I NEED HELP!

[SheenaMills]

how do I check there cells to make sure they've lost the right amount of moisture?

 

[AmericanMom]

Something else to mention.. With the styro incubators the room temperature plays a huge part. They don't do well in cool rooms. I have mine in a spare bedroom. Our only source of heat is the wood stove so I have a small space heater in the bedroom set at 78 degree's.. The only time I have a serious fluxuation is when the little buggers start generating their own heat, then I have to watch it very closely for a few days... The above poster is correct, these bators are not a set it and forget it incubator.

 

[AmericanMom]

how do I check there cells to make sure they've lost the right amount of moisture?

By candling at the top (fat end) of the egg, each time you candle you will notice the air cell grows larger

 

[AmericanMom]

 

[SheenaMills]

see I had propane when I first started the batch, then we ran out of propane & have been using space heaters & I had them in a colder room & the temp kept going down then if it was a little warmer it would go way high.. I guess there are multiple things that could have went wrong with the batch but I feel like some people can look at eggtopsys & know what happened lol. I'm waiting a little longer to start this batch because I have moved the incubator to my bedroom where it stays warm all day & the temp can be consistent. I have the little valley like things at the bottom of my incubator, should I keep them all full of water at all times or should I fill half TIL lockdown then more?

 

[SheenaMills]

okay awesome pic.. if the cell does not get bigger what am I doing wrong?

 

[eochickenman]

First it all depends on humidity I had to put hot water in my incubator to keep the humidity up to where it should be and temp should be at 76.5degrees c i think .I had some do what yours did I had 38 eggs and hatched 10 five looked just like yours it's hard to keep everything working right so don't feel bad

 

[AmyLynn2374]

how do I check there cells to make sure they've lost the right amount of moisture?

Something else to mention.. With the styro incubators the room temperature plays a huge part. They don't do well in cool rooms. I have mine in a spare bedroom. Our only source of heat is the wood stove so I have a small space heater in the bedroom set at 78 degree's.. The only time I have a serious fluxuation is when the little buggers start generating their own heat, then I have to watch it very closely for a few days... The above poster is correct, these bators are not a set it and forget it incubator.

okay awesome pic.. if the cell does not get bigger what am I doing wrong?

Yes, room temp is very important with the foam bators. They need to be away from any drafts and in a room with fairly steady temps. The egg pic you were given tells what the air cells should look like at key days. If your air cells are significantly small for the key days, then your humidity is too high. When your humidity is too high it does not let the moisture escape from the eggs and your air cell does not grow enough, thus causing the possibility of chicks drowning. When they are too small you need to lower your humidity. If the air cell is growing too fast and is significantly bigger than it should be, then your humidity is too low and too much moisture is escaping the egg and can cause the chicks to be shrink wrapped. If they are too large, your humidity needs to be higher to slow the moisture loss down.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

First it all depends on humidity I had to put hot water in my incubator to keep the humidity up to where it should be and temp should be at 76.5degrees c i think .I had some do what yours did I had 38 eggs and hatched 10 five looked just like yours it's hard to keep everything working right so don't feel bad

It depends on what type of bator you are using to what temp you want. Still air you want 101-102F (38/39C) and forced air is 99.5 (37.5C) 76.5c is equivalent to 169.7 degrees F and you will literally cook your eggs.

 

[SheenaMills]

okay I will def candle these & check on those days! hope it works better for me!