Incubation on bannie chickens

[raerae73]

I have a small incubator with no egg turner.! I have read all instructions it is now day 20..! Getting anxious and worried because the temp did fluctuate a few times up and down in the last few weeks. Hard to adjust the temp and it stay there but it never dropped or got tremendously high! I have a question about humidity? I have the trays that you need to pour water in the little trays on the bottom. I was wondering if during the last few days your are not supposed to open the incubator so what if the water runs out during this time? I did open once today just to put se water in real quick!! Advice please from seone who knows more than me. This is my first time to incubate eggs! Thx

 

[pewterchick]

From what I have read just give it a few more days.
I let my hens hatch them so I am no help.
I bought two incubators at an auction about 2 weeks ago.I bought some eggs at same auction and filled one up and also bought some hatching eggs from here.
Then yesterday I collected a bunch of my eggs and filled the other one. I have read the last three days sit on your hands and don't open the incubator. Really fast is ok if you need to put water in them.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

It's better to open your incubator to put water in then not put water in and have shrink wrapped chicks. The point of keeping it closed is to retain humidity, but if there's no water in there, then thats not good.

So yes, you can open your incubator to put water in.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

And

 

[raerae73]

Thx everyone it's the end of day 21 and not nothing yet! Getting worried! Wonder if I set the temperature right? If you are hatching bannies is the temperature the same if I had regular chicks?

 

[DanEP]

Yes 99.5 if you have a fan or 101 for still air.

 

[raerae73]

Well I kept it mainly on 99.5 and it is a still incubator. I am on day 22 and I never candled none of the eggs! I have taken 3 eggs out and decided to bust them and they all 3 had no embryos.. My first time. I bought the little stofoam incubator for 20 bucks.. Anyway guess the whole hatch is dead. Thx everyone I will try again another time when I gett my courage up

 

[lazy gardener]

Before you go and destroy all of those eggs, why not candle them to see what's going on inside? It could be that on top of the temp being 99.5 instead of the 101 that still air needs, your thermometer was not accurate. Inaccurate thermometers probably account for 75% of incubation failures.

 

[raerae73]

I wonder where I can buy a new thermometer..that will tape to the lid windo for viewing ?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I have a Brinsea Spot Check thermometer. It has a probe that fits right into the small vent holes of my incubator (a Little Giant). Then I secure the display to one of the windows with a piece of tape.
Did you leave your eggs in, or toss them? My last hatch, before I got the better thermometer, was extremely late due to low temps. I had one chick hatch out on day 25 and another on day 27. Most of them didn't make it, but those two managed. It would be a shame to toss your eggs when there's a chance you could still get some to hatch...