just got my first incubator

[Beau plus penny]

what are your tips and trick, do's and don't s. etc?

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are several articles in the "Articles" section of this forum on that topic. It might be worth looking at some of them.

My thoughts:

Start all eggs at the same time. Avoid staggered hatches.

Set only eggs that are a normal size for that hen. No really small ones or overly large ones. And no deformed or cracked ones.

Set only clean eggs. A little light dry stuff is OK but avoid anything with smears are that look like wet poop or clumps of mud were on it. Do not wash or sandpaper the eggs. That removes the protective coating.

Learn how your incubator works before you try using it. Play with it a few days. Use a calibrated thermometer to assure the temperature is correct. Learn how the humidity works and how to adjust it.

Write down the date that you set the eggs. Just do it, this is important information.

Different species have different incubation times. Chickens are around 21 days. Turkeys around 28 days. Some ducks are 28 days, some are 35 days. Know what you are working with. Hatch dates are approximate, they can be a couple of days early or late. Be a bit flexible if it works out that way.

If you want to hatch different species with different incubation times stagger the start. Time it so they should all hatch together.

Try to avoid spikes with temperature. Stabilize temperatures before you start the eggs. Too hot or too cold can kill the embryo. Average temperatures are what counts more than instantaneous. If your incubator runs a degree too warm for a day, run it a day below for a day to average it out. But don't worry that much if it is a degree off, either Fahrenheit or Celsius.

Average humidity is what counts. Many of us get spikes or valleys. Again, if it runs high or low try to balance it out. But don't stress with this that much. You have a lot of leeway in humidity, a lot more than temperature.

Turning the eggs helps your hatch rate, sometimes by a lot. Turning early in incubation is more important than turning later. If you have an automatic turner use it. If you turn by hand try turning an odd number of times a day, 3 is enough but many people use 5. By turning about the same time each day an odd number of turning keeps the average time on any side equal.

Lockdown is generally three days before "hatch date". Stop turning the eggs, remove turners if you have them, and lay the eggs down. Read your incubator instructions on how to do that or give us your incubator make and model so we can help you. Increase the humidity, I use a minimum of 65%.

Chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch if they are healthy. They can live off of that yolk 72 hours or more without eating or drinking. I try to avoid opening the incubator after lockdown until the hatch is over. Some people willy nilly open the incubator at any time, they often think there will be no consequences to letting the humidity escape. Often there are no consequences, but there can be. That's why I only open the incubator if I see a problem during hatch that I need to address. An example: An egg cupped into half a shell of an already hatched egg which would have made it hard for the chick to pip and zip so I quickly opening the incubator and removed the broken eggshell.

There can be a learning curve. I suggest you use cheaper eggs for your first incubation than really expensive eggs.

That's it off the top of my head. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Debbie292d]

I've hatched a ton of silkies. I would read the post above mine, as there are a lot of good points and things you could run across.

My basics:

I candle twice, at 7 days to remove any clears and again at lockdown (3-5 days before hatch day). Most do 3, I do 5, as on occasion, a couple of silkies have pipped on Day 18.

I would get a hygrometer/thermometer, as most incubators are inaccurate. Many of us here use the Govee brand on Amazon, but there are many good ones out there.

99.5°F for the duration.

Humidity 45% until lockdown, then 70%.

I don't assist them unless it's been over 24 hours since they pipped. That's a rarity and was with shipped eggs.

I don't open the incubator during lockdown until they're all hatched, dry, fluffy, and running around. Then they go into a brooder, ready to go, with a floor temperature of 95°F.

Here's the Learning Center, where you can find lots of articles about it.

Good luck!

 

[Susan Skylark]

Get some external thermometers, NEVER trust the incubator temp! Make sure your turner works with your eggs and monitor! Don’t freak out about humidity, it is important but not vital. Be kind to your early and preincubation eggs: shipping, cold or heat exposure, or over a week old at incubation can significantly drop hatch rates, this doesn’t mean you can’t hatch eggs you just need to adjust your expectations. Relax, enjoy the process, and things happen, even to experienced hatchers! You can candle every day if you want to, I love the development part and it feels more hands on, but that’s just me, you won’t hurt your eggs if you do though. Hatch quail, 17 day incubation, great for impatient people.