Incubators Anonymous

[Arielle]

Quote: That's good news!

The eggs are super big (my words, not his) , so I expect that contributed to the wet eggs at hatching. Good to know. I'm looking for another line to combine with Donna's line.

 

[Arielle]

I have pip ege I have pip ege ..

Chucker eggs are due today or tammrow and I have at least one pip I think another but the angle is wierd so I cant see well.

Sometimes the weird angle still results in a zip; if not I open them.

 

[gabrielle1976]

We have a total of 3 pips now , The one from 8 am or so this morning hasnt done anything of course they will probly wait till like 3 am or sometihng .

 

[MrsMoonCat]

I've had an annoying time with this hatch, even though it has been successful so far.

I usually dry incubate in my two forced air Hovabator Genesis incubators with turners and then do high humidity lockdown/hatching in the still air (1620? 1622? I can't remember, but it's the other Hovabator) with the eggs in cut out cartons. I've been very pleased with this method and have had some great hatches since I read about it on one of these threads. Anyway, the temps were swinging really wildly on the hatcher so I put the top from one of the Genesis bators over the lockdown eggs so I could fix or replace the malfunctioning one. It was day 19 and none were pipped. The heat came up to 99 right away and my humidity was at 68%. Well, they started pipping last night which was Day 20 and I had 4 hatch quite well on their own - darling little Swedish Flower Hen chicklets, Yay!.

Today has been an entirely different story. Very, very early this morning I shut off the power (fan) and pulled the little fluffbutts out as they were wreaking havoc with the other eggs - you could hear them knocking the eggs out of the cartons!! There were no pips on the remaining eggs, but I had placed two wet paper towels inside anyway, just in case. Temp and humidity came right back up and all was good. About 5am I checked again and there were 6 pipped eggs. All was still looking good, or so I thought ~ until I came home a bit ago to find five eggs/chicks now completely shrink-wrapped and one egg that was pipped and solid as a rock - like cement.

What the heck??? I know lots of people do their entire set/lockdown/hatch in their Genesis bators and love it. This is the second time I have had a problem like this when I tried hatching in the Genesis, which is one of the reasons I went to the method I'm using. Anyone else ever have issues like this? I do love the incubating portion in the Genesis - just not the hatching it seems...

*I did get the five babies freed from the superglue and they are all resting and drying in the brooder. I went ahead and opened the egg that was rock hard and found a fully-formed chick that had basically been suffocated by the shrinkwrapping around its beak and the pip in the shell. It was like concrete! I wish I'd got home to it sooner.

I also fixed my still-air and have it back over the remaining unpipped eggs - the screws on the heater mount were loose underneath. It is holding steady once again and my blood pressure has gone down a bit.

 

[ki4got]

i incubate and hatch all eggs with a fan. it's the only way to guarantee the humidity and temperature are stable through out the incubator/hatcher.

 

[Arielle]

I've had an annoying time with this hatch, even though it has been successful so far.

I usually dry incubate in my two forced air Hovabator Genesis incubators with turners and then do high humidity lockdown/hatching in the still air (1620? 1622? I can't remember, but it's the other Hovabator) with the eggs in cut out cartons. I've been very pleased with this method and have had some great hatches since I read about it on one of these threads. Anyway, the temps were swinging really wildly on the hatcher so I put the top from one of the Genesis bators over the lockdown eggs so I could fix or replace the malfunctioning one. It was day 19 and none were pipped. The heat came up to 99 right away and my humidity was at 68%. Well, they started pipping last night which was Day 20 and I had 4 hatch quite well on their own - darling little Swedish Flower Hen chicklets, Yay!.

Today has been an entirely different story. Very, very early this morning I shut off the power (fan) and pulled the little fluffbutts out as they were wreaking havoc with the other eggs - you could hear them knocking the eggs out of the cartons!! There were no pips on the remaining eggs, but I had placed two wet paper towels inside anyway, just in case. Temp and humidity came right back up and all was good. About 5am I checked again and there were 6 pipped eggs. All was still looking good, or so I thought ~ until I came home a bit ago to find five eggs/chicks now completely shrink-wrapped and one egg that was pipped and solid as a rock - like cement.

What the heck??? I know lots of people do their entire set/lockdown/hatch in their Genesis bators and love it. This is the second time I have had a problem like this when I tried hatching in the Genesis, which is one of the reasons I went to the method I'm using. Anyone else ever have issues like this? I do love the incubating portion in the Genesis - just not the hatching it seems...

*I did get the five babies freed from the superglue and they are all resting and drying in the brooder. I went ahead and opened the egg that was rock hard and found a fully-formed chick that had basically been suffocated by the shrinkwrapping around its beak and the pip in the shell. It was like concrete! I wish I'd got home to it sooner.

I also fixed my still-air and have it back over the remaining unpipped eggs - the screws on the heater mount were loose underneath. It is holding steady once again and my blood pressure has gone down a bit.

The most frustrating thing is when all is going well and thenit suddenly takes a 180 turn. Sorry you had so many shrink wrapped. Glad youtried to save them and not give up until that point was crossed. I don't use the HOvabator, only because I already have an LG, so I can't offer any useful advice. My best hatches are when they pip and zip very quickly. IT always seems the last to hatch are the most likely to be doomed. Not your fault that they shrink wrapped.

 

[MrsMoonCat]

i incubate and hatch all eggs with a fan. it's the only way to guarantee the humidity and temperature are stable through out the incubator/hatcher.

That is what I would think too. It just makes more sense. But both times that I used the fan I ended up with shrink-wrapped chicks, so I've gone the other route and had better hatches. I do group the eggs all in the center of the hatcher. Do you ever run across the shrinkwrapping probelm in your hatching? It is so frustrating trying to figure out which way to go.

 

[Arielle]

I use a fan in my LG, and while it does help with the heat circulation, it also contributes to shrink wrapping. My fan actually blows the moist air right out of the incubator.

Unless I block the hole with a red plug.

Does your fan blow directly on the eggs? Yinepu is often cautioning about some designs that blow directly on the eggs. My fan is setup to not blow on the eggs because I installed it to blow on the ceiling.

Sorry you are having difficulties.

 

[MrsMoonCat]

The Genesis has the built in fan that I believe blows out to the sides. I just wish there was a way to turn it when the eggs have pipped. Thank you for the support and the advice. I will probably just keep going with the way I have been in the past. I appreciate you all letting me vent too

 

[Arielle]

I think yinepu suggests covering the eggs with a damp papertowel.