Incubators Anonymous

[ozexpat]

Alright, I need some help..

I have been (attempting to) hatch pheasant eggs for about a month now and out of all my many eggs, only 2 chicks have hatched. The rest have developed to full term but never hatch, nor do they completely absorb the yolk.. I don't know what is going on.. I am so frustrated! I keep researching possible things on the Internet, but i have the right temp and humidity (which have been constant throughout my whole incubation process)
Also, some babies look like they are almost fully developed but may need a couple of weeks in the egg before it's time to hatch, but again, they have died.
The only thing I have done differently is my 2 chicks that did hatch were from my homemade incubator with me turning them everyday. Immediately after they hatched I bought myself a LG incubator w/ turner to put my new eggs in, and another one for a hatcher.. but how would my new eggs know any different lol. so now I am at a stand still.

Any thoughts?? I am getting to the point that I am not excited to put my eggs on lockdown and I'm also losing hope that I am not going to get any more babies

I am not an expert on pheasant eggs but your symptoms seem to be associated with low temps.

here are a few questions

Did you have a fan in your home made bator? Does the new styro have a fan?
What temps are you using and are your thermometers calibrated?

According to THE NSW DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Unfortunately, pheasant eggs do not hatch as well as other poultry eggs in modern forced-draught incubators. Hatching results are much better using broody hens or still-air machines. With a commercial operation, using brooding hens is completely out of the question and still-air machines need much more attention and labour than automatic forced-draught incubators. Some types of forced-draught incubators give better hatching results than others.
The normal time of incubation for ‘True’ pheasant eggs is 24–25 days. The actual time will be governed by factors such as age and method of storing eggs, and management of the incubator, in particular its temperature and humidity.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/poultry/species/pheasant-raising/egg-production

 

[RideRed93]

I am not an expert on pheasant eggs but your symptoms seem to be associated with low temps.

here are a few questions

Did you have a fan in your home made bator? Does the new styro have a fan?
What temps are you using and are your thermometers calibrated?

According to THE NSW DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Unfortunately, pheasant eggs do not hatch as well as other poultry eggs in modern forced-draught incubators. Hatching results are much better using broody hens or still-air machines. With a commercial operation, using brooding hens is completely out of the question and still-air machines need much more attention and labour than automatic forced-draught incubators. Some types of forced-draught incubators give better hatching results than others.
The normal time of incubation for ‘True’ pheasant eggs is 24–25 days. The actual time will be governed by factors such as age and method of storing eggs, and management of the incubator, in particular its temperature and humidity.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/poultry/species/pheasant-raising/egg-production

I didn't have a fan in my homemade 'bator, no.
The 'bator with the turner doesn't have a fan and the hatcher does have a fan.
The humidity is at about 70% and the temperature fluctuates between 99 - 100 degrees F.
Could the fan be my whole problem??

 

[ki4got]

Quote: ROFL guess hubby's a keeper... when I mentioned this post, he said 'only 60?'

but then, he knows I sell anything that's not a breeding potential bird...

 

[ozexpat]

I didn't have a fan in my homemade 'bator, no.
The 'bator with the turner doesn't have a fan and the hatcher does have a fan.
The humidity is at about 70% and the temperature fluctuates between 99 - 100 degrees F.
Could the fan be my whole problem??

humidity of 70% during the hatch could be your a big part of your problem. the chicks will be overloaded with fluid and die of heart failure before they can get out.

also if you are incubating without a fan you may need higher temps at the top of the eggs

read the hatching 101 link in my signature.

 

[RideRed93]

humidity of 70% during the hatch could be your a big part of your problem. the chicks will be overloaded with fluid and die of heart failure before they can get out.

also if you are incubating without a fan you may need higher temps at the top of the eggs

read the hatching 101 link in my signature. 

Great I will thanks!
But you are saying my humidity is too high? That I need to lower it to maybe 60%?

 

[ozexpat]

Great I will thanks!
But you are saying my humidity is too high? That I need to lower it to maybe 60%?

i would aim for 40% till the first pip then up it to 70

 

[ki4got]

Quote: I would say it entirely depends on what your humidity is during incubation as well... I dry incubate (15-20% at most), so 70% isn't a problem for my chicks, but if you keep it at 30-40% the whole time, anything more than 55-60 may be too much.

this last hatch, I actually had one chick hatch in the incubator the day before lockdown... had some eggs a broody snuck in that I missed for a few days before collecting, so I knew they were a couple days ahead, but didn't realize it was more than that LOL.

 

[ozexpat]

I dont wont to confuse you

humidity is a big drama for most newbies.
run humidity at no more than 40% during incubation. Its best to weigh the eggs and use that as a guide - aim for a loss of 13% weight or about 3% each week.
Once the eggs are in lockdown a higher than 70% humidity will not hurt the eggs. less than 65 and you may get shrink wrapping or dried membranes that make it tough for the chick to get out.

 

[cbnovick]

Here's my Staggered Hatch situation that I would like to get input on:

In my incubator (all looking right on target as of today):

I have 5 english B/B/S Orp eggs on day 18.

I have 4 buff Orps eggs on day 16

I have 13 RARE Buff Rocks (from Master Breeder) on day 9.

I ordered a Hovabator Genesis 2 weeks ago, figuring to use as a HATCHER only...unfortunately, Fedex issue mailed it to wrong address and had to re route it back to me. At any rate it may not be here in time for day 21 for the 1st batch of B/B/S Orps to hatch in. Even if the incubator does arrive Monday I will need to get it going and stable and therefore I don't feel good about moving the eggs over to it to hatch since it will be day 19 or 20 getting into position, unless you guys think it will be okay???

What if I need to hatch in the incubator with the other eggs being 2 days to 10 days behind these??

How do you suggest I handle this situation...assuming that the hatcher won't arrive until Monday or Tuesday??

Thanks, Cindy in AZ

 

[ozexpat]

go with what you have, its all you can do.

stop turning 1st batch on day 18.

do not add any humidity till first external pip.

stop turning buff orps on their day 18.

pull buff rocks as soon as new bator is stable but continue to hand turn them in hatching bator 3x a day till you can pull them

you should be ok. just dont add humidity for buff rocks till external pip so they can dry out as long as possible

good luck