Incubators Anonymous

[PD-Riverman]

Ive had to keep a close eye on the humidity. Having 24 eggs in the bator and most hatching at the same time kicked it pretty high.

Do you have your vent holes open? I have had 250+ hatching at the same time---sure I get a little increase which hurts nothing, but my vents are wide open.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I'm using the hova bator 1602n. I had a fan in at first but I felt it made the temp a bit more off. It just didn't work for me. Yup, both vents open. I think the house temp didn't help much. I cracked a window in a bedroom away from where the bator is to get some crisper air in. That did the trick.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

So far 7 chicks and two zipping out. 9 more external pips. Not bad for my first time hatching BCMs. 24 went in the bator and 24 went into lockdown. All vents are open and another humidity spike up to 81%. Temp is around 99.5. Should I worry?

 

[PD-Riverman]

So far 7 chicks and two zipping out. 9 more external pips. Not bad for my first time hatching BCMs. 24 went in the bator and 24 went into lockdown. All vents are open and another humidity spike up to 81%. Temp is around 99.5. Should I worry?

I would not worry at all."I" would just leave it closed----go to bed and see how things look in the morning!! Good Luck!!!!

 

[phi3]

Hi there, After my 5 successful hatches, 1 Died this afternoon, Something was definitely wrong one this one chick, No development since day 1 it looked like.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Thanks for all of the great info and guidance @PD-Riverman. I'm going to do as you suggested...

 

[MinnesotaNice]

21/24 have hatched. I'll leave the last 3 in for a few more days.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Can u send some hatchery pics

During incubation and hatching?

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Start to finish...

I had the incubator set up in my living room because the temps were more even. When it was hatch time, I had a little bin nearby with a heat lamp, food, and water. They're still in that now. They'll go into a 64 gallon sterilite bin tomorrow. They're still walking like drunk sailors. In the last picture, the SLWxBCM mixes are pretty obvious from the purebred BCM chicks.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Thanks. say how long do you folks recon that the temp in the incubator can be wrong?

I'm not the most experienced, but to get you an answer, if your temp jumps up to....lets say 110...for the day, the eggs are probably no good. You could candle for movement. Keep in mind that the the temp in the egg doesn't immediately change. So, if the temp change isn't drastic for too long, you should be okay. With the BCM eggs I hatched, my temp dropped to 98 a few times here and there at night, but I caught it. Rather than adjust the temp - I covered the bator with a porous potato sack to get the temp up. I knew it was just the room temp changing - I live in MN, so we get that this time of year....okay, all of the time! Anyways, my temp went a bit over 102 a few times, but I caught that as well. I kept the top of my eggs at 101-101.5 and at egg level 99.5-100.5. If I had a lighter egg, I'd keep it cooking at a wee bit lower temp.

Hope this helps!