You know I HAD to do it!
So, (to catch you all up to date) I got the bators (HovaBators with egg turners) from my DH's grandad and hooked them up. Everything worked. Filled the first water tray, put the water weasel in with probe in the center, got the very best ($22) digital thermometer & humidity thingy and set it all up. Temp holds steady at 100, humidity at 60%.
Looks on track so I call up a neighbor who has fertile eggs and ask if I can 'borrow' a few to try out the bators. She knows nothing about chickens other than they lay eggs, so I tell her to make sure they are freshly laid and not to chill them, and she brings them out the next morning.
Bators are already on and warm, so after letting the eggs settle for an hour to reach room temp, I put them in. She brought 14 eggs in total so I put them all in the bator I trust best (other one has a flaw with the bottom styrofoam tray, but was fixed and still holds temp, but I wanted to be sure.) and let them be. This was 11 days ago. (I know, shame on me for not tellin you sooner. <Hangs head shamefully> )
Anywho, when they got to day 9 or so I candled them. All but 2 look great. Good development going! BUT, four of them looked MUCH further along than the rest. Lots of shadow, good air cell, movement? (I think it moved in my hands anyway), and the 'shadowing' did appear to shift possition while I candled it (moving chick?) So, I became worried that these eggs were way further along than the rest, and what to do?
I talked to Barb S and from everything I've read on here even before getting started, those 4 appear closer to day 18! I think my neighbor (from what she said about two hens always in the nestbox) had a couple broodies hiding eggs and she didnt know it when she collected mine, and grabbed those up too. I worried they would hatch in the bator with the egg turner and get crushed. SO...I put those 4 (and 2 others that appear more developed) in the other bator without the egg turner, and increased their humidity to 70%. I am no longer opening that bator, though the suspence is killing me! I hope I'm doing OK so far! Please let me know!
So, I have possibly 4 eggs due to hatch in a few days, 2 eggs that may hatch shortly after that, and then the remaining 8 in the other bator that look around day 11 now where they should be. I have the 4 "maybe-gonna-hatch-soon" eggs on one side of that bator with the other 2 on the other side so that should the 4 hatch, they don't muck up or roll around the other 2. Is that good?
I have NO IDEA what I'm doing, other than what I've read here and online, and the manual for the bators that I had to download as a PDF because DH's grandad no longer had it.
Ok, so now you are up to date! Is there anything I should do differently? Or am I on track here? Of course, I will post here as updates happen! And I promise not to with hold info again, if you promise not to beat me too hard for doing it this time!
PS...she (my neighbor) has no idea what breeds she has, and no doubt these are all crosses and her whole flock mingles together. The eggs consist of: 3 blue/green, 2 white, 3 light tan, 1 darker tan/beige, 2 brown, 1 darker brown, and 2 tannish with darker speckles. The 4 that are 'older' are the: 1 darker brown, 1 tannish with darker speckles, 1 white, and 1 blue/green. The 2 that are right behind those are: 1 blue/green, and 1 light tan.
Looks on track so I call up a neighbor who has fertile eggs and ask if I can 'borrow' a few to try out the bators. She knows nothing about chickens other than they lay eggs, so I tell her to make sure they are freshly laid and not to chill them, and she brings them out the next morning.
Bators are already on and warm, so after letting the eggs settle for an hour to reach room temp, I put them in. She brought 14 eggs in total so I put them all in the bator I trust best (other one has a flaw with the bottom styrofoam tray, but was fixed and still holds temp, but I wanted to be sure.) and let them be. This was 11 days ago. (I know, shame on me for not tellin you sooner. <Hangs head shamefully> )
Anywho, when they got to day 9 or so I candled them. All but 2 look great. Good development going! BUT, four of them looked MUCH further along than the rest. Lots of shadow, good air cell, movement? (I think it moved in my hands anyway), and the 'shadowing' did appear to shift possition while I candled it (moving chick?) So, I became worried that these eggs were way further along than the rest, and what to do?
I talked to Barb S and from everything I've read on here even before getting started, those 4 appear closer to day 18! I think my neighbor (from what she said about two hens always in the nestbox) had a couple broodies hiding eggs and she didnt know it when she collected mine, and grabbed those up too. I worried they would hatch in the bator with the egg turner and get crushed. SO...I put those 4 (and 2 others that appear more developed) in the other bator without the egg turner, and increased their humidity to 70%. I am no longer opening that bator, though the suspence is killing me! I hope I'm doing OK so far! Please let me know!
So, I have possibly 4 eggs due to hatch in a few days, 2 eggs that may hatch shortly after that, and then the remaining 8 in the other bator that look around day 11 now where they should be. I have the 4 "maybe-gonna-hatch-soon" eggs on one side of that bator with the other 2 on the other side so that should the 4 hatch, they don't muck up or roll around the other 2. Is that good?
I have NO IDEA what I'm doing, other than what I've read here and online, and the manual for the bators that I had to download as a PDF because DH's grandad no longer had it.
Ok, so now you are up to date! Is there anything I should do differently? Or am I on track here? Of course, I will post here as updates happen! And I promise not to with hold info again, if you promise not to beat me too hard for doing it this time!
PS...she (my neighbor) has no idea what breeds she has, and no doubt these are all crosses and her whole flock mingles together. The eggs consist of: 3 blue/green, 2 white, 3 light tan, 1 darker tan/beige, 2 brown, 1 darker brown, and 2 tannish with darker speckles. The 4 that are 'older' are the: 1 darker brown, 1 tannish with darker speckles, 1 white, and 1 blue/green. The 2 that are right behind those are: 1 blue/green, and 1 light tan.
