Hi Everyone! I'm New To The Club!

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cmom said:
:welcome :frow I'm a breeder and hatch out a few hundred chicks every year. Of course around half will be males. I do grow them out and sell most of the males to help with the offset in the cost of the feed. I go through around a half ton of feed every month. What kind of incubator are you using? one mistake people often do is to incubate with too high of humidity. You will find a lot of good information here BYCArticles.jpg Good luck with your hatch and have fun...
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Wow that is a lot of chicks to hatch a year!!. I assume commercial farmer? I am unfort running a cheaper incubator however I have managed to get the temp dialed in correctly using a Brinsea glass thermometer. but on the plus side the incubator does turn eggs every 2 hours. However the downside is the humidity part, The humidity controls are all manual. I have to use a hydrometer to check on humidity. And it can get down to 30s % over night. i try keep it around 45-50% .Before is sleep ill add some water and watch it for 20 or so mins to get it up to 50% since it will be left over night. Come morning it can be lower 40s and sometimes 30s. To be honest I have done some google research on humidity and get so many different answers.. some say 65% from day 1 to day 17 then 75% in lock down. But others say keep it between 45 and 55. For me its all just total experimental. Only had 1 die so far and we are day 11 now I think. As for specific incubator i have. (dunno if im allowed to link here or not but here it is)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08B8M4JQN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A friend of mine who has exact same one usually gets a 50-70 percent successful hatch rate. Unfort hes not been around much lately to advise me on things lol.

Many thanks,
Stefan
 
I keep my humidity at around 35%+/- during incubation and around 75% during lockdown. The eggs initially need to loose moisture so if the humidity is too high they can't. The chicks usually still develop but won't hatch. Sometimes when the humidity is too high condensation builds up in the air cell and when the chicks internally pip the air cell they drown. I have a cabinet incubator. When I first started out I used the styrofoam incubators but now use them as hatchers. I can separate the eggs from the different coops. I mark all of the eggs so I know which ones they are. Again, good luck...
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Stefankeyes said:
Hi everyone!
My name is Stefan,
I'm new to the club here. For the first time in my life I am trying to hatch our own chicks and ducks as a little backyard farm / pets. If anyone has some good advice for first timers that would be great! I very much look forwarding to having some chickies and duckies!! I have been watching over the forums for about a week now and finally decided to sign up and join the community!. Hope you all have a amazing day!
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Welcome! I'm a week old member lol.
Sure you'll get some good advice!!
 
cmom said:
I keep my humidity at around 35%+/- during incubation and around 75% during lockdown. The eggs initially need to loose moisture so if the humidity is too high they can't. The chicks usually still develop but won't hatch. Sometimes when the humidity is too high condensation builds up in the air cell and when the chicks internally pip the air cell they drown. I have a cabinet incubator. When I first started out I used the styrofoam incubators but now use them as hatchers. I can separate the eggs from the different coops. I mark all of the eggs so I know which ones they are. Again, good luck...
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Ah thank you so much for the info! the Styrofoam ones look like a great idea for insulation and keeping temps at good level! would you recommend i lower humidity or would it bee too late at day 11? Many thanks again, Stefan
 

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