Incubators Anonymous

[ThatFarmerChick]

I recommend GQF hands down. I've tried out brinsea and personally didn't like it. I love my GQF hova bators and 1202 cabinet.

What is the difference between the two?

 

[duluthralphie]

For you that did not get hatches.. Poop Happens....

When hatching learn to not count your chickens before they hatch.

I a with Aurora that does not look like heat shrinking. Heat shrinking is ugly. There is a membrane that actually shrinks to the chick and prevents it from moving. Like the picture of the quitter only worse and around the whole body.

I have just finished or am just finishing the worst hatch in human history. It was in a 1202!

The turner stopped working. I did not notice it had stopped working. It still works for me to manually bring it back to center, but it does not hold there. It falls to one side or the other, which lets me think it is still working. When I figured out it was not working was a day before lockdown..

I decided to hatch in that incubator. Big failure, I could not get the moisture high enough. I could not see what was happening inside.

I got 5 poults for 40-50 eggs, I did not count them. I moved them to the foam hatchers to finish when I saw it was going bad, It never helped the turkeys but I did save some chicks, they are hatching now.

Of the 5 poults 3 were weak. 2 never walked. One barely walks and will be dead within the day. The other two seem OK, I might get failure to thrive on them. I was going to a swap today to sell chicks. I am not going. I am forced to keep these.

I do not want to sell inferior birds.. I am going to keep the Chicks and poults. If the poults are this weak the chicks will be too. It is heartbreaking.

I think the setting trays were the problem. This is the last 1202 I got. It had home made setting trays. No idea where the real ones are. They are 1/4 inch too wide and 1/2 ibch too high. They scrape the sides of the cabinet when they turn. I think this put pressure on the mechanism and the motor. I have ordered new trays. These will become something else. Most likely junk. the tin is too thin and the edges too sharp to even use in a hatcher. I will not hatch in them as chicks like to commit suicide, why give them a razor blade?

Anyone want to but some homemade tray?..... cheap even?


I am also ordered 2 automatic humidity devices. Yea, the bucket, hose and bowl. I did not get the proper water container with either machine, now I will have them. I am seriously thinking of buying the clear doors.

When I make a hatcher this year, it will have clear on one side at least. I want to know what is going on in there.

This was a huge UGLY experience. 4% hatch rate is not something I am proud to report, but I think everyone needs to know, it happens.

I am not as experienced as many on BYC. but the failed turner seems the most logical reason. I have all the eggs in the other 1202, but some were in the bad 1202 so next hatch may not be any better.


Just curious, what moisture level do you shot for Aurora? At incubation and at hatch?

 

[BertandMary]

Sorry to hear that, Ralphie. We are both originally from MN, just an FYI. We are running what is apparently one of the worst incubators. The LG9300. We had 90% the first run and just hit day 21, with our fibgera crossed, on the second run. We did add a fan and that has helped keep temps even. We simply try not to overthink the process too much. We decided to buy eggs local from stock where we could see the parents to determine their health and livibg conditions. Secondly, we aim to keep the temp between 99 and 101, for an average close to 100. We have good ambient humidity so we run dry for the most pary up to day 18. When a dry day does occur, we add a damp paper towel to the corner of the bator. On lockdown we fill everything and run nearly 80%. It is day 21 in a few hours. We already have 6 hatched and several pips. We set 2 doz eggs. 2 infertile and I dropped on during candeling ao 21 went into lockdown. Stuff happens and we are glad you shared your post. Some of the remaining may or may not hatch bit we stick to what worked the first time. Eggs from quality birds, 30% ish humidity for 18 days, and run around 100 temp with our fingers crossed. I did have to assist one this morning which was both fun and nerve racking. Chick and I are both doing fine. Lol

 

[BillJ]

I wonder what the results would be if an incubator were running a significantly lower temperature.

I had one bird once that pipped and cracked the top off but couldn't get out. I took the shell off and it was shrink wrapped but alive. It survived but was not very sharp. It turned out bigger than other black copper roo's, had a particularly long beak. I called it Salty. Hatched about the same time as the Old Man roo tending the flock the last 6 years. Salty died of natural causes last year.

It's day 6 at noon. Six eggs. Homemade incubator. I used to put in a plastic cup with water then during lockdown I'd have a tray covering the bottom which would get water presenting more surface area. Salty wasn't hatched in this. My first attempt was rocking the eggs manually multiple times a day and not controlling the temperature very accurately. That got overly hot once. I started this 6 egg hatch with a cup of water but after reading of dry incubation decided to leave it out until day 7. I decided on day 7 because the sketches of egg levels on days 7 and 14, it seems most of the water goes the first week.

I saw a study on best egg motion on development and that said less the first week more the middle then none on lockdown. I have my homemade rocker with two speeds, a flip every 2½ hours or every 5 hours. This time I've decided to leave it on 2½ hours and every 3 days turn the eggs 90°. There is a fan circulating air and last time I would move the eggs around changing their positions when they'd get the 90° rotation. I figured the eggs closer to where the warmed air entered the rocker half of the incubator would be warmer. This time I raised the speed of the fan and reduced the temperature of the warming lamp (for a slower rise time). In a perfect world I could probably find a balance and a level temperature. Because I increased the fan speed, this time I'm not repositioning the eggs relative to one another and will see if there's an earlier hatching of the eggs that were closer to air in.

Bill J

 

[BertandMary]

I wonder what the results would be if an incubator were running a significantly lower temperature. 

I had one bird once that pipped and cracked the top off but couldn't get out.  I took the shell off and it was shrink wrapped but alive.  It survived but was not very sharp.  It turned out bigger than other black copper roo's, had a particularly long beak.  I called it Salty.  Hatched about the same time as the Old Man roo tending the flock the last 6 years.  Salty died of natural causes last year. 

one of my buddies, and an experienced hatcher, said he noticed a lot more blood and veins at hatch time as well as more failures when he ran lower temps.

 

[BillJ]

one of my buddies, and an experienced hatcher, said he noticed a lot more blood and veins at hatch time as well as more failures when he ran lower temps.

Okay. Was wondering if it possibly could leave the chicks too weak to pip.

 

[Jessimom]

I have a LG9300 with a fan, I have an Incuview with a fan, and I have 2 Brinseas with the humidity pumps. My LG, I have consistently been able to hatch my silkie eggs, but very poor results with shipped eggs. In the beginning, I had lower temps and late hatches with my silkie eggs. Bumping up the temps I started hatching day 20/21 instead of 21/22. My Incuview I called the Death Bator when I tried to incubate in it. Now I use it as a hatcher only. My Brinsea, when used for hatch, all the way to Lock down, I have consistently had at least an 85% hatch rate on shipped eggs. That is counting the eggs that made it to lock down compared to what actually hatched (not what was originally set).

My newest Brinsea appears to have been running at a lower temp. I started these eggs in the LG, but moved them to the Brinsea on day 7, Day 19 I moved them to the Incuview to hatch. They are currently on day 22 and 2 hatched yesterday, and 1 is pipped (out of 11 eggs). That's why I think the Brinsea's temps were lower. I bumped up the temps on my day 15 eggs in there and we'll see if they do any better.

With lower temps I have late hatches with weaker chicks. I've read that girls can survive lower temps, and boys can survive heat spikes. I have NOT kept track of the chicks to see if that is true or not.

Sportsman is a cabinet incubator, and all the others listed are 40 egg incubators or less, correct?

 

[BertandMary]

I don't know all the models but I do believe the Sportsman is a cabinet bator. We have 11 out of 22 hatched today so far. Our worst case scenario is 50%.....yay! Surprisingly our FBCMs are hatching like crazy. I think there are only 3 left to hatch out of 11 that we had at lockdown. The Blue Ameraucana was the first to hatch but most are still setting taking their time.

 

[duluthralphie]

Yes, the sportsman is a cabinet around 240 eggs at a time.

The 1202 is and older model, the 1503 is newer. I have older ones.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Yes, the sportsman is a cabinet around 240 eggs at a time.

The 1202 is and older model, the 1503 is newer. I have older ones.

X2 I also have an older 1202. I love the thing lol.

Ralph-I usually incubate at between 25-35% humidity and hatch at about 65%. I did use the 1202 to hatch in last weekend because I had so many eggs that I couldn't seperate them in my hatchers. I kept it around 55%, mostly because I couldn't get it Any higher. Mine came with the tubing for the auto water system but I had to improvise and make my own bowl and attach my own bucket in a weird way but it works. For hatching though, I added a mason jar of water, 3 tupperware lids, another bowl and 3 spines and still had to open it at least once a day to re-wet the sponges. It was a pain in the butt but I did manage to have a successful hatch. Only 2 needed help getting out of shells from getting cemented in.