Help!?!?! NEW!!

[kizza07]

Hi there!
I am new here and also new to chickens!
We bought a farm for our horses, but we rent the house out to some people who keep poultry.
We let them keep them, but they have said that I could take the eggs if i want. The chicken eggs are fertile.

Today they went on holidays for 1 week. And while they are gone we can have the eggs.
I collected nine yesterday, whilst feeding the horses.
I have decided that I might try to hatch a few, to give to a frend who is trying to collect chickens for her farm. She looks after them very well as i have already given her 2 silkie chicks from another friend, and she did all the right things by keeping them inside till they are older, giving them starter etc.

I decided to put 2 in the incubator and see how i go. (my parents don't want to get involved so i cant do much better)

Its a homemade incubator and im not sure if i am doing it right!
It is a large-ish, cozy cardboard box, lined all over with foil. With a 15cm x 15cm hole cut out of the top. A large lamp on the lid, which is shining inside and a foil dishy thing that i bought at a supermarket, i was told to do all this and the foil dish is a "reflector?".
I put a damp facewasher inside as well, to keep the humidity up. We are going to check the temp regularly (it is 37 degrees celsius shich is 98.6 degrees Farenheit atm), and turn them 4x daily (as it is the holidays, so i have time!)

I really need help!! I have NOOO idea!

Even though i got 1st for agriculture this year and last year

lol.

Oh well, if it works, it works, if it doesnt, it doesnt!


ANY information and help would be great! I am just trying to do something for the eggs, as they usually get thrown out as they dont want anymore!

thanks again
kizza

 

[BamaChicken]

Your temp at egg level should be at least 99.5. The first 18 days you can keep the humidity at 40 to 50 percent. Turn at least 3 times a day. Stop turning on day 18 and up the humidity to between 60 and 70 percent. make sure your temps stay stable.

 

[d_rooster]

Kizza, it sounds like you have the dedication and motivation to be successful. If I understand you correctly, your parents are not kicking in much in the way of supplies or investment such as a store bought incubator for you. So you are own your own with this project, right?

You are working with somewhat less than ideal materials, but I think there are some things that you could do to maximize your chances of actually hatching some chicks with your setup:

You need the air temperature to be at least 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.5 degrees Celsius in an incubator in which the air is circulated by a small fan, such as an old cooling fan from a computer. If you don't have a way to circulate the air inside the incubator, then your air temperature needs to be 101.0-102.0 degrees at the height of the eggs. You can increase the incubator temperature by using a larger wattage light bulb or by adding some insulation to the outside of the box. You could wrap the outside of the box in bubble wrap or some bath towels to insulate the box and help keep the temperature steady so they don't vary too much from the target temperature. If you don't have a digital thermometer you can use a glass thermometer like the one you may have used before to take your own body temperature.

The mother hen usually turns the eggs several times each day when she is sitting on the eggs, but now you'll have to be the mother hen and do the turning. Your eggs will need to be turned at least three times a day (morning, afternoon, and right before bedtime) to keep the developing embryo from sticking to the inside of the eggshell. You should turn the eggs from Day 1 of incubation until Day 18 of the incubation period. On Day 18 you quit turning, raise the humidity and avoid opening the incubator until as many eggs hatch as is possible (on Day 21).

For maintaining proper humidity I would recommend that you find a shallow disk that will hold some marbles or small, clean decorative stones. Put the dish with marbles or stones in the incubator and keep the dish filled with water. Pre-heat the water in the microwave to make it warm before adding it to the dish. The water should be warm, close to 99.5 degrees F., before adding it to the humidity water tray in the incubator.

These are just some basic bits of information and suggestions. Do you have a digital camera or a way to take and post a photo of your incubator setup so that we can see what your setup looks like?

~Donald

 

[Fancy Feather Poultry]

All I have to say is if you make a incubator that holds
99 degrees and 55% humidty it will work. A lady on here
made a home made incubator with very descriptive directions
can someone here find a link to it for kizza?

 

[kizza07]

WOOHOO!! Thank you!!!
That is the best advice and easiest to understand that I have read!!
Thank you soooo much, I really appreciate you all taking your time to help me!
We got another 3 eggs today, and I added them. But now, my brother wants a go, so I am making him an incubator now, out of a plastic storage box thingy.
d_rooster - you'r information was really helpful, and easy to understand, it really made a difference to what I can do!

Yes, I am on my own with this project. My mum is in on it a little. She helped me wrap it in foil and set it up and she takes me over to get the eggs, she keeps the feisty roosters back! She is trying to help. But she isnt really that into it. She cannot buy anything, as my dad wouldn't be happy with her, and she won't spend money on things like that "yet" she says! She said that we will see how we go with this lot and if we keep one, we can get a rooster and some more hens and try to do it properly!

Yes, i do have a digital camera and will take some pics of it, but i really didnt want to because i will be really embarrassed of my setup... and im afraid that someone will tell me i am doing everything wrong...

But, i guess i will have to do it.
I will take pictures of both incubators...

Thank you BamaChicken, Silkeluvr and d_rooster. Your help is really appreciated!

kizza

 

[unionwirewoman]

Don't feel embarassed ! All you can do is try ! I'm sure if anyone thinks of something better you can do it will just be that they want you to achieve your goal ! I'

m very happy to hear of a young person taking on responsibility ! All the ones I know just want to play games and chat on the computer .

 

[kizza07]

Thank you very much!! I really makes me happy to hear those kind words!
Here are some photos of my incubator! (I hope that they work!

(the round dial on a ribbon, is a temperature gauge, its in degrees celsius!)

 

[kizza07]

Here is another of mine~
There are some photos of my brothers one uploading but photobucket is being slow.

 

[kizza07]

Here is one of my brothers! Its just a plastic storage crate.
I think his is better! Dont you? If so, we have all the stuff that made his again, including the lamps, so i could move my eggs to a new one once it is heated up?
What do you think?
My brothers is sitting on 37 degrees celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) whilst mine is on 35 degrees celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit)
I probably should make another of his and then we will have 2 good ones?

(it has a lid BTW) we sit the lid on top, but slide it back a bit for circulation and air flow)

 

[kizza07]

Bump?
Anyone?