HI from oHIo!!! Some advice on hatching eggs?

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Kirbie

Kirbie

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6 Years
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Hello! My name is Christina and I'm from the suburbs, but chickens are my absolute favorite creatures!

I first found BYC over three years ago when I rescued Kirbie, a 4-day-old chick, from a cockfighting ring during vacation in Kentucky. He died last year from an owl attack. I don't currently have chickens, but I plan on getting a few eggs from a friend and raising some chickens temporarily. The way my situation is, I'm allowed to raise chickens but they have to go back where they came from when they're five or six months old. I've had five birds like this, and I really want to hatch my own this time!

I have an incubator that I built myself, it's a foam one that is supposed to work really really well. It has small holes in the side, a glass pane on the front, and a lightbulb on the top, as well as gages for temp. and humidity and a place to put water and the eggs. I have yet to test it out... Any advice on using it?

Just an FYI, the eggs I get probably won't be brand new, and I may not know their ages in the first place. I plan on getting them for free from my grandmother, and she just lets her bantams lay whenever they want.

Thanks,
Christina

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Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined us!
LL
 
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old eggs may be too old, and if the rooster isn't keeping up with the hens, could be infertile in any case. You could check on the forums for the incubation & hatching thread
 
Hey Christina! My advice would really be to test run it for a few hours before putting the eggs in. My first incubator was a homemade exactly like the one you describe and it worked great! So because you won't know the age of the eggs I would candle them within a few days to check how many are fertile and other than that it sounds like you know your stuff! Oh yeah, one more thing, cleanliness is key when it comes to hatching, always wash your incubator between uses! Happy Hatching!
 

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