Willawong Hill
Songster
So I purchased 12 eggs recently (in Australia so height of summer here) and only 3 went anywhere. 1 blood ring, so two made it to lockdown but neither hatched (on eggtopsy hadn't absorbed yolk or internally pipped at all). After noting that I only had 2 viable chicks on day 10 candeling I got another 7 eggs from a different source. On day 9 today 4 or 5 of this second batch look good. So here's my dilemma, if none hatched in the incubator last time am I better staying with the incubator to hatch the eggs or putting them under a broody hen (she's just gone broody the last day or two so if this is the case then when should i transfer eggs- at lockdown or prior)?
The incubator is an older model and I was having trouble keeping the humidity up during lockdown (80% when i went to bed, but 40% in the morning). Also, the temp may have been low as I had a secondary thermometer down at egg level which read about 37 C whereas the incubator sensor was set to 38.5C (so possibly temp was too high- not sure which reading to trust). However, the broody has never hatched eggs before so I don't know which is more likely to be successful? I'm desperate to have some millifleur pekins hatch!
The incubator is an older model and I was having trouble keeping the humidity up during lockdown (80% when i went to bed, but 40% in the morning). Also, the temp may have been low as I had a secondary thermometer down at egg level which read about 37 C whereas the incubator sensor was set to 38.5C (so possibly temp was too high- not sure which reading to trust). However, the broody has never hatched eggs before so I don't know which is more likely to be successful? I'm desperate to have some millifleur pekins hatch!