Incubators Anonymous

[Overoberyl]

I hatched 1 Lemon cuckoo so he sent me some more... so if they hatch will have to keep them and breed them too

I wish he had not shipped them by accident

Overoberly: I hatched some SOLID blue and 1 SOLID BLACK chicks from some shipped eggs SUPER EXCITED to finally have some solid blue Rocks to work with. That was one of my first project birds and could never get a Roo and maybe now I have something to work with. I have a Black Roo on order from YardfullofRocks too

From Chicksomy? I have had a couple of good hatches with the LC's from other sellers but have not had good luck with my pullet/roo ratio. First time I got 7 roos & 2 pullets, hoping for better odds this time around, lol. I'm hoping my lone SLW is a roo!

I have my two GS solid blue pullets, but I only have a barred roo so I can't reliably produce solids at this point. If you end up with an extra cockerel pls keep me in mind! Just got my new barred roo this weekend

 

[DMRippy]

From Chicksomy? I have had a couple of good hatches with the LC's from other sellers but have not had good luck with my pullet/roo ratio. First time I got 7 roos & 2 pullets, hoping for better odds this time around, lol. I'm hoping my lone SLW is a roo!

I have my two GS solid blue pullets, but I only have a barred roo so I can't reliably produce solids at this point. If you end up with an extra cockerel pls keep me in mind! Just got my new barred roo this weekend

My LCO is from Papa Brooder. I will let you know. If you don't hear from me check in with me.

 

[DMRippy]

So I candled the 180 mostly shipped eggs I set last week..... out of 24 GNH I think 20-22 are developing

and out of 18 BF 16+ are developing

I only tossed a few out of 180 eggs

that is not supposed to happen

I need that new brooder box ASAP now.

I did leave a few that I thought were clear just in case but not more than 15-20. Some were just to obvious to not toss

 

[Dahlisgrams]

Congratulations on a great hatch, Overo.. really love the type on your new rooster.

 

[Overoberyl]

My LCO is from Papa Brooder. I will let you know. If you don't hear from me check in with me.

That's odd, he told me he lost his best hens and wouldn't be selling eggs for awhile. Maybe you got them before that happened. I'm considering ordering another dozen from chicksomy since they did so well. I just really want a nice group of barred hens and it might take another dozen to get a good # after my first few attempts yielded only a few. l I also found some locally but sort of want to stick with what works, lol.

I hope your GNH's do well!!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Thanks... I have not had great luck with the GNH. I have never been able to grow out a usable roo. I have 5 hens.... still not laying they are a year old this month

Hubby wants me to sell them ASAP. I can't blame him really. I have 2 pullets growing out and just hatched 4 yesterday so if half of the eggs hatch I will be able to start new with them in the fall.

When did he lose his hens? He may not have enough to sell a doz. I only got the one odd egg and he send me 2-3 more they are developing too.

You want SOLID Rocks and Barred Rocks? If you want to hatch you some like I just did Brookhaven has them and they developed great. She is in FL and Tigercreek also in FL has or will have 2 pens set up, One is a Sex linked pen so all the pullets would be solid blue. I am getting some from him this month. I can't comment on fertility on his eggs. This will be my first time hatching from him. He has GSBR hens covered by a Splash Roo.... 100% blue chicks. His pullets are LACED too very pretty birds.

 

[Overoberyl]

Thanks... I have not had great luck with the GNH. I have never been able to grow out a usable roo. I have 5 hens.... still not laying they are a year old this month

Hubby wants me to sell them ASAP. I can't blame him really. I have 2 pullets growing out and just hatched 4 yesterday so if half of the eggs hatch I will be able to start new with them in the fall.

When did he lose his hens? He may not have enough to sell a doz. I only got the one odd egg and he send me 2-3 more they are developing too.

You want SOLID Rocks and Barred Rocks? If you want to hatch you some like I just did Brookhaven has them and they developed great. She is in FL and Tigercreek also in FL has or will have 2 pens set up, One is a Sex linked pen so all the pullets would be solid blue. I am getting some from him this month. I can't comment on fertility on his eggs. This will be my first time hatching from him. He has GSBR hens covered by a Splash Roo.... 100% blue chicks. His pullets are LACED too very pretty birds.

All my rocks are from Stan

I'm not in a rush just if someone has an extra cockerel I would take him.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Let him know you are looking for a Solid Roo... I am sure he will have one sooner than I would.

 

[Alyce birdbrain]

I want to order a new incubator for some hatching eggs I would like to send away for. I had Little Giant with egg turner but they were not effective enough to get a good result on bought eggs. It was to expensive. I am looking to get a good quality on and I am looking for some suggestions. Which kind do you get results with?

 

[ki4got]

actually i get great results (see previous posts LOL) on simple picture window hovabators, with added (used) computer fans running off old cell phone chargers... the egg turner for the lg will fit hovabator too...

the key to success with any incubator is learning YOUR incubator's quirks... and having multiple good, reliable thermometers and hygrometers that have been tested and/or calibrated to known standards. they're all going to vary slightly, especially electronic ones. you'll also get different results in different positions of your incubator as well, but want to get as close to where the eggs will be when you get it all set up. and don't be in a hurry to get it set up and running. take a week or more to make sure the temperature is steady. don't adjust the thermostat more than once every 6-8 hours, as it does take that long to get stable IMO, even if you only nudged the thermostat a teeny bit, it still has to settle into it's rhythm.

every incubator, to me, has a personality. you just have to understand that personality and work with it, not trying to force it...

maybe that's why i do so well with mine... i understand their quirks and accept them and run with it... the only one i haven't agreed with so far, (#3) is because i haven't found a fan that it likes. the old ones had vibrations that interrupted the eggs growth, the temperature didn't want to stay steady either because of the vibrating fan... so until i find a new fan that will stay balanced and not vibrate, it's just taking up shelf space. i have 2 others that are reliable (tho #1 tends to hatch about 12 hours sooner than #2 does, even tho the same thermometers measure everything identically.

#4 holds humidity way better than the others, even tho it's the same model (again same thermometers and hygrometers). so it is the dedicated hatcher and gets to greet all the babies.

yeah i know it sounds strange, but if you go about it like i do, you might see better results once you learn what works best for your incubator, it's environment, local weather patterns, etc.

what works best for me, may not work well for someone in south texas, or northern maine... and learning what does work for you, your area, the chosen incubator, etc, may take months to figure out, over numerous hatches. yes some will be good, some won't. but by keeping careful records of what you've done, changed, your results, etc, will tell you what works best. I also recommend doing 'eggtopsies' to see when the chick actually died. if it was fully formed and had internally pipped, or if it died prior to internal pip, etc.

i had one chick, internally pipped, was vocal, but then stopped when he started to zip. upon eggtopsy, i found that he had a loop of intestine wrapped around a leg, so when he started to turn, or the umbilicus closed on it, or something else along that time frame, caused him to die. in that instance, i don't blame anything but nature. but at least i know why it died. if not the actual cause of dealth.

some people find that keeping a steady humidity of 40% during incubation and increasing it to 60 for the last 3 days works great. for me? i had more dead than live chicks. those that did hatch were wet and goopy, those that didn't hatch, were bloated with fluids and died after internal pipping. (again, thanks to eggtopsies) over several months and successive hatches, i learned that, for me, adding water to the incubator at all, was a death sentence for all but the strongest chicks, shipped or otherwise. then i increase it between 55 and 60% when the eggs go in the hatcher. and i hatch upright in egg crates, to keep hatched chicks from rolling the unhatched eggs around and possibly disorienting the unhatched chicks (which i believe contributes to a higher number of dead in shell or shrink-wrapped chicks than you'd otherwise have).

good luck with whatever you do.