If at first you don't succeed....

[Graciesing2us]

Evening all,
Sadly, my attempt at hatching wasn't to be this time. The chicks seemed like they were developing but obviously not easy to tell. Each time I've tried, they've developed that bit further and realising my mistakes and adjusting accordingly. I've been beating myself up how I've not managed to get them to hatch but I'll be trying again this week a fresh batch. If only there was a secret to helping a hen become broody....

 

[Lins_BE]

Did you use an incubator? What were the settings and did you calibrate the temperature and humidity?

 

[Graciesing2us]

Did you use an incubator? What were the settings and did you calibrate the temperature and humidity?

It's a cheap incubator I'm afraid and only shows the temperature, I think I may have candled the eggs to many times but the incubator lost heat twice over the last five days so this probably didn't help as they were developing as they should be

 

[Lins_BE]

Ok, did you calibrate the temperature? You should never trust the temperature that the incubator gives you right out of the store. Best to double check it with a calibrated thermometer.

I would also make sure you put a humidity meter in there so you can check on that.

If you can’t do that i would weigh the eggs and see if they loose the right amount if weight on the according days. That way you know if they lost to much weight you should put more water in, if they lost too little you should put less in. If i say more orcless water, i mean the surface, not the amount. So don’t fill the same bowl with more water but put in a second bowl, or put a smaller one if you need less. The ideal weight loss would be
Day 5: 3%
Day 7: 4%
Day 10: 6%
Day 14: 8%
Day 18: 11%
I put that into an excel file where i put the beginning weight of each egg and it gives me the right weight on the according days. I can also put the weight during candling at the according days and it will tell me what average all of the eggs lost so i can adjust the humidity accordingly.

I have no idea if i can upload excel files here, otherwise i’d be happy to share it.

After day 18 you stop turning and candling and put them out of the turner if you have one. Then you upp the humidity to make sure it is nice and moist in there for them to hatch. Always make sure your incubator vents are open at this point so they don’t suffocate.

No more candling at this point! The chicks need to be able to position themselves for hatching.

I wouldn’t think that too much candling has anything to do with it unless you take them out and candle them several times a day or if you treat them roughly which i wouldn’t suppose you do. The henn leaves her nest once a day for 30-60 minutes too so that shouldn’t affect your hatch rate.

Any more questions? I’m happy to help if i know the answer. Good luck!

 

[Lins_BE]

By the way, loosing heat isn’t as bad as too much heat if it is only for a few hours. But do try to keep it as steady as possible. I insulated mine with the styrofoam packaging it came in. Do make sure the styrofoam doesn’t cover the vent holes.

 

[Graciesing2us]

Thank you for your reply I appreciate it, got a thermometer/hydrometer being delivered tomorrow to get the temperature and humidity exactly right.. And then I guess I'll let mother nature do the rest

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Thank you for your reply I appreciate it, got a thermometer/hydrometer being delivered tomorrow to get the temperature and humidity exactly right.. And then I guess I'll let mother nature do the rest

Just get that MagicFly 10 egg yellow/clear plastic incubator.... they are less than $40 on Ebay! They work!