LOCKDOWN! Poults & Chicks Due 5/18

[serinat]

I'm picking up a dozen Bourbon Red turkey eggs from a breeder tomorrow afternoon and putting them in my new Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco. I have only hatched eggs under broody hens before, and only chicks, so doing poults in an incubator is a whole new ballgame!

I will also be adding some of our own chicken eggs on 4/27 so they'll hatch together with the poults, so anyone who wants to join in and start chicken eggs by 4/27 would be right on schedule with my hatch. It would be fun to have some buddies, as I really don't know what I'm doing.

I need to get a hygrometer. Any recommendations? I have my incubator running right now (turned it on last night) and after a few adjustments, both thermometers (the factory installed and my digital probe) are around 100 - 100.2. Is this ideal?

Any Brinsea tips to offer me? I need all I can get.

 

[Glenmar]

I am not sure what I am going either. I set 14 Marans eggs 9 days ago in my new Brinsea ECO 20. But I have to say, it looks like my incubator is doing all the work. I have not had to mess with it. I am going to get a stronger flashlight tonigh ti see if I can see anything in them.

Good luck

 

[serinat]

This might be the most ridiculous question ever, but here goes:

When you manually turn your Brinsea Eco, do you flip it all the way forward and all the way back, so that it never rests flat? Or do you, for example, flip forward in the morning, flat in the evening, then flip back the next morning? I'm actually home with my kids most days, so I will probably turn 3x/day at least, so I'm thinking forward at breakfast, flat at lunch, and backward at dinner. I didn't see anything in the manual that was very helpful regarding manual turning.

 

[Glenmar]

I am not sure. I bought the turner with mine, because I am not home much.

 

[lamoka]

I am also doing my first hatch in a incubator I set mine on the 16th of April and so far everything is seems to be going well. I purchased the auto turn cradle for my eco but if I was manually turning I would utilize all three positions in my turning regiment I would do exactly what you are planning but I am sure somebody with more incubation experiance will respond. One thing is for sure I worry alot more about the eggs in the incubator then I ever did hatching under a broody hen. As far a good hygrometer I am looking for one also, I pirchased a digital from Lowes and I dont trust it, it never reads over 30 and ambient humidity is higher then that. So far I have just followed the directions and have refilled the one water channel once on day 3 and have the vent position set in the middle. I did candle a couple when I was adding water and they are starting to show some veining so things seem to be progressing ok. I wish you good luck and if I run into any issues or find a good hygrometer I will let you know.

 

[serinat]

Thanks, lamoka! Good luck with your hatch!

 

[serinat]

Just returned from the breeder's with 13 turkey eggs. (She threw in an extra for me.

) Just have to go figure out how best to fit them in there. Will take pictures to post, in case anyone's interested.

 

[bantaclear]

I will be putting in 8 chicken eggs tonight. its my first time and i have an home made bater.

 

[serinat]

Welcome, bantaclear!

Got all the turkey eggs in the incubator by 4:20 p.m. today. They're big! I think I'll have room for 4-5 chicken eggs in a week, with creative organization, or 3 if I just want to set them in and go. I used wax paper to keep the eggs from rolling around. Here are pics:

Here's how they traveled home from the farm:

These are the channels to fill for humidity:

Beautiful speckled eggs (one or two are also a bit dirty):

Temp was still going up after first putting the eggs in. They're at a steady 99.9 now:

My little record sheet:

They're in the kitchen for now, as that's the only surface available that is gated off from the baby but also regularly accessible.

 

[serinat]

Okay, this waiting is torture! I've managed to successfully "incubate" four little humans for 35 - 40+ weeks each, but 28 days is stretching out before me like an eternity. (Though, I wasn't a very patient pregnant woman, either...)

The turkey eggs have been in the incubator for over two days now. The Brinsea's temp is so steady that there isn't much to do but manually rock the whole thing every few hours. I'm turning 5 - 7 times a day for now. I probably ought to fill up the water trough, and get that hygrometer I've been needing. So busy this week.

I've got a favorite hen and a roo that will do locked up together in breeding coop of sorts. They are not happy about it and look wistfully out at all the other (free ranging) chickens during the day. I'm hoping to get fertile eggs from them. The hen is a huge (HUGE), beautiful, fluffy Buff Orpington, and the roo is a pretty Easter Egger. He's smaller than she, so the mating has been...tricky. I hope my little experiment results in something. I haven't collected egg one from her yet; she's two years old now, so I figured she was only laying every 2-3 days, but come on. I do hope she lays something. My alternative is just to grab a few fresh eggs from the general nest box next Wednesday and see what I get. (The other Buff Orpington hens are with a Buff Orpington rooster whose body shape I don't love, so I don't really want to breed him if I can help it.)

Anyone else starting chicken eggs in their Brinsea next Wednesday? What are you hatching? This hatch is focused on turkeys, but my next hatch will be Buckeyes. Pretty excited about that!