Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[Dragons4u]

Well, seven is infinitely better than zero.

 

[Sylviaanne]

I put my eggs into lock down yesterday and found out that the turner wasn't plugged in. Ugh! Last time I incubated, I kept coming in to check it was almost always in the same spot so I didn't think about it too much if the turner was in the same position when I checked this time. So that means these eggs were incubated without any turning. I almost have no hope for a good outcome but I'm giving them the chance to hatch.

CG

Oh, I am so SORRY! I misread what you wrote. I missed that you said "lock down," good thing other readers caught it. Sylvia

 

[DoubleMM]

I'm guessing you'll still have a good hatch... fingers crossed

 

[cmom]

I put my eggs into lock down yesterday and found out that the turner wasn't plugged in. Ugh! Last time I incubated, I kept coming in to check it was almost always in the same spot so I didn't think about it too much if the turner was in the same position when I checked this time. So that means these eggs were incubated without any turning. I almost have no hope for a good outcome but I'm giving them the chance to hatch.

CG

There was an article a few years back in I think in Mother Earth News about an experiment of hatching chicks without turning the eggs. If I remember correctly some did hatch. I will try to find the article.

 

[Dragons4u]

Well, they already had seven. Hopefully CG will chime in with a lot more popped.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

Watch for them being stuck to the shell. You may have to assist most to hatch if they made it that far.

Day 20 and one is out. Another one is pipped. It may not be a total loss. If I get two they have a buddy. If something happens and I only get the one, I have a broody that has chicks that hatched earlier this week so I can take one of hers to put with the new chick. I'm afraid to put the new chick with her, she's pretty protective of her little brood.

CG
May I suggest take two to be buddies with the loner . .
Wouldn't the two older chicks pick on the new stranger in their midst? I don't have to worry about it any way...5 out so far. The previously pipped egg: over the course of the day, I've taken off the top shell, peeled a little bit of the membrane away from its beak (so I know it's able to get oxygen, plus I can see it move a little bit better) and put some coconut oil on the membrane to keep it from drying out. It hasn't tried to kick it's way out of the shell yet so I am assuming it is still absorbing blood and/or yolk. There was another pipped shell a couple of hours ago - maybe it's out by now, Considering the lack of turning, I will be happy with 7 chicks. This was going to be the last attempt his year and I would have loved to have a big hatch to end on positive note but I'll take what I can get.

CG
Oil will block the breathability of the membrane. Use of high humidity will keeep the membrane moist.

Update??????

Quote: Jan Stromberg wrote a book on hatching and included some of the studies that turning during the middle days results in the best hatch rates rather than no turning, only turning the first few days or only turning the last few days.

 

[CGinJCMO]

God News and Bad news.
First the good news: Right now I've got 15 chicks that have hatched out.

15 eggs still to go since today was only day 21 and I try to give a day or two longer to give every egg a fair chance. So far this is turning into my second best hatch this year. Hopefully they all survive past the one week mark (then I will consider it a success because hatching is half the battle, surviving once the absorbed yolk is gone is the other half). Figured I had a disaster on my hands since there was no turning but there was only one stuck chick-first, stuck in shell, then stuck on rubber shelf liner followed by a bath to get him/her fluffed up and now you can't tell which one he was. Have one that looks smaller, almost bantam sized, that I hope will not be the first to die (I hope none of them die actually but there always seems to be one, even with store bought chicks).

Now the bad news: the broody I mentioned earlier with 8 babies was killed last night along with 4 of her babies.

She was a AustraWhite and 3 of the chicks were white and I think a coon or possum could see them in the dark because the darker chicks were the ones to survive the attack. No sign of the 4 chicks and only her head and guts were eaten. She had them settled down for the night under the coop and I didn't feel like trying to crawl under to grab her and the chicks then crawl back out to put them into the coop-have ducks in another pen and they are always next to the fence plus I had the unhatched eggs as bait in the trap so I thought she'd be ok for a night or two until the chicks learned to navigate the ramp but I was wrong. I now have the 4 six-day old chicks in the house with the new hatchlings. The only good part about her being gone is that I now have a place to put the 7 one-month old chicks and her body is now in the trap so I'll get the varment that got my girl. If it ends up being the skunk that was let go earlier in the week, stink or no stink, it will not be allowed to go free. (Caught two skunks over the years, and because they relax the muscle that holds their "perfume" when they die, we haven't killed them.)

Well, I'm going to look at the chicks and eggs once more and then go to bed - it's way past my bed time.

CG

 

[Dragons4u]

Sorry to hear that about your broody CG.

 

[DoubleMM]

I've had great success (90%+ hatch rate) with my little giant still air. Takes some effort, can't set and forget, but all the work has been a great learning tool.

I think I'm ready to upgrade ... value for my buck, ease of use etc... any Ideas???

 

[Arielle]

CG-- sorry about the good broodie and the chicks . . dang! Glad you hare having better hatches. My onoy other suggestion , if you dont do this already, is keep daily notes on every hatch. Meaning during the incubation process, write down basic information ( when turned if utrended lol, the temps, the weather, the RH; and any oditiy like lid ajar, big storms, bumping the incubator . . . I found I could look back over 21 days and see areas that effected the hatch, or needed improvement managementwise. GREAT JOB on this hatch.

Keep showing the babies where to eat and drink. I was watchingmy broodie and boy does she work on showing food and water!!