How do you incubate your eggs?

[Tclloyd0812]

There are a lot of different methods of incubating eggs.
When I decide to incubate, I personally have chosen to stick to the recommended temperature and humidity recommended online as well as what it instructs for my specific incubator. Currently, I have a Nuture Right 360 that I have hatched probably at least a hundred of dozen of eggs in over the past few years. My husband is also currently working on a project to convert a large mini fridge into an incubator with a kit purchased on incubatorwarehouse.com. It probably will not be set up until next year, so for now we use the 360 with the recommended humidity and temp (except I choose to hatch at 100 degrees instead of 99.5) and we also use our broody hens when we can.

I would like to know how everyone else chooses to hatch and why. I've heard of so many different methods, including one I've been interested in hearing about called the "stacking" method where apparently people stack multiple eggs, do not rotate, and I think they also dry hatch (do not add humidity).

What are your thoughts and methods? Thanks for your response!

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I have done three hatches with a broody and one with a NR 360. I feel that my hatch rates have been better with broody hens, but marginally (and based on small statistics). I feel the overall process is easier and less stressful with a broody, but I loved the hands on aspect and the ability to hatch more using the NR 360. I guess there are pros and cons!

 

[Tclloyd0812]

I have done three hatches with a broody and one with a NR 360. I feel that my hatch rates have been better with broody hens, but marginally (and based on small statistics). I feel the overall process is easier and less stressful with a broody, but I loved the hands on aspect and the ability to hatch more using the NR 360. I guess there are pros and cons!

Agreed!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

My approach is tailored to the specific needs of the eggs: species, shipped/not shipped, egg color, etc. I live in an area that can get very humid, so tend to dry hatch - but even that can vary depending on the eggs.

I've had broodies hatch eggs, but I prefer the hatchlings to be human-imprinted, so generally lean toward artificial incubation (plus, it's easier to rehome hatchlings if I don't have to separate them from Mom).

I use a couple of different Hova-Bator models and Brinseas, and each has its core competency. 🙂