Illinois...

[ChicagoClucker]

Another great detailed article. Thanks.

I found that 1-2 TBSP water gave me only 10% humidity. Perhaps my house is very dry. I was too nervous to go that dry.

Is there a way to gently tilt your whole incubator? The eggs inside will then be turned w/o opening it.

For me the hard part was keeping the humidity up at the end. I had to keep adding water 2xs / day or it would quickly drop to 50% or lower. (Next time I'm going to add more tubing (w/ funnel) to quickly add water w/o opening it. I currently have one going to the water tray but want to add water to the sponges as well) I made my incubator so I'm always trying something different.

Well I am testing mine now, and my house humidity last night was at 48% ( at least here in the kitchen) but when I put my meter in my incubator without adding any water, it was only reading 14% left overnite. So I added about a tablespoon it is now up to 43% so I am going to have to adjust. My brinsea is so small, it only holds 9 eggs. I was also trying to figure a way of tilting it gently. I was thinking if I cut out individual egg carton pieces and somehow hold them in place I could gently tilt it by putting something under the edge of the incubator.
I tried a homemade incubator for my very first batch of eggs. It was getting to hot inside so I attached a dimmer switch. My grandson spent the nite, and I didn't notice that he was playing with the dimmer switch. Needless to say, I lost all the eggs.

It sounds like adding the tubing and funnel should do the trick. Sounds like you have got a great setup. Has any of your girls gone Broody for your daughters project yet? I think it is a very cute idea. Let me know how it goes and Good luck on your hatch.

 

[Faraday40]

Well I am testing mine now, and my house humidity last night was at 48% ( at least here in the kitchen) but when I put my meter in my incubator without adding any water, it was only reading 14% left overnite. So I added about a tablespoon it is now up to 43% so I am going to have to adjust. My brinsea is so small, it only holds 9 eggs. I was also trying to figure a way of tilting it gently. I was thinking if I cut out individual egg carton pieces and somehow hold them in place I could gently tilt it by putting something under the edge of the incubator.
I tried a homemade incubator for my very first batch of eggs. It was getting to hot inside so I attached a dimmer switch. My grandson spent the nite, and I didn't notice that he was playing with the dimmer switch. Needless to say, I lost all the eggs.

It sounds like adding the tubing and funnel should do the trick. Sounds like you have got a great setup. Has any of your girls gone Broody for your daughters project yet? I think it is a very cute idea. Let me know how it goes and Good luck on your hatch.

We had a bantam named Cookie play with the idea, but she abandoned her golf balls. I then tried using real eggs but couldn't persuade her back into the "brood." I have about 10 eggs in one nest out there now, so we're waiting to find a volunteer.

Too bad the "Cookie" crumbled. If we had started them last Sunday, they would have hatched on DDs Bday. Oh well. I'll eventually get more English Orps & some Bielefelders when the next volunteer comes along.

 

[eracerx46]

I have never tried a dry hatch. I have hatched turkey, ducks, and chickens all from a table top incubator that was 10 years old when my grandma gave it to me a few years ago. If you're trying to get your hatch rate up I would advised against dry. Granted, mother nature can't increase the humidity in a chicken the last couple days, but hatching eggs like we do is a bit more precise. We have the ability to control more things, so why not? I haven't followed the thread very closely, so I dont know what type of incubator you have. Mine is big enough where I can fit a a digital indoor/outdoor temp and hygrometer in my incubator. The indoor outdoor temp I find useful as I put both in the incubator to give me two temperature readings. As far as humidity, after years of trial and error people have come up with the most successful way to hatch eggs is to increase the humidity the last couple day when you stop turning, The reason for this is so the chicks don't stick inside the egg. Help the little guys and girls out as best we can. If you raise the humidity too much, the could "drown".

Last summer I bought 12+1 blue ameraucana eggs. And 12+2 Black copper marans eggs. The Ameraucana came from Rhode Island. The Marans from Southern Illinois. I recieved both eggs from the P.O. on successive days and were promptly placed in my incubator. I staggered the eggs pretty well and waited. 10 Ameraucana's hatched and only 4 of the marans hatched. Same incubator, same conditions. So why the low success rate on the marans? Eggs! Receiving eggs is always a crap shoot. So many factors we can't control. Bumpy ride, mean mailman, infertility, poor packing. All things that can damage an embryo. The outer shell may appear OK, but the damage will be done inside. Before I would buy eggs, I would exhaust my local options first.

 

[LinaNate]

I don't worry about the cool down during the first 18 days of incubation as in the "wild" mama hen has to leave the next to poop/ eat & drink and her eggs get a cool down period. I also read a few studies about the cool down period and it's impacts on hatch Here on the forums there is good info too: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/620684/cooling-periods-during-incubation-for-better-hatch-rates

 

[Faraday40]

Short answer:
Yes, shipped eggs are a huge gamble. (That was DDs experiment last year.)

Long answer: (The experiment)

We incubated 3 trials with both shipped & backyard eggs side by side under the same conditions. DD even made the backyard eggs sit out for 4-5 days so they'd be the same age. All 3 times the backyard eggs had high hatch rates 92%, 95%, & 90%. The shipped eggs were 68% (shipped from NC), 30% (from PA), and 8% (from IL) I really thought the distance would be a factor, but it wasn't. All were expertly packaged; none were cracked, dirty, or weird-shaped.

When candled at arrival, only the NC batch had decent air cells. A few clears & quitters during the first 2 weeks. Most made it to the end. Only one died while hatching.
The PA eggs had wiggly air cells. A few quitters & bloodrings, but many developed. Less than 1/2 the eggs that were alive on Day 18, actually hatched. Yet, this was the best hatch for the backyard bunch.
The eggs from IL (maybe a 4 hour drive) were the worst. The air cells were completely detached & rolling around like a bubble in a level. They stabilized a bit & the embryos looked great. Most looked alive just before lockdown. Only one hatched. As I was cleaning up the incubator on day 24, one egg was alive. (It had pipped upside down & couldn't get out.) It died. I felt bad. As I did the egg-topsies, Many were fully formed & had absorbed most or all of the yolk. The backyard eggs just popped out on day 21, but the shipped eggs died just before hatching.

As a science teacher I pointed out that DD probably should have shipped our own eggs back home to us. But, as kid wanting to add variety to the flock, she didn't want to control all the variables. LOL She was 8, so I can't judge too hard.

Lats week when Cookie stopped acting broody, I was so tempted to pick up the eggs anyway & just use the incubator..... Call it trial 1.
I was so proud when she scolded me & said that it wouldn't be a fair test if we didn't hatch eggs from the same source, of the same age, & at the same time.

 

[Faraday40]

Hatching eggs can be quirky. As a kid I made a basic styrofoam still air incubator as an electrical project. (Had to open & turn the eggs by hand.) At best, I could keep the temp within 3 degrees. When I tested it out, I had 18 out of 24 eggs hatch. My uncle, who bought a new circulated air model with auto egg turner, only got about 50%. I'm guessing he had shipped eggs or perhaps lost power. I just happened to get lucky. Who knew I'd be hatching eggs a few decades later.

 

[Faraday40]

Well I am testing mine now, and my house humidity last night was at 48% ( at least here in the kitchen) but when I put my meter in my incubator without adding any water, it was only reading 14% left overnite. So I added about a tablespoon it is now up to 43% so I am going to have to adjust. My brinsea is so small, it only holds 9 eggs. I was also trying to figure a way of tilting it gently. I was thinking if I cut out individual egg carton pieces and somehow hold them in place I could gently tilt it by putting something under the edge of the incubator.
I tried a homemade incubator for my very first batch of eggs. It was getting to hot inside so I attached a dimmer switch. My grandson spent the nite, and I didn't notice that he was playing with the dimmer switch. Needless to say, I lost all the eggs.

It sounds like adding the tubing and funnel should do the trick. Sounds like you have got a great setup. Has any of your girls gone Broody for your daughters project yet? I think it is a very cute idea. Let me know how it goes and Good luck on your hatch.

The humidity you described is what happens here. Warmer air can hold more moisture, so the humidity decreases as the temp increases.

Some people use egg cartons or even stuff crumbled paper (or paper towel) between the eggs to keep them from rolling.
I have not tried this, but it sounds like it might work. Then, you could simply tilt the whole incubator by sliding a thick book under one side.

You're doing great by testing all this out BEFORE you add the eggs. Keep up the good work.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

We had a bantam named Cookie play with the idea, but she abandoned her golf balls. I then tried using real eggs but couldn't persuade her back into the "brood." I have about 10 eggs in one nest out there now, so we're waiting to find a volunteer.

Too bad the "Cookie" crumbled. If we had started them last Sunday, they would have hatched on DDs Bday. Oh well. I'll eventually get more English Orps & some Bielefelders when the next volunteer comes along.

Ohhhh, that's too bad Cookie quit on you. That would have been a nice B-day surprise!

 

[ChicagoClucker]

The humidity you described is what happens here. Warmer air can hold more moisture, so the humidity decreases as the temp increases.

Some people use egg cartons or even stuff crumbled paper (or paper towel) between the eggs to keep them from rolling.
I have not tried this, but it sounds like it might work. Then, you could simply tilt the whole incubator by sliding a thick book under one side.

You're doing great by testing all this out BEFORE you add the eggs. Keep up the good work.

And that is the ticket! Paper towels crumbled up. But, I don't think I could hatch the eggs standing up then, well maybe. I will figure it out. Thank you again!!!!!

I have also posted on the Maran thread, and member who lives in Oregon near the coast, posted. That's all she does is dry hatch incubation but on a larger scale, with a cabinet incubator. She also hatches her eggs standing up in her incubator, which I might try too. She also ends up with a incubator humidity levels (without water) of 30% because she lives by the coast.

 

[Faraday40]

A woman at a forest preserve,who worked with raptors, once told me that after a few days of poor weather, the hawks will be out hunting in force on the 1st clear day.

Sure enough, yesterday at 10am a giant hawk - bigger than my rooster!- came by for a visit. I was alerted by the crow brigade making such a racket. Then the roo started crowing. My dogs ran out 1st & I arrived just in time to see the hawk sitting on my gutter. It looked at me then flew off. Most of the chickens made it to the coop - including the roo. He was standing guard inside at the doorway. Three girls did not make it to the coop. They were hiding along the back of the garage & wedged between the siding, a trash can, & a pile of bricks. I saw a lot of their feathers where they were hiding. I scooped them up & put them away. Everyone was safe. The flock remained locked up for the rest of the day.

Today at 10am I heard the crows again, followed by the roo's crowing. (He's quiet & rarely crows.) The flock was still locked up (and will be for a while), but I'm sure it was the hawk stopping by. Has anyone else noticed that the hawks tend to keep their scheduled rounds? The Cooper's hawk (from November) always seemed to attack in late afternoon. Yesterday's & today's both happened in the late morning. This current hawk flew away easier, but it's scary big. The cooper's hawk was small but so determined.

Yesterday's big hawk had a white & brown speckled belly like in this pic. Perhaps a Red-Tailed hawk, but I really wasn't looking.

The little hawk looked like this. Little hawk actually killed a pullet & then returned multiple times a day for over a month.
These are not my pics; they just look like the hawks I saw.