Incubating and Hatching Eggs! Help!

[gotpotbellypig]

Hi! So I'm new at this whole incubating and hatching chick thing. Any advice. I got a incubator and an automatic rotator. I read about fan kits too. Are they necessary? I am actually hatching them at school so any advice for that? Basically, I need all the help I can get! Thanks!

 

[916e60]

I've done this a couple times. It's been a very long time so bear with me, nothing fancy needed, keep temp at about 100 all the way through with water, and that's it, 21 days u should have some chicks. Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone? Well, that's how I always hatched them.

 

[farmtotable]

I'm with the previous poster - you really don't need anything fancy to have a successful hatch. I have an old, beat up HovaBator that I got off of craigslist for $20. It has a thermostat, but no fan or anything like that. It came with an automatic egg turner, which I absolutely love. I fill the plastic tray in the bottom with water, then plug it in for a day or so to make sure it can keep a constant temperature. With my model, you have to fiddle with the thermostat for a bit to keep it from getting way too hot, which is why I run it without eggs in it until the temperature stabilizes. When it maintains 99.5 degrees, I put the eggs in the rotator, then close it up and leave it alone until it's time to put more water in. My biggest advice for someone just starting out with an incubator is buy a good, dependable thermometer, not one of those $1 cheapies. The calibration on cheap thermometers is pretty inconsistent, so you get a more accurate reading with a good one. I usually candle the eggs about 1 1/2 weeks into the process, just to make sure they're fertile ones. Good luck!!!

 

[gotpotbellypig]

Thanks! This helped a lot! I had to mess around with the thermostat until I found the perfect place on the dial. Doing a trail test now. Thanks again!