Incubating and discouraged

[Sara L]

Ok! I’ve got a dozen of my eggs, and 3 doz eggs that were replaced by that neighbor. She showed me all the tiny chicks that were hatched using eggs from the same birds around the same time, so most of them should have been and will be fertile.
Wish me luck!

Good luck! You can do it! Can't wait to see cute little fluffy chicks running around.

 

[le_bwah]

Ok! I’ve got a dozen of my eggs, and 3 doz eggs that were replaced by that neighbor. She showed me all the tiny chicks that were hatched using eggs from the same birds around the same time, so most of them should have been and will be fertile.
Wish me luck!

I'm happy you're trying again! Good luck!

 

[BobDBirdDog]

Just checked... the motor says 3 rotations/minute...
I guess you get what you pay for

When old momma hen rolls her eggs I doubt that she spends more than 4-8 seconds doing so.... so dont swet it.

 

[wingzrooke]

Post some pictures after the incubation if you get cute little fluffy ones, kay?

 

[Kiki]

Ok! I’ve got a dozen of my eggs, and 3 doz eggs that were replaced by that neighbor. She showed me all the tiny chicks that were hatched using eggs from the same birds around the same time, so most of them should have been and will be fertile.
Wish me luck!

 

[RosieR]

I'm happy you're trying again! Good luck!

My neighbor said she will keep giving me eggs until I hatch something lol, but I’m hoping these guys will do well
I spied she had a few button eggs in a tray while I went to get eggs yesterday... so that might be a possibility in the future as well

 

[BobDBirdDog]

Dont give up!

Outside of the fertility issue, take a good look at your incubator and do the incubator cleaning as suggested......ooops to late you done set the eggs. LOL


As for your incubator, two important things you might want to check as I think many overlook this in DIY Designed Incubators:

1) the need for freash air. Most DIY's tend to build an incubator and think that an incubator needs to be air tight and it does not. It needs to replace air (while it incubates). As eggs/embryos develope they (need) breath in the oxygen through the shell... constantly. Of course the by product they breath out is carbon dioxide which needs to be removed, else the eggs/embryos suffocate. So adiquate air holes are needed.

2) Another cause of dissappointment is having the eggs too close to the heat sorce or a too intense of a heat. Thus the egg will absorb the radiating heat and get hotter than the intended ambient temperature surrounding the eggs or that which the thermomter is reading. Just think how hot your hand gets if you hold it above a stove cap for a minute. Even on a low or medium setting.....after so long your hand is still warmer than intended. So make sure that is not the issue and if it is place a heat sheild between the heating source or elivate or move the eggs further away from the heat.>>or try to use a lesser power heat source.

You want a warmer air, enough to heat the incubator, to reach the desired ambient temperature (99.5-101.5), but not such a heat that it will cook the eggs. Subtile heat is better than intense heat.
Oxygen, Heat, humitdy, viable fertile eggs... done correctly should = chicks.
Wishing you luck.

 

[RosieR]

Dont give up!

Outside of the fertility issue, take a good look at your incubator and do the incubator cleaning as suggested......ooops to late you done set the eggs. LOL


As for your incubator, two important things you might want to check as I think many overlook this in DIY Designed Incubators:

1) the need for freash air. Most DIY's tend to build an incubator and think that an incubator needs to be air tight and it does not. It needs to replace air (while it incubates). As eggs/embryos develope they (need) breath in the oxygen through the shell... constantly. Of course the by product they breath out is carbon dioxide which needs to be removed, else the eggs/embryos suffocate. So adiquate air holes are needed.

2) Another cause of dissappointment is having the eggs too close to the heat sorce or a too intense of a heat. Thus the egg will absorb the radiating heat and get hotter than the intended ambient temperature surrounding the eggs or that which the thermomter is reading. Just think how hot your hand gets if you hold it above a stove cap for a minute. Even on a low or medium setting.....after so long your hand is still warmer than intended. So make sure that is not the issue and if it is place a heat sheild between the heating source or elivate or move the eggs further away from the heat.>>or try to use a lesser power heat source.

You want a warmer air, enough to heat the incubator, to reach the desired ambient temperature (99.5-101.5), but not such a heat that it will cook the eggs. Subtile heat is better than intense heat.
Oxygen, Heat, humitdy, viable fertile eggs... done correctly should = chicks.
Wishing you luck.

Thanks for your comments
I think I have the ventilation under control. I’ve got a vent hole near the fan at the bottom of the bator where it draws fresh air in, and I drilled a couple air holes in the lid.
I put some aluminum foil between the heat source and the eggs so hopefully that will be enough of a buffer. I like how you described how the eggs hold heat. That makes a lot of sense to me, I haven’t heard it described like that.
I did give the bator a thourough cleaning, and I’ve got eggs from my own birds this time as well so there’s a good chance some of them are fertile.
I really hope I got this right this time

 

[RosieR]

You guys! I candled tonight because I’m just too curious to see what’s happening. I can see veins in a couple of the mostly white eggs! Those are the ones from the neighbor, my eggs seem to be much thicker and impossible to shine a light through.
Everything has been solid for these first few days. Humidity has been 40-50. It’s humid here right now and I’ve been running it dry. Temp has been pretty stable at 99.5.
Still hand turning using the egg turner trays until the new motor comes in.

 

[Erkenstein]

Awesome. In 9 or 10 days when you candle again, even with the eggs you can't see into now you'll be able to identify the clear (more like yellow/green) ones that aren't going to make it and can remove those before lockdown.

I like to mark information on my eggs with a sharpie to help monitor things. For example, if you put a mark on your eggs you'll be able to see your hatch rate on those vs your neighbor's. I have different pens with a male in each, so another way I do it is mark the number of the pen on each egg to see that my males are doing their job. I also routinely mark the date of collection on the eggs to know how old they are when I set them.