature. I have tried my best to verify temperature with a separate glass thermometer and humidity has been aimed towards 50% with fluctuations along the way, but never for too long. I have candled along the way and all embryos show signs of growth and filling the egg shell with nice air sacs (I will photograph before lockdown). The 6 eggs are currently sitting in the front 2 rows and in the middle as this is where I believe the most consistent temperature is.
My idea for lockdown is along these lines, obviously take the yellow tray out and line the sides with 2 water bottles so the potential chicks don't fall down the sides as there is a gap. Place non slip mats down and fill up all water channels. Place the 6 eggs down on the mat and sticky tape the lid shut. Unfortunately there is an alarm associated with humidity which I lowered during the incubation process from 45% to 35% as this would go off during the middle of the night and wake me. The main issue I see is with the higher end of humidity the alarm goes off at 69% and then continually beeps. My aim is to make sure there is condensation on the lid and believe this can be achieved at 65-70% humidity. I live in Melbourne, Australia were it is Spring so there is not too much outside humidity factors to deal with.
Any tips, suggestions at this stage would be invaluable, although I am trying to keep out of the way at stick to the KISS principle.
I thought I would journal my last days/week of incubation. Today is day 18 of incubating Australorps and I am a first time incubator. Of the 12 eggs I bought from a breeder 5 were infertile and 1 had a blood ring, I am left with 6 I believe healthy and growing looking embryo's. I have attached images of my incubator that I am using, nothing special but so far so good. There are quirks with this machine eg. humidity fluctuations, and perhaps cold spots in certain areas, which is why I wrapped the majority of the machine in towels to give a more consistent temperature. I have tried my best to verify temperature with a separate glass thermometer and humidity has been aimed towards 50% with fluctuations along the way, but never for too long. I have candled along the way and all embryos show signs of growth and filling the egg shell with nice air sacs (I will photograph before lockdown). The 6 eggs are currently sitting in the front 2 rows and in the middle as this is where I believe the most consistent temperature is.
My idea for lockdown is along these lines, obviously take the yellow tray out and line the sides with 2 water bottles so the potential chicks don't fall down the sides as there is a gap. Place non slip mats down and fill up all water channels. Place the 6 eggs down on the mat and sticky tape the lid shut. Unfortunately there is an alarm associated with humidity which I lowered during the incubation process from 45% to 35% as this would go off during the middle of the night and wake me. The main issue I see is with the higher end of humidity the alarm goes off at 69% and then continually beeps. My aim is to make sure there is condensation on the lid and believe this can be achieved at 65-70% humidity. I live in Melbourne, Australia were it is Spring so there is not too much outside humidity factors to deal with.
Any tips, suggestions at this stage would be invaluable, although I am trying to keep out of the way at stick to the KISS principle.
