In the middle of hatch - do you remove fluffed out chicks?

[Merci BeauCoop]

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March 24th is hatch day. Add 21 to the date set and that is hatch day. If some eggs consistently hatch earlier from the same location in the incubator you have a warm spot slightly over 99.5 which accelerated the schedule by one day.

If that's the case and using a foam incubator you can add these to even the temps out. I use these 12v computer mini cooling fans in q cheap still air incubator to have even temps. I even disassembled the heater element box and zipped tied a fan in there.

Wow - you obviously have done this "hatch thing" once or twice before ! Thank you for sharing your expertise! I think you are exactly right - there is a warmer area because both of the "early birds" were from the same side of the incubator. And right again - a foam incubator. I borrowed it from a friend but will probably buy my own if (who am I kidding - WHEN) I do this again. Any suggestions on an incubator of good quality that won't break the bank?

 

[Pyxis]

Wow - you obviously have done this "hatch thing" once or twice before ! Thank you for sharing your expertise! I think you are exactly right - there is a warmer area because both of the "early birds" were from the same side of the incubator. And right again - a foam incubator. I borrowed it from a friend but will probably buy my own if (who am I kidding - WHEN) I do this again. Any suggestions on an incubator of good quality that won't break the bank?

What kind of egg capacity would you be wanting? You can't go wrong with anything Brinsea, but they're on the expensive side. An Incuview might be a good choice, or I purchased last year a Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 to use as my hatcher and I loved it so much that I now use it as an incubator too. It has a 22 egg capacity and costs $140. It has a built in auto turner, and digital controls, which is very nice.

 

[Fairview01]

Wow - you obviously have done this "hatch thing" once or twice before ! Thank you for sharing your expertise! I think you are exactly right - there is a warmer area because both of the "early birds" were from the same side of the incubator. And right again - a foam incubator. I borrowed it from a friend but will probably buy my own if (who am I kidding - WHEN) I do this again. Any suggestions on an incubator of good quality that won't break the bank?

That's a cheapie still air hobvator I converted. What's important is knowing that the temp 9n the readout matches the temp in the incubator - it never does. Go up to my very first post with the chicks vertically hatched. At the bottom you'll see one of those instant read, stick it in the chunk of cow cooking thermometer. You can break the bank buying an expensive calibrated thermometer or buy a WallyWorld special and check the calibration before even leaving the store.

Take the thermometer turn it on and hold the pointy sensor end between your thumb and forefinger . If it doesn't read within a few tenths of a degree to your normal body temp keep trying other ones until you find one that does. The advantage of this is you can insert that thermometer st several different spots through the foam at egg level to check for temp consistency. Adjust your heater based on your thermometer and disregard whatever the digital readout displays.

The foams I use for early spring hatches for fertility tests. For my other hatches I use a Leahy 416 for incubation and another for hatching. I use preincubation techniques and generally set larger clutches of eggs every 7 to 10 days.

 

[starri33]

I am currently working on hatch # 4, I've always laid the eggs down, I have a janoel 12 incubator, wasn't expensive at all really, it holds 6 eggs, my girls lay large to extra large eggs. my first hatch, was six out of six, the last two were 5 out of 6, I did a eggtopsy on the one that didn't make it and it seemed it might have drown. I didn't on the last one. I believe I've lost one on this hatch.. the janoel is a auto-turner it rolls the eggs back and forth, guess like what a momma hen would.. I've had one of my eggs pretty much pip right in the middle of the egg, by the time that all was said and done, it had split the egg shell down the middle and it's doing just fine, I've read that 1 one is 24 hours after you set them. my hatch right now, went on lockdown last night, so hatch day is the 25th, I've had them hatch as early as day 19 and as late as day 24. All of them doing just fine, I try to let them fully fluff out, but if I've got 3 of them running around in that small space, I'll take them out and let the other hatch in peace..lol. have not had a issue.

 

[Merci BeauCoop]

What kind of egg capacity would you be wanting? You can't go wrong with anything Brinsea, but they're on the expensive side. An Incuview might be a good choice, or I purchased last year a Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 to use as my hatcher and I loved it so much that I now use it as an incubator too. It has a 22 egg capacity and costs $140. It has a built in auto turner, and digital controls, which is very nice.

22 eggs would be perfect. Do you like the Farms Nurture Right better than Brinsea? What is the difference between a "hatcher" and an "incubator"? The digital controls would be key. I drove myself crazy trying to stabilize humidity and temp in the foam incubator. I set it up a few days in advance and it seemed like I had it "dialed in". But after the eggs went in (after a stabilizing period) I had huge spikes. Luckily I I caught it fairly quickly. Many sleepless nights. Thanks for your help

 

[Pyxis]

22 eggs would be perfect. Do you like the Farms Nurture Right better than Brinsea? What is the difference between a "hatcher" and an "incubator"? The digital controls would be key. I drove myself crazy trying to stabilize humidity and temp in the foam incubator. I set it up a few days in advance and it seemed like I had it "dialed in". But after the eggs went in (after a stabilizing period) I had huge spikes. Luckily I I caught it fairly quickly. Many sleepless nights. Thanks for your help

Oh, I have a really big incubator that I'm adding eggs to all that time. That means that they have different hatch dates, and that doesn't work all in the same incubator. So a hatcher is a separate incubator that serves the sole purpose of eggs being moved into it as they enter lockdown, so they can hatch in there.

Yeah, the digital controls are super nice. You always want to check them against a thermometer you know to be accurate, because the displays can be off, but the one on mine is accurate.

 

[Fairview01]

Oh, I have a really big incubator that I'm adding eggs to all that time. That means that they have different hatch dates, and that doesn't work all in the same incubator. So a hatcher is a separate incubator that serves the sole purpose of eggs being moved into it as they enter lockdown, so they can hatch in there.

Yeah, the digital controls are super nice. You always want to check them against a thermometer you know to be accurate, because the displays can be off, but the one on mine is accurate.

Google Petersime preincubation. It works and it's obscenely easy to do create that system it on a.much smaller and affordable scale. Sure has eased my headaches of constantly setting small batches of eggs from my breeding pairs and trios.

 

[Merci BeauCoop]

That's a cheapie still air hobvator I converted. What's important is knowing that the temp 9n the readout matches the temp in the incubator - it never does. Go up to my very first post with the chicks vertically hatched. At the bottom you'll see one of those instant read, stick it in the chunk of cow cooking thermometer. You can break the bank buying an expensive calibrated thermometer or buy a WallyWorld special and check the calibration before even leaving the store.

Take the thermometer turn it on and hold the pointy sensor end between your thumb and forefinger . If it doesn't read within a few tenths of a degree to your normal body temp keep trying other ones until you find one that does. The advantage of this is you can insert that thermometer st several different spots through the foam at egg level to check for temp consistency. Adjust your heater based on your thermometer and disregard whatever the digital readout displays.

The foams I use for early spring hatches for fertility tests. For my other hatches I use a Leahy 416 for incubation and another for hatching. I use preincubation techniques and generally set larger clutches of eggs every 7 to 10 days.

You have given me a lot to research - thank you!!!

 

[Merci BeauCoop]

Google Petersime preincubation. It works and it's obscenely easy to do create that system it on a.much smaller and affordable scale. Sure has eased my headaches of constantly setting small batches of eggs from my breeding pairs and trios.

I will! Thank you!

 

[Merci BeauCoop]

So some of them started to zip and then stalled out and have been that way for over 20 hours? Yes, those need help.

I open the incubator and take out chicks as they hatch, I just make sure the humidity goes back up quickly afterwards.

You were SO correct. I finally did assist those two chicks - they would never have been able to hatch on their own. I should have done it earlier. Of the two, I think one of them will be perfectly fine. The other one is maybe 50/50. She certainly has strong lungs though - letting all the world know all about it (still). So maybe she is strong enough to survive. Thank you to everyone on this thread - you are amazing people. I’m so glad to have you “out there”.