Incubating eggs to hatch about August 8th

[Alaskan]

Come one, come all!

What are you planning to incubate?

Hatching on August 8th means that chicken eggs would go in the incubator on the 18th.

I am going to incubate quail eggs, so mine should go in on the 21.



(I will not incubate more chicks, I will not incubate more chicks, I will not incubate more chicks)

 

[Cindysid]

I love Cochins! I hatched out some bantam cochins earlier this Spring. I had one Frizzle. She is so cute. Her name is Buffy.

 

[MeepBeep]

I have two quails just starting to break thier eggs, but look like having a tiff time. Should I help or will they break out eventually?

I give my eggs 24 hours after they pip to see zipping progress, if there is no zipping progress after that 24 hours I generally open up the pip just a bit at that point so I can see inside and then wait another 12 hours before I actually help anymore... If they are zipping and then all the sudden quit I generally wait an hour or two and if they don't resume zipping, I zip the rest of the way for them, but let them do the push out...

 

[calichicken]

Sorry you are last to candle.

Aw, if it makes you feel any better, I don't usually candle until late.

Yes it does...thanks guys!

 

[MeepBeep]

I went to check my incubator this morning before the goose incident and found the humidity was over 65%!

I knew this was bad, it was humid here, but not that humid. I opened the incubator and the stench was over powering!

Don't stress over temporary humidity spikes, it's the average humidity that is most important and even that is arbitrary as long as the air cell develops properly and the eggs doesn't gain or lose water weight disproportionately... Trust me when I say a brooder bird can't magically lower the 100% humidity on a rainy 90-95° day, and days like this are hardly a rarity in many areas...

As I said I do staggered hatches, thus for 2 or even 3 days when I bump the humidity up for those that are hatching (generally upwards of 70%, or even 90% if it's a rough hatch) the other eggs in the incubator also see that higher humidity and I have seen no adverse effects as long as the humidity comes back down and averages out over the entire incubation time...

As for exploding eggs, sorry to hear about that, that is never fun or good in any way...

 

[lauraschicks]

Congrats on your new babies!!! Post a picture when you get a chance

The black blobs are Augsburgers. The tiny yellow one is a Cubalaya. The larger yellows are Jubilee Orpingtons. The rest I have to wait until I get home from work to see what's hatched.
Laura

 

[Alaskan]

Very sad...my broody Peeps baby died   I have no idea what happened. Last night, mom and baby were great...baby was eating and drinking. The only thing I did not see was baby poop but since my broody was caring for her I wasn't really looking. Now my hen is soooooo lost. I cleared the nest and broody area completely although I od think she realized baby died because she went outside to dust and hasn't done that since the day before baby hatched. Saddest day ever and watching my girl is just breaking my heart!

Sniff, sniff, sniff

 

[TeaChick]

Bummer... I had to consecutive hatches of ZERO, before this hatch, so I feel for you!

My incubating history is long and has a few chicks sprinkled in there with all the eggs I've had to toss:
1. 12 cooked eggs (lesson: don't use a crock pot, it's for cooking, duh)
2. 1 lone survivor (lesson: check your thermometer against a thermometer you know is accurate at the temps you're using, not just accurate at room temp, duh again) (Ironically, I lost that chick to heat this summer, she hatched in April, she's the one on my wallpaper.)
3. 12 eggs, 0 chicks (lesson: separate the eggs from the heat source, duh some more)
4. 3 eggs, 3 chicks (lesson: hatch in small batches, forget hatching a dozen eggs at a time to get half a dozen chicks; somehow chickens and eggs just don't understand math, duh should go without saying by now, but I'm going to keep putting it b/c I feel like an idiot and I hope that others can learn from my mistakes/stupidity) (also, I subsequently lost these and I don't know why; this spring was a bad time to be a chick is the only explanation I can come up with.)
5. current hatch 5 eggs to start and 4 eggs left (lesson: don't turn/candle w/ a zillion children around; that's literally impossible at my house, but hopefully others can avoid this)
I think I probably missed one in there, but the results were the same: no chicks.
-Keep temp consistent (within 2 degrees or less of where you're aiming)
-Turn an odd number of times a day so the eggs aren't on the same side for two extended periods of time in a row.
-Rotate, every incubator (no matter how good) has cool spots and hot spots.
-Hands off during lockdown; there's a reason they call it "lock down"!!!
If I build an incubator, I'll install a thermostat and a fan. I like turning, so I won't put in a turner. I also want to put a plexiglass viewing window in the top; I like being able to watch them hatch and I want to be able to check the temp during lockdown w/o having to open the 'bator, but mostly b/c I like watching them hatch.

Sorry that's so long...

I'll copy and paste this on my own thread, then I won't forget where I have and haven't posted it.

 

[duluthralphie]

I'm just trying to keep the temp constant.
I switched to the little Styrofoam cooler-bator so I could watch them hatch.
The temp got high, so I had to turn it way down. Then the A/C kicked on, so the incubator kicked off (the problem I've had with hatching in it during the summer); temp got down to 80*.

Really hoping for chicks today or tomorrow morning. IDK.......

I hate the waiting part!!! Getting the day-old chicks in the mail was WAY better!!!

Hopefully they did not get cool enough to hurt them...

I had temp problems with my first 2 batches this year, I bought an incubator this spring, it came with two thermometers, one mounted in the incubator and one to check it with.

They both read the same, so I thought I was fine. After my second unsuccessful hatch I bought an indoor out door thermometer and placed the probe through the vent holes in the incubator, hanging it at the top of the eggs......AND I found out my other thermometers were running almost 4 degrees hot.....SO I cooked the first two batches.

Which is why I got these pheasant eggs that just hatched, to see if my problem was fixed.....

SO I agree whole heartedly with your check the temps with multiple reliable thermometers!

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Ok, I started with 18 guinea eggs, and 8 EE. I had two guinea hatch out and two EE hatch so far, starting on the 8th...then after I placed them into my brooder within the hour one guinea drowned in the water. Bummer. But I've got 6 more pipping, guinea that is...crossing fingers for the rest to hatch out safely. I did put the guinea eggs in the incubated a few days before the EE.

When we have panties or quail I put rocks in the water so they don't have a puddle quite as big but can still drink. I take them out when they aren't as wobbly.