Incubators Anonymous

[coffeychicks]

so it is official. i have shut the incubator down tried for several months and didn't have a single egg make it to hatch, most never developed some died early on alot died at about day 12. very disappointed. maybe next spring now that we have a new rooster and have divided the flock into 2 seperate flocks

 

[elliechooks]

I just fixed my broken incubator. I think this was probably a bad idea because now I have to resist filling it up to test it!!!

 

[Courtney R]

I am addicted to being around animals!! I love them

But I have never actually used an incubator... if the hen starts sitting on them then I will le her and keep watch

But if they stop laying and I'm pretty sure they have already started developing then I do have this lamp and I make up a lil ghetto incubator Lol

but it works I love the chickies

 

[Penny Hen]

I am addicted to being around animals!! I love them

But I have never actually used an incubator... if the hen starts sitting on them then I will le her and keep watch

But if they stop laying and I'm pretty sure they have already started developing then I do have this lamp and I make up a lil ghetto incubator Lol

but it works I love the chickies

When my mother was a kid she hatched the goose eggs in the warmer compartment of their woodburning kitchen stove. It had a heated water resevoir which maintained the humidity. The fire was banked at night so it would keep warm all night too.

 

[FreeRanging Hen]

Sorry to hear about your run of bad luck Coffeychicks. Don't give up for too long.

Have you checked, rechecked and recalibrated your incubator between hatches, to see if there is a reason behind your lossses?
Were the eggs all from the same flock?

YAY Elliechooks!! Don't ignore the temptation... you know you can't

Well, our first incubation was a success, to a degree (If I don't say so myself)
11 of the 16 eggs that went into lockdown have hatched.

The first one that hatched had a slightly bloody naval, splayed legs and appears to have possibly gotten stuck to the shell at some point, as his back has a little sore on it.
One chick hatched deformed. It's beak is misaligned and it's missing an eye. Almost looks as though it's missing half of it's face/skeletal structure. This chick pipped at the wrong end.
Another, we ummed and arrrghed for 24 hours before deciding this morning to assist it out of it's egg.
I'm glad we did, because after he had pipped a hole halfway down the egg, big enough to stick his head through, he went no further but rather turned a little bit away and then dried out a fair bit and got a little stuck. It was only after reading the assisting hatch sticky on BYC and watching until we saw the membranes browning and shrivelling that we stepped in.
It had absorbed everything, has a slightly puffy naval, but otherwise appears to be perfectly fine and rather tired from attempting to break free for so long. It was attemtping to push the shell apart with it's legs as I gently picked away tiny pieces of it's shell.
I think it felt a little liberated afterwards as I'm sure it's certain it did it all by itself LOL

I very quickly checked the last 5 eggs and can't find an internal pip, see movement, nor hear peeping when I tap the egg but still chose to give them and the incubator a good spray of warm water and proceed to allow them another 24 to 48 hours.

I have read conflicting views on wether hatched chicks playing football/soccer affects other eggs hatching, but I have noticed that the majority of the 5 left in there unhatched atm, WERE knocked about by other chicks, until they were edged up against the incubator wall, or trapped in a corner.

I feel confident that I can buy decent quality eggs and put them in, because I DIDN'T FAIL MISERABLY (as I expected myself to)

I'll post some photo's later after I take some.


(edited because my CDO kicked in and I had to correct a name spelling error and add a paragraph spacing... and then edit my edit note, of another spelling error... need more coffee)

 

[tlpounds]

OH MY GOODNESS! So I had 5 of the most active chicks in the incubator and 1 week from hatch date. Hubby was working on the house & had to turn the circuits off temporarily. Well, the way this stupid house is wired the kitchen circuit has 2 breakers that has to be turned off for one light switch. He turned the circuits back on & all was well - or so we thought. I woke up yesterday morning and looked in the bator and it said 66 degrees! Even though the kitchen light switch worked one of the circuits wasn't turned back on to it & evidently the bathroom socket was on that circuit. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Well, I just candled the eggs this morning - even though they had been cold for 12 hours during the night - and I saw movement in ALL the eggs!!! Oh my goodness, I was sure all was lost. Not counting my chickens before they hatch but I'm really finding this unbelievable! Wish me luck!

 

[elliechooks]

I saw one of my young cockerels doing what he was bred for this morning (although slightly morally disturbingly it was with one of the 3 that could potentially be his mother! ) and I have also seen another young chap having a go (unsuccessfully! ) a few days ago so I think I will leave it a few weeks, cchecking for bullseyes then fill the incubator with my own eggs for the first time!

 

[ozexpat]

I saw one of my young cockerels doing what he was bred for this morning (although slightly morally disturbingly it was with one of the 3 that could potentially be his mother! ) and I have also seen another young chap having a go (unsuccessfully! ) a few days ago so I think I will leave it a few weeks, cchecking for bullseyes then fill the incubator with my own eggs for the first time!

fortunately our morals are not chicken morals (or vice versa)

 

[tlpounds]

OH MY GOODNESS! So I had 5 of the most active chicks in the incubator and 1 week from hatch date. Hubby was working on the house & had to turn the circuits off temporarily. Well, the way this stupid house is wired the kitchen circuit has 2 breakers that has to be turned off for one light switch. He turned the circuits back on & all was well - or so we thought. I woke up yesterday morning and looked in the bator and it said 66 degrees! Even though the kitchen light switch worked one of the circuits wasn't turned back on to it & evidently the bathroom socket was on that circuit. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Well, I just candled the eggs this morning - even though they had been cold for 12 hours during the night - and I saw movement in ALL the eggs!!! Oh my goodness, I was sure all was lost. Not counting my chickens before they hatch but I'm really finding this unbelievable! Wish me luck!

And I have 2 eggs with pips so far. Their hatch date shouldn't be until SATURDAY!!!

 

[DMRippy]

are you sure it is NEXT SATURDAY because the outage would cause them to be late so if they were due yesterday pips today would be right???????