Just Got My Hova Bator 1588 with Turner

[anthonyjames]

Quail eggs should be here this week. It came with 30 courtnix eggs.

My question is when you turn off the egg turner around day 18 do you take the eggs and just place them on the screen and then fill both water compartments? It did not come with very good instructions. I am guessing you keep water in the middle compartment the whole time and they fill the other compartment towards the end.

And do I need to purchase something else for the humidity reading? This did not come with anything except thermostat and turner.

Also, after this batch hatches no matter the number I am wondering where I can find Jumbo A & M eggs to hatch out?

 

[aprophet]

to measure humidity some folks use a wet bulb dry bulb method , others just buy a hygrometer like wally world sells Springfield is the really cheap one but you need to check to see how accurite it really is I got lucky I bought a couple that are really close within 2-3 percentage pionts

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/150/incubating-eggs

the part about humidity has a pretty good explanation about the wet bulb/dry bulb method

 

[katharinad]

Go to their website and print out some of their free user guides (right hand side, near the end of the page). One is for different eggs, temps, stop turning, etc. The other one is for raising game birds. They will answer the questions you have. I marked the two water chambers with a waterproof marker so I can see them better. You fill one, and the second later. I left the eggs in the turner cups, because I've read in this forum that it is better. See pics of what I had. I did buy a thermometer/hygrometer from walmart for about 7 dollars. This one has mixed reviews in this forum, but it works well for me. The thermometer that came with the machine was reporting 2 degrees less! Scarry thought! And they do have a warning message about it on top of the machine. Known issue. They did send me 35 eggs, instead of the 30 listed. 17 hatched, one died later, and the remaining 16 are doing well.
Katharina

 

[cluckcluck42]

My first hatch I placed the eggs right on the screen and it was such an ungodly mess I will never do that again. I put down paper towel now, and put a sponge with water in a little tupperware container instead of in the trays. Just my personal preference, if I need to add water I barely have to lift the bator.

Get a hygrometer/thermometer from Walmart, mine was 12 bucks and well worth it. The thermometer it came with is not great. Good luck with the hatch.

 

[anthonyjames]

Well I picked up the thermostat from Walmart and is working great. Temp is steady at 99.7 and humidity is at 62%. I left the vent open at the top and the temp goes down and the humidity only drops to 58%.

Do I need to empty the tray and fill with less water?

Also, my eggs came from GQF. 35 Courtnix. Ordered 30. 2 were cracked so 33 are in the bator. I see that they say 17 days for Courtnix to hatch. Does that mean at day 15 I add more water and take the egg racks down and place them on the floor and no more rotating? Or do I do that at day 17?

 

[jenjscott]

No later than day 15 you should increase your humidity. You don't have to take the turner out, you can just unplug it when it gets to a straight up position and they can hatch like that. If you put any kind of cover over your wire, like paper towels or that rubber shelf matting., you will have to add additional source of water above that barrier. Just make sure it has a sponge that fits or fill with rocks so your babies can't get in it and drown.

 

[anthonyjames]

Finally got it dialed in. I am at 99.1 and 50% humidity. Put foil over 2/3rds of the screen and by this evening it has setteled at 50% for the last 5 hours. I think I am set to go. Now the wait.

 

[Friend2Fowl]

Coturnix take 16-18 days to hatch, you want to stop turning them by day 15.