Incubating

[Hazzard]

I have recently found out that you cannot make hens go broody, so which hens are the best brooders?

Also, are there any good cheap incubator that I can use (which aren't home made?!)

Finally, if I go forward with this hatching, where is the best place to hatch them?

PS I live in the uk

Thanks

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Yes they will only go broody when they are ready. Silkies are great broody hens and probably the top of the table.

Check out the incubator shop for some incubator ideas, they are very helpful with quick delivery http://www.theincubatorshop.co.uk/

You should idealy have your incubator in a room that's stable in temperature and draft free.
Check out the hatching and raising chicks section here https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks
I would highly reccomend you read "Hatching eggs 101" it has all the info needed for incubating eggs.

Wishing you the very best of luck

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There is a little manual I think called "A Guide to Better Hatching." It is available from Randall Burkey.

You can't go wrong if you follow this book. About $9 US.

http://www.randallburkey.com/A-Guide-To-Better-Hatching/productinfo/36030/

 

[owen england 2]

This is my first time incubating chicken eggs , I am now on day 27 and nothing has hatched I know that's is very late and at day 25 i candled them again an saw no movement however there was a chick in there at this point I thought they were dead so I cracked it open to see what was goin of inside and there was a fully grown chick inside with all the yoak still in its sack, the chick was moving around however unfortunately it died moments after I opened the shell up, after this I tried to think of a reason for them being late and I remembered that in the first 4 days of incubation my incubator was in my kitchen and at night it gets very cold and the alarm kept going off all night long and the temperature was never steady above 33 degrease selsease, now there is no movement and no pipping so I'm unsure what to do I've rose the humidity to 60% and the temperature is how steady all day and night at 37.5 degrease selsease from day 4!!!???? What do I do ??!!!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I'm afraid at day 27 I would personaly call time on the hatch. If you have candled and see no movement hear no peeping and see no Internal pip then the chicks have probably died. You could do an eggtopsy to see how far along they got so you could make adjustments to your incubator.
What type of incubator do you have? Have you double checked the temp and humidity with another thermometer and hygrometer? Often they are off and double checking is good idea. How often were the eggs turned? There are so many variables with incubating and getting the optimum is needed to get a good hatch.

 

[lazy gardener]

I would recommend that you start over with fresh eggs, if your thermostat is holding steady now, and if you're sure your thermometer is accurate.