i need to know every thing you guys know

[freddiedontknow]

listen this is my first hatch and i want every thing to be sucsessful. i have a hova beta still air incubator and any thing you can tell me will really help.

thx Freddie

 

[aran]

hey mate...welcome. Im on my second batch of eggs in the bator and expecting some to hatch monday and more on wednesday. We have two beautiful chicks from our first go! We made our own incubator...a few of us here on BYC have done this and how to do it yourself can be found in the threads about homemade bators.

Basically from what i understand you want 99.5F ( forced air bator) or 100.5 ( still air bator) temp at the level of the eggs...can be determined with thermometer probe inside a water weasel ( little water filled kids toy with hole in the middle) at the same height in the bator as the eggs. You want 45-55% humidity for the 1st 18 days ( turning the eggs 180degrees 3-5x daily) then inc the humidity to 65-75% for the last 3 days and no turning. Last piece of advice is DONT open the bator unless you ABSOLUTELY have to esp in those last 3 days.

hope this helps. There are plenty of ppl here with MUCH more experience than me but this is the info i have gleaned from them.

cheers,
aran

 

[freddiedontknow]

thanx alot nd which incubator do you yhink is better a homade or the hova beta still air incubator

 

[aran]

i only have the experience with the homemade one but mine has a fan which from what i have read is better than still air. Im sure the hovabator is a fine incubator though and if you already have it i would use it and not bother making one. If you want a fun project though you will end up with a bator which has a great thermostat controlled, fan driven heat system in it, will hold 2 dozen eggs , costs less than $30 to make and is really satisfying when you see the lill cheeps in there at the end.

Are you incubating ducks or chicken eggs?

As a side note, "redneck" one of our members here had a 100% hatch rate in his homemade bator which i copied the design of...thats spectacular success whether its homemade or storebought!

 

[freddiedontknow]

ill be hatching duck eggs

 

[aran]

ok all the info i gave you was for chicken eggs...i think ducks are the same except they take 28 instead of 21 days. Check that though...i have never hatched duck eggs.

 

[freddiedontknow]

ok well thx alot for the info

 

[aran]

no worries mate...all the best with your hatch...its a nerve wracking 3-4 weeks but its exciting and very rewarding when you get a few eggs hatch!

 

[hatchcrazzzy]

Ducks 28 days 99.5 70-75%
90-95% 25th day stop turning at 25 days
dont open incubater after the 25 th day