Hova Bator 2362N.... any users?????

[magoochie]

Wellllllll.... I went out and bought another hygrometer just in case. And I used your tip on calibrating. Both are reading at 70%

I also bought 2 thermometers today, different brands/types, but not digital. One is a mercury type and the other is a dial. Both are reading within 1 or 2 degrees of eachother. but the digital is still about 3 degrees lower than the other two, so I have chucked the digital. And I will keep the other two in the bator.

I checked the status of my shipped eggs, and they are due to arrive sometime tomorrow!

So I will rest them in an egg carton pointy side down overnight and set them in the bator the next morning.

My 6 hens also gave me 6 eggs this morning, so I put 5 of them in a carton on the counter to try to hatch, since I have 3 roosters with 6 hens, and all of my breakfast eggs have had a nice bullseye, i think i have a pretty good chance with those.... They will all be mutts, but it will still be fun. (if they hatch)

So 9 adult birds, 22 that are 7 weeks old, and now I'm going to try to hatch.... why are chickens sooooo addicting?!?!

Any other suggestions on getting the bator ready?

Temp is about 99-100 degrees, and humidity is at 35% or so.......

 

[magoochie]

Quote:
Can you post a pic or two of your turner set up? and how you cut/use the egg cartons?

 

[GreenGoddess]

I do have an automatic turner but forgot to put it in this time around so I just left it alone... This is what I do when I have too many eggs for the turner...

This is my carton setup (with my lav orp eggs going into lockdown tomorrow!)... On the back side, there is a 2x2 (1/3 of a dozen carton) and a dozen carton... Below that is a 1x6 (1/2 of a dozen carton cut long ways), 2 dozen cartons and an 18 carton.... This will hold a total of 64 eggs.. Of course, I've had as many as 81 eggs at one time.. I just lay the extra eggs in between the tops of the eggs so that the eggs will go from side to side when "turned", not top to bottom...

This is my "turner"... It's just a piece of 2x4.....

My incubator on the right and hatcher on the left....

I "turned" them.. lol

Goddess

 

[magoochie]

Thank you for posting this.

I see that you cut the bottoms of the egg carton as well, I was wondering about that. This will work perfect for me. (other than the fact i will have random lumber on my nightstand.)

I am soooo excited to get my eggs today. I have a carton waiting for them so they can rest, and I will put them in tomorrow.... I hope they show up today and are on schedule!

I think I'm going to grab a few more eggs from my mutts this afternoon to add too, somehow 5 of those just doesnt seem to be enough. HAHA

My humidity has been steady in the bator at 50% for the past 30 hours. Is that too high?

Also, do you have a hatcher just because you have staggered hatches? or should I be figuring something out for a hatcher as well?

I was kinda thinking when they hatched in the bator, i could just move them to the brooder once dry.

Thanks again for your help, you have been awesome!

 

[f8thnjc]

Quote:
Just wondering what your success rate is while "turning" with a 2x4. Does it turn them enough?? Sure seems better than opening it 3 times a day, especially if you have 60 eggs to turn!

 

[GreenGoddess]

I have a hatcher because I tend to do staggered hatches and it just makes it so much easier... As for the humidity, it all depends on who you ask... I've done dry incubation where I kept my humidity around 30% until lockdown and then I bump it up to about 65%... I've also done staggered hatches when i didn't have a separate hatcher and kept the humidity between 50%-55% the entire time... Both ways worked well for me... The biggest thing is to keep an eye on the air cells and make sure they are getting larger so the chicks don't pip into goo and drown....

Instead of setting tomorrow, why don't you wait an extra day and hatch with us in the Easter Hatch with Mohonri? We are setting our eggs at noon (our own local time) on Saturday to hatch on Saturday the 23rd....

Goddess

 

[magoochie]

I might have to take you up on that! Do you think the shipped eggs will still be good to set if i wait an extra day?

They were shipped Tuesday.... So if I set them saturday they will be 6 days old at least.

 

[magoochie]

Eggs were not in the mail today.

I hope they are here tomorrow!

 

[GreenGoddess]

Well, looks like you will need to let them rest anyway so might as well wait til saturday... lol... Sorry your eggs aren't there but they should be there tomorrow... It's the powers that be telling you to get in on the Easter Hatch!

As for the eggs waiting an extra day, I know that shipping can hurt hatchability but I've hatched my own eggs up to month old and still had some hatch so I wouldn't worry about an extra day...

Goddess

 

[magoochie]

GReenGoddess,

Do you keep the cartons in the bator during lockdown, or do you take them out during that time?