Incubators Anonymous

[OneMountainAcres]

OK so my brilliant idea of letting the broody hatch the last batch was a bust..... sigh the two promising looking eggs disappeared no baby no shell..... but I just set 25 quail eggs in lock down in a borrowed bator, and I put 19 turkey and 4 duck eggs in the baton so hopefully we will have more babies around July 8th

I'm sorry Hopefully your new batch does a lot better.

 

[WVduckchick]

We'll, my first hatches of blrw were due today. The one set was from the online raffle off lav orpingtons and blrw...I had two lavender orps develope and make it to lockdown and only 1 hatched. No blrw The second set was from the dozen I bought on eBay. They were shipped great but not one developed. I have one more set of blrw due this Friday from a trade.... Only 2 have developed. I'm really hoping they both hatch I don't think I'm meant to have this breed.

I sold my last group of lav orps, but the gal that bought them said I could have eggs any time, if I ever decided to get back to them. If you'd want to try a different source, i could ask her if they are laying well enough.
I have to think your post office really screws you.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I sold my last group of lav orps, but the gal that bought them said I could have eggs any time, if I ever decided to get back to them. If you'd want to try a different source, i could ask her if they are laying well enough.
I have to think your post office really screws you.

Thanks but that's ok. The lavender orps were an extra included with the blrw. I'm happy with the ones I have (one older one and the one that just hatched). My PO it's usually really awesome. I'm wondering if maybe the last stop before they come to my PO is where it's bad :/

 

[Faraday40]

I've heard that any eggs going through Chicago tend to get scrambled. Since I'm in the Chicago suburbs, I can confirm this. I've had eggs arrive in perfect external condition & literally be scrambled on the inside. (Not just detached, rolling air cells - but broken yolks inside a perfect shell, expertly packed = scrambled eggs!)


Other news:
The last two chicks (below) moved out of the incubator this morning. The one on right is a laced orp. The one on left is a ?? orp. It looks lav but slightly lighter. I do have a proven recessive white gene in the chick's grandmother, so perhaps this little lav will grow in white feathers.

It's a very cool effect. Here's the grandma (a mauve orp) that got a double dose of that recessive white gene:

She has the creamy white feathers that contrast those pretty dark features. We sold this hen, so it's nice to discover that there's possibly a way to hatch more of these stunning chickens. I've been able to track down the one pairing that can give me a 25% of hatching a recessive white. What I haven't been able to figure out is if this recessive white gene is sex-linked. Two years ago when we were breeding the grandma, every time we got a white, the chick turned out to be female. (6 out of 6) We hatched many chicks this year & 2 look like they may recessive white. Too young to sex, but it would be interesting if it is sexlinked.

 

[duluthralphie]

SS hatching here... No matter how bad the other roosters are, Cuddles always seems to get the job done. His girls hatch around 90% while the others this year do 30 or less.......WHY????

 

[OneMountainAcres]

.... Guess who just got peafowl eggs....

A friend of mine messaged me the other day and asked if I'd like a few. He made a trade online but doesn't have an incubator to hatch them. So now he's giving them to me in exchange for incubating about 3 dozen eggs for him lol. There's only 5 peafowl eggs and they were shipped so we'll see how that goes but I'm hoping for at least 1.

Speaking of just 1. The only blrw egg that made it to lockdown just hatched! Hopefully this one is strong and healthy! I'm picking up another blrw tomorrow morning (trading two Serama pullets). It's young but not quite a chick. Maybe I'll end up with a pair.

 

[aliciaplus3]

My latest hatch

16 quail for a friend......my first time with these little ones and they are cute! I have somewhere around 40ish eggs in the bator. Some chicks due the 23rd, ducks and turkey due June 28th..... I am ready for more babies!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Congratulations! I love little quail babies!

Mine are growing fast!

 

[aliciaplus3]

I'll

Congratulations! I love little quail babies!

Mine are growing fast!

View attachment 1432798 View attachment 1432800 View attachment 1432801

Yours are cute. Monday my friend will pick up the ones I hatched for her

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

Hi there
Since you're all incubating junkies, I'm wondering if you could all give me some advice.

I've borrowed an incubator from a friend for this year. It's a HovaBator 1602N with an automatic egg turner.

I'm having terrible luck with my hatches. I'm incubating buckeyes and chanteclers.

Of over 50 chantecler eggs that I've set only 3 have shown any signs of development, with only 2 hatching. Eggs are fertile.

Almost all of the buckeye eggs that I set develop, but less than 50% hatch. In this most recent batch, there were 25 eggs that made it to lockdown. 11 hatched with no problems at all. 3 got large pips, but then it was like someone poured a fast setting shellac into the shells. I managed to save 1 through hours of soaking in warm water.

I did the salt test on my hygrometer and know that it reads 3% lower than it should.

Initial incubation period has been steady at 99.5F, RH in low to mid 30s. Lockdown period is same temp with RH between 70-75. The egg turner is functioning well.

I also tried a dozen purchased hatching eggs (picked up, not shipped) with only 2 developing and only 1 hatch.

What do you think I'm doing wrong? Suggestions and advice would be most welcome.