Incubating Eggs??

[sadielady360]

I have hens that are with a rooster and have been for way longer than 3 weeks, and I went and bought a still air incubator and my eggs are sitting in a box in the pen, I also got 4 eggs from a friend that she puts in incubators and hatch, but I am wondering what I have to do to be able to put eggs in.

Please tell me everything you know about incubators, because I am really confused.

 

[junebuggena]

Eggs start to loose their viability after about a week or so. As long as your still air incubator is holding a steady temperature of 102* for at least 24 hours, go ahead and set some fresh eggs. The fresher, the better. You need to either set them on their sides or with the fat end up. Mark one side (not end) with an X and the other side with an O so you can make sure that you are properly turning them. You turn eggs side to side, not end to end. The humidity level inside the incubator needs to be kept at between 30 to 45. You'll need a small, but very, very bright flashlight for candling. You also need to move the eggs around to different spots in the incubator every couple of days or so to make sure that no egg stays in a 'hot' spot the whole time, and they all incubate evenly.

 

[sadielady360]

I understand now I just didn't know when to put the eggs in there and all that stuff, thanks

 

[junebuggena]

You're welcome and good luck. I've been reading up on incubating and hatching lately. I think I've read every hatching thread on this site in the last 3 months or so. I attempted my first hatch two weeks ago. My incubator stopped working on day 8. I've got a replacement part due to arrive today, so hopefully I can set some eggs tomorrow. I am very grateful I only set a few eggs from my flock and I didn't buy hatching eggs. My incubator can hold up to 30, but I only set a dozen.

 

[sadielady360]

My eggs have been in the incubator for 6 days and are supposed to hatch 26. We candeled them last night and you could see the vains but so far the incubator is maintaining the right temperature and humidity.