Incuview Incubator

[Storybook Farm]

Got my eggs set and the Incuview hatch timer is counting down! I'm really excited!

 

[PD-Riverman]

Got my eggs set and the Incuview hatch timer is counting down! I'm really excited!

Wishing You a Great Hatch, Keep us informed!!

 

[Stina]

I'm getting this to incubate button quail eggs....how many button quail eggs should it be able to incubate at a time?

 

[hillhouse25]

I'm getting this to incubate button quail eggs....how many button quail eggs should it be able to incubate at a time?  

a whole lot lol. We do buttons in here and find the egg turner is a too large to really turn eggs as often as we want. We fixed that by putting 2 almost side by side , offset, all the way down each row. We have had many successful hatches this way. Im not sure if there is a quail egg insert now, i dont recall it being an option when we bought ours. Anyways id say easily 50 eggs and really 75+. Tonnes of room for buttons. Our usual is around 20-40 though with tonnes of free space.!

 

[Stina]

Excellent! Thanks for the info and tip Ordered the incubator a little while ago....I have hatched buttons before, but I was using a homemade incubator and didn't have an autoturner or anything at the time. I haven't had buttons in a couple years and my husband gave me the go ahead to get the incubator tonight.........MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

 

[Storybook Farm]

So, I am on day 6 of my hatch. Tomorrow is my first candle day, which is so exciting! All has gone well, it seems, but I do have 2 questions for those who have used the Incuview before.

Number one. I am struggling to maintain a consistent humidity. If I put just a splash of water in - I mean, a tablespoon or two - I get a spike to about 30 to 35% humidity within the incubator. Then, that humidity slowly decreases to about 20% within about 10 hours, sometimes less. For a couple of nights, I have put in the splash of liquid before bed and awakened to find that it was down to 10%. How have those of you who use the Incuview manage your humidity? I'm wondering about using the vent plug, for instance. Would that be helpful? Or would it limit the oxygen too much?

Number two question. I am wondering about the egg turner. Before setting my eggs, I put the traditional X on one side and O on the other. It is clear to me that this egg turner is basically turning the egg 180 degrees one way and then 180 degrees the other. Unless I manually turn them over I see the X at all times. Sometimes it is on the far side of the egg, but I can always see it. Is this okay?

 

[junebuggena]

So, I am on day 6 of my hatch. Tomorrow is my first candle day, which is so exciting! All has gone well, it seems, but I do have 2 questions for those who have used the Incuview before.

Number one. I am struggling to maintain a consistent humidity. If I put just a splash of water in - I mean, a tablespoon or two - I get a spike to about 30 to 35% humidity within the incubator. Then, that humidity slowly decreases to about 20% within about 10 hours, sometimes less. For a couple of nights, I have put in the splash of liquid before bed and awakened to find that it was down to 10%. How have those of you who use the Incuview manage your humidity? I'm wondering about using the vent plug, for instance. Would that be helpful? Or would it limit the oxygen too much?

Number two question. I am wondering about the egg turner. Before setting my eggs, I put the traditional X on one side and O on the other. It is clear to me that this egg turner is basically turning the egg 180 degrees one way and then 180 degrees the other. Unless I manually turn them over I see the X at all times. Sometimes it is on the far side of the egg, but I can always see it. Is this okay?

The turner works just fine. On candle days, I put them back in the incubator with the opposite side up. On the humidity, just a little bit of water will raise it quite a bit, so go easy. I never use the plug. It holds for about 10 to 12 hours, just check it a few times a day and before you go to bed. You're not going to have 100% stable humidity, no matter what incubator you use. It fluctuates, just do your best. If it gets down to 10-20 just add some water and get it back to where you want it.

 

[Storybook Farm]

First, I have a question: do we count the day we set eggs as Day 1? If so...

Tonight (Day 7 I think, if I set on Sunday, Valentine's Day, 2/14 and this is Saturday, 2/20 ) I did my first candling.

The good news was that all eggs are viable!

The bad news is that I'm pretty sure my humidity has been too low. I've had trouble finding a good rule of thumb here at BYC. I have read Hatching 101 many times over (thanks so much Sally Sunshine!) and the only shooting range I could find was 30%, so that's where I started. Not only was I aiming low, I guess, but also I had trouble holding the incubator steady at my guessed humidity rate. I have a hydrometer in the incubator, and have been trying to keep it in the 25% to 30% range, but as I posted earlier, the Incuview is way sensitive and it's been 10% plenty of the time when I take a look. SIGH!

I'm a first-time hatcher and this is my first candling, but I think the air sacks looked larger than they should have, and I know that, having weighed at the beginning and then again tonight, and the weight loss is too high: the average of the hatch has them having lost 7%, which means half of what they should lose in the entire hatch.

So, I've now read an off-BYC article that says humidity should be around 40-50% for the whole hatch. Is that what others of you do? I know varying environments/egg types make for differences, but could someone please please help me out and share with me a good average percentage to shoot for? Is 40-50% what you do?

Also, have I ruined this hatch, or can I make it back up? Should I compensate by working up to 60% for the next few days and then weighing again?

THANKS in advance for any help with this!

 

[PD-Riverman]

First, I have a question: do we count the day we set eggs as Day 1? If so...

Tonight (Day 7 I think, if I set on Sunday, Valentine's Day, 2/14 and this is Saturday, 2/20 ) I did my first candling.

The good news was that all eggs are viable!

The bad news is that I'm pretty sure my humidity has been too low. I've had trouble finding a good rule of thumb here at BYC. I have read Hatching 101 many times over (thanks so much Sally Sunshine!) and the only shooting range I could find was 30%, so that's where I started. Not only was I aiming low, I guess, but also I had trouble holding the incubator steady at my guessed humidity rate. I have a hydrometer in the incubator, and have been trying to keep it in the 25% to 30% range, but as I posted earlier, the Incuview is way sensitive and it's been 10% plenty of the time when I take a look. SIGH!

I'm a first-time hatcher and this is my first candling, but I think the air sacks looked larger than they should have, and I know that, having weighed at the beginning and then again tonight, and the weight loss is too high: the average of the hatch has them having lost 7%, which means half of what they should lose in the entire hatch.

So, I've now read an off-BYC article that says humidity should be around 40-50% for the whole hatch. Is that what others of you do? I know varying environments/egg types make for differences, but could someone please please help me out and share with me a good average percentage to shoot for? Is 40-50% what you do?

Also, have I ruined this hatch, or can I make it back up? Should I compensate by working up to 60% for the next few days and then weighing again?

THANKS in advance for any help with this!

To start, no mater what anyone tells you---a day is 24 hrs, so if you put them in today---1 complete day is tomorrow at the same time.

Sounds like your humidity might be a little low, maybe your meter is off. I always do around 35% the first 18 days(maybe mine reads low). Remember alot of people dry hatch-------No I do not think your eggs are ruined from the humidity. I have only hatched over 5000 in just the last year and you are more advanced than I. I have never weighed them. If you feel they have lost to much weight----increase your moisture for a few days and check them again. Good Luck!!

 

[Storybook Farm]

Thanks for the reply... and reassuring words.

I may be overthinking the hatch, but with a less-than-optimal incubator (meaning it's not a cabinet one, or high end hobby model, even) I want to do the best I can for these birds. Plus, this is my practice hatch. Next month I expect to be hatching some expensive eggs that I really care about. Finally, I like learning! Chicken keeping has been a blast because of all the great stuff I'm learning.

I'm grateful for the weighing because it seems like it's... accurate; objective.

So, if you were me, how much would you increase the humidity, and how fast... say tonight and then in the coming few days, generally... 10% tonight, say, into the 40's? And then up around 50% to slow down the weight losses? That's what I'm thinking.