Incubators Anonymous

[calichicken]

ok I've got some call duck eggs now, what kind of special treatment do they need compared to the average chicken egg? if anything?

I have been told by a breeder of them to not put them in a turner and to hand roll them. He also said to spritz them once a day with a light mist of water..... anyone else heard this?

Hi! Check out this website. She has some great info specific to hatching calls because they do need different treatment. She is very knowledgeable and has success with hatching calls

Good luck with your hatch!
www.lwbarnhouse.com

 

[Faraday40]

DD & I talked my hubby into doing a fertility check & incubator test. (Honestly, I think it's just chick withdrawal after the long, cold winter. We still have over 1 foot of snow waiting to melt!)

So our 1st candling was tonight. Out of 18 eggs, 3 were clear. The rest have moving embryos dancing about. What's strange is that all 3 clears came from the same hen, while the rest are at 100%. The roo is a gentlemen, never forces the hens, & ignores the non-laying pullets. Perhaps she's not been in the mood since acting broody last month. She started laying 4-5 days before I collected eggs. Maybe she'd have better results in a month. The other consideration is that she's a large bantam (English Bantam Orpington) & he's a full-sized orpington. Has anyone ever had a LF + bantam breed?

 

[CashandTracy]

I had a chick hatch early yesterday, it did full absorb the yolk and got gunk all over the other eggs. Some of them are completely covered with blood, and yolk.

Should I attempt to wipe some of it off or just leave it?

The chick is doing great, go figure.

 

[calichicken]

If the others are ready to hatch as well, I would not wash them at this point. Not really good to wash eggs at all because it washes off the protective coating of the egg and can allow infection. Glad to hear your chick is doing great!!!

 

[birdman55]

so update....hatched 23 of 28 so far....thats 82 percent hatch rate...not to shabby....

 

[lizcasee]

HI, I'm Ani . . .And I think I am about to become a hatchaholic. I have my first batch of 7 in the incubator at day 11, and even if none of them hatch, or all of them do

, I fully intend to start another batch as soon as this one is done.

 

[PD-Riverman]

HI, I'm Ani . . .And I think I am about to become a hatchaholic. I have my first batch of 7 in the incubator at day 11, and even if none of them hatch, or all of them do

, I fully intend to start another batch as soon as this one is done.

Hey, one hatchaholic to the other---I hatched some along and along until a few months back--I decided to hatch another batch, then another, etc, etc. Now in the last few months I have hatched-----over 2500 with 700 incubating as I type this. Sure---not wanting to run out--- I got some eggs waiting to put in the incubator as soon as I put a couple hunderd in the hatcher tomorrow. Please Be Careful----its for sure an Addiction!!

 

[birdman55]

HI, I'm Ani . . .And I think I am about to become a hatchaholic. I have my first batch of 7 in the incubator at day 11, and even if none of them hatch, or all of them do

, I fully intend to start another batch as soon as this one is done.

welcome to byc...glad to have you...byc is doing a hatch along...if your interested....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/949763/the-6th-annual-byc-easter-hatch-a-long
check it out and hope to see you there...or here....lol

 

[JekkaLynn]

Ok...so I figure you guys are the experts on incubation...so this is where I should ask my question...

I mean an addict always knows the best way to get their fix right ;P

For the first time I actually paid for hatching eggs because my birds where not laying and I couldn't find any free so I bought any eggs I could find that I sort of liked the breeds...
Also, for the first time my incubator will be almost full to slightly over full depending on how the breeders birds are laying.

I figured I would just put them in cartons and squeeze them into my Hova-bator then remove clears on day 7 and then they would fit in the turner...problem solved...

Then I found mixed Marans eggs for only 15$/dozen!!! Around here Marans eggs are normally between 50-75$/dozen!!! The breeder hasn't separated them into their spring breeding pens or tested fertility so she is selling at a MASSIVE discount...I NEED those eggs! But how do I fit them into my incubator? My first batch of eggs comes Tuesday night and are regular brown eggs. The Marans are a 5 on the egg scale and are coming on Thursday.
Someone mentioned a way of starting eggs then taking them out and candling to check fertility. Clears are tossed and fertile are stored and kept. The incubator is filled with fresh eggs and you do the same again. Then you combine the fertile eggs and run your hatch like normal...is this a real thing? Does anyone have more details?

 

[lazy gardener]

JekkaLynn: I described that process, but can't for the life of me find where I read it, or remember the nitty-gritty details of what day you pull, and what temp you store them at. Perhaps Sally Sunshine can help us. But, here's an other idea to help you solve this most difficult problem: And it's a real easy solution! I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner! Just buy yourself an other incubator. (or make one!) You can make a nice forced air incubator for about $20 - 30!