Incubators Anonymous

[R2elk]

Hi, everyone! I've been away for a while, and am basically restarting my flock after a particularly difficult fox issue and contemplating relocation. I have barnyard mix eggs in my Brinsea Octagon Advance 20 and two Hova Bator 1588s ready when I need them. I also just acquired a Hova Bator 2370 to use primarily as a hatcher - the ability to turn off the fan was a big selling point for me. I'm expecting to set more chicken eggs at the end of the week, if all goes well, too.

In retrospect, I probably should just have purchased a cabinet incubator.

Why would you want to turn off the fan?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Why would you want to turn off the fan?

I prefer still air for hatching. I've had good hatches in forced air units, too, but in my experience, there seem to be more issues with membrane drying when the actual hatch occurs in a circulated air incubator. Being able to switch back and forth at will offers more flexibility, especially if I need to use it as an incubator, too.

 

[Flowerbh]

I just set 28 Runner Ducks and Runner Duck/mix duck eggs! I used to only have 4 out of 12 ducks hatch, but then I bought the flat turner and I've had 100% hatch with it! So 28 days from now, I will have all those cute (but messy!) ducklings running around until I can sell them!

And, tomorrow is lockdown for my chicken eggs! It's always fun to see what kind of crazy mixes I end up with. I have a male and female Ayam Cemani in the mix and they can produce some really weird/fun looking chickens! I have many different breeds all mixed together! Lots of fun!

 

[Faraday40]

3 more chicks hatched to add to the brooder:

Here's our Buff Colombian Orp's chick. Not sure what color to call it. Kind of a smokey yellow - hints of gray. The color makes me wonder if our lav orp is the dad.... but the "ugly-awkward" appearance is telling me she's 1/2 laced orp. (I really love my beautiful laced orps, but man, do they go through a rough & awkward adolescence!)

Next hatched an egg from my blue SL Orp.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Jewel's egg hatched. I think it might be a mauve, but it could also be a blue orp.

...and Here's a comparison pic of my 1st & last hatched. The serama is 3 days older. The orp doesn't have the leg strength to run around yet, so it's laying down. The serama is standing tall next to it.

 

[Flowerbh]

3 more chicks hatched to add to the brooder:

Here's our Buff Colombian Orp's chick. Not sure what color to call it. Kind of a smokey yellow - hints of gray. The color makes me wonder if our lav orp is the dad.... but the "ugly-awkward" appearance is telling me she's 1/2 laced orp. (I really love my beautiful laced orps, but man, do they go through a rough & awkward adolescence!)

Next hatched an egg from my blue SL Orp.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Jewel's egg hatched. I think it might be a mauve, but it could also be a blue orp.

...and Here's a comparison pic of my 1st & last hatched. The serama is 3 days older. The orp doesn't have the leg strength to run around yet, so it's laying down. The serama is standing tall next to it.

Oh my! I LOVE THEM ALL!

 

[Faraday40]

Oh my! I LOVE THEM ALL!

Thanks. So far all are happy & healthy. Even the one with a red navel (now scabbed) is eating, drinking, & running about.

Hatch update:
I expected most chicks to hatch on Sunday. Since this was just a fertility check, I didn't use my regular incubator. (It's big & was deep in the crawl space.) I think this "back up" incubator I used may have some hot/cold spots. I moved all the eggs into my "good incubator" = a home-made cooler-bator, during lockdown.

2 seramas hatched on day 19 (on time for seramas)
3 orpingtons hatched day 20 (a touch early)
2 more orpingtons hatched on day 21 (on time)
1 last orp hatched day 21 night or day 22 in the early morning (a bit late)

I thought things were done..... Normally almost all the orp chicks pop out within 24 -48 hrs of each other. They may all arrive a little early or a little late.... but never so scattered.


So this morning (Day 23) I certainly didn't expect to find a lavender orpington and 2 pipped Leghorn eggs in the incubator. The Leghorn x orp mixes have since hatched & are massive. As I type, there's another egg that just pipped around 1:30pm this afternoon.
Lavender-ish orp (could be a laced lav orp)

Leghorn x Orp mix

The incubation continues on...
(The 2nd Leghornx xOrp is going to stay inside incubator for another day. The pipped egg will likely hatch - but who can guess if the last 2 eggs will.)

I've never had such a spread out hatch! Am I correct to guess that my incubator has hot/cold spots? The only other difference (besides incubator) between this & my other hatches is the crazy weather during egg collection. We went from blizzard conditions, to below zero, up to 45'F + rain & melt & flooding, then back down below zero in a matter of days. I was collecting for 8 days during all sorts of outdoor conditions. I didn't bother to store the eggs in the basement. The house is a little cool because it's winter, so I simply kept them on the counter. Any thoughts?

I

 

[Flowerbh]

Thanks. So far all are happy & healthy. Even the one with a red navel (now scabbed) is eating, drinking, & running about.

Hatch update:
I expected most chicks to hatch on Sunday. Since this was just a fertility check, I didn't use my regular incubator. (It's big & was deep in the crawl space.) I think this "back up" incubator I used may have some hot/cold spots. I moved all the eggs into my "good incubator" = a home-made cooler-bator, during lockdown.

2 seramas hatched on day 19 (on time for seramas)
3 orpingtons hatched day 20 (a touch early)
2 more orpingtons hatched on day 21 (on time)
1 last orp hatched day 21 night or day 22 in the early morning (a bit late)

I thought things were done..... Normally almost all the orp chicks pop out within 24 -48 hrs of each other. They may all arrive a little early or a little late.... but never so scattered.
I think it is your scattered gathering dates. Mine do the same thing when I save up eggs to hatch. I put them in the turner to keep them turned (But not inside the incubator) ....just on my counter until I get them all. The ones gathered first tend to hatch first.



So this morning (Day 23) I certainly didn't expect to find a lavender orpington and 2 pipped Leghorn eggs in the incubator. The Leghorn x orp mixes have since hatched & are massive. As I type, there's another egg that just pipped around 1:30pm this afternoon.
Lavender-ish orp (could be a laced lav orp) View attachment 1691880

Leghorn x Orp mix
View attachment 1691883

The incubation continues on...
(The 2nd Leghornx xOrp is going to stay inside incubator for another day. The pipped egg will likely hatch - but who can guess if the last 2 eggs will.)
View attachment 1691882

I've never had such a spread out hatch! Am I correct to guess that my incubator has hot/cold spots? The only other difference (besides incubator) between this & my other hatches is the crazy weather during egg collection. We went from blizzard conditions, to below zero, up to 45'F + rain & melt & flooding, then back down below zero in a matter of days. I was collecting for 8 days during all sorts of outdoor conditions. I didn't bother to store the eggs in the basement. The house is a little cool because it's winter, so I simply kept them on the counter. Any thoughts?

I

 

[Flowerbh]

So my hatch is over. Here is the results. I put 51 eggs in the incubator. Of those 51, only 17 were fertile! I bought some of those eggs for a lot of money. Luckily, the sellers checked and agreed with me about the fertility of their eggs. They have corrected the problem and I will be getting replacement eggs at the end of the month. Anyway, of the 17 fertile eggs, 15 hatched. The two that didn't hatch were from the same hen.....a Crested Creme Legbar. They made it all the way to around day 19/20 (my guess since they were alive at lockdown on day 18) and then died in the shell. They looked like they would have been males. Anybody know why these CCL may not have made it? I've had this problem before with CCL. Otherwise, a good hatch if you just count the fertile eggs! LOL

Just had a friend call and ask if I would hatch the Lavender Orpington eggs she just bought. Her crazy broody hen decided not to be broody anymore. Yes, of course I will hatch them! And, of course, since she only has 6 eggs and my incubator holds 42, it only makes sense to add my own eggs in there .....to test fertility, right?! LOL!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

So my hatch is over. Here is the results. I put 51 eggs in the incubator. Of those 51, only 17 were fertile! I bought some of those eggs for a lot of money. Luckily, the sellers checked and agreed with me about the fertility of their eggs. They have corrected the problem and I will be getting replacement eggs at the end of the month. Anyway, of the 17 fertile eggs, 15 hatched. The two that didn't hatch were from the same hen.....a Crested Creme Legbar. They made it all the way to around day 19/20 (my guess since they were alive at lockdown on day 18) and then died in the shell. They looked like they would have been males. Anybody know why these CCL may not have made it? I've had this problem before with CCL. Otherwise, a good hatch if you just count the fertile eggs! LOL

Just had a friend call and ask if I would hatch the Lavender Orpington eggs she just bought. Her crazy broody hen decided not to be broody anymore. Yes, of course I will hatch them! And, of course, since she only has 6 eggs and my incubator holds 42, it only makes sense to add my own eggs in there .....to test fertility, right?! LOL!

Congrats on your hatch! I hatched a group of shipped CL eggs (14) last year and the 11 that made it to lockdown hatched (2 died after hatch - late hatchers)...but I think that was very lucky. I had FBCM eggs in with them, so ran at pretty low humidity (less than 40%). This chart may be helpful:
https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8127.pdf.

 

[Flowerbh]

Congrats on your hatch! I hatched a group of shipped CL eggs (14) last year and the 11 that made it to lockdown hatched (2 died after hatch - late hatchers)...but I think that was very lucky. I had FBCM eggs in with them, so ran at pretty low humidity (less than 40%). This chart may be helpful:
https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8127.pdf.

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