I left the carton open, they are so small that they have plenty of breathing space in there, so I don't think I need holes in the bottom. I'm not depending on chicks really at all, I just don't want to waste what may be close to the last eggs of the season since silkies aren't reliable layers.
I would like to see what they will produce if I want to start breeding them. I just don't know what kind of demand there is for bearded silkies in northern Indiana. So I don't want to bring little lives into the world that don't have a place to go. I would like to learn incubation too. So this is interesting to me. Thank you for your help.
I honestly dont think you would have any troubles selling/giving away the chicks. I think with silkies it all depends on quality. Most people are after bearded with vaulted skulls. To help sell, post pictures of your adults in the ad. I often see a lady around Waterloo posting silkie chicks. She has the same ad up for about a week and then I dont see it for about a month or so. It doesnt look like she is having a hard time selling. I purchased 3 more partridge silkie chicks and was given 8 eggs with them. I really dont need them, but incubating is fun and if it will help pay for their feed and bedding, im all for it. I dont think I will ever profit from them, but as long as they pay for their care, Im not going to complain.
I have found the less I do with the incubators the better. Set them up several days prior to when you want to set the eggs. This will give you time to mess with them and get them set up correctly. IF you plan on using a styrofoam incubator, my biggest piece of advice would be to place it in a room with stable temps. I had an old computer that I took a fan out of and wired it to an old cell phone charger. Mounted it to blow up against the top of the incubator and have a forced air incubator for practically nothing. I also have a plastic container with big sponge in it for humidity. I fished tubing through the top and add water with a syringe through the tubing. This way I dont have to open the bator and loose the heat and humidity during lockdown.
The first time incubating I purchased quail eggs online. At that time my incubator was still a still air and didnt have a turner. I just propped one side of the incubator up and see sawed it back and forth several times a day. The eggs were incubating in an egg carton so they didnt roll around when ends propped up.
You will loose some eggs due to incubating error, but that is part of learning. If you are starting with your own eggs or free eggs, then you are not out anything. I have spent over hundreds of dollars on eggs and still get 0% hatch rates on eggs (typically shipped eggs). Its a gamble, but incredibly fun, exciting, and worth it when they do hatch!
Having the house dry might not be too big of an issue. I think id rather it be too dry than humid. I dry incubate and typically have humidity around 30% during the first 18 days. For lockdown, I increase to around 55-60%. I used to increase it to 65-75% and that was way to high. Got a lot of sticky chicks. Ive been having much better hatches with it decreased. But i think its easier to increase humidity than to try and lower it.
