Manna Pro Hatch-A-Long! - First Sponsor Participated Hatch-A-Long – Set on 4/22

[HallFamilyFarm]

Hello ..can you really stack that many egg in that bator....I am going to be a little crowed my self this coming week and was wondering this ok to do....Tell me you don;t turn those all by hand ? Teheheh

I do not recommend setting that many eggs at once, but we needed to. the turner actually will turn them enough to hatch. We had about 2 dozen chicks hatch yesterday and today. So we do not have as many eggs set. however, I will set some more today to go along with this hatchalong. We will candle and toss any infertile or any that stop developing along the way. But that is not very many.

 

[Manna Pro Laura]

I put 42 eggs in a few days ago but Ill still join. I have a ton of mixed breeds so I have no idea what Im gonna get. Usually some very pretty and super colorful birds.

That's what we're doing too! Love the mixed bag approach where everything is a surprise!

 

[kian]

OK on Facebook Manna Pro said I could count the eggs I set under my broody last night, so I.Am.In!

WHOOO!!!

I have 8 Olive Egger eggs under my Cuckoo Marans

 

[Manna Pro Laura]

OK on Facebook Manna Pro said I could count the eggs I set under my broody last night, so I.Am.In!

WHOOO!!!

I have 8 Olive Egger eggs under my Cuckoo Marans

Yay!! Welcome to the Hatch-A-Long! We're happy to have you!

 

[kian]

Thank you so much!!

 

[ajneal30]

I will be setting either tonight or tomorrow. I have some gorgeous BLRW roos that have been stomping around the hen house so I am sure I will get some colorful birds out of this hatch. I am also going to be setting a dozen Aracuana eggs for this hatch.

 

[what did I do]

How exciting. We are 8 days into a hatch with 4-h at a nursing home. We are a little off for this but I will be watching the stacked egg hatch. My next hatch is to be a stuffed incubator. I don't think my turner would turn that many eggs.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Happy Hatch Setting Day!!

Here are the eggs we set in the incubator this morning. We set 12 eggs that are a little less than a week old, that were shipped all the way from California (we're located in Missouri), and we also set 18 eggs that we picked up locally. We marked all the shipped eggs to see if the hatch rate is wildly different. As you can see, there is a wide range of shapes and sizes and colors. We can't wait to see who/what hatches out!



This is the incubator we're using. It's a little giant, still air incubator with an automatic egg turner. Has anyone used one before? We have used Brinsea in the past and I'm a little unsure of how to regulate the humidity in this kind.

!

Eggs in the 'bator!!

We use the same set up (little giant still air w/auto turner). The first few hatches we did were just the still air, we turned by hand three times a day. But last Christmas Santa brought me a turner and we used it on our last hatch in January. A word to the wise, the vibrations from the auto turner can throw the thermostat off! We had a few wicked spikes at the beginning of our last hatch which miraculously stopped once we placed wooden blocks on the corners of the incubator lid. This hatch I have the same sections of 2x4 plus two 1qt mason jars full of water to keep the vibrations to a minimum.

I will note that my turner is a Farm Innovators turner and not the Little Giant one, so there is a chance that somehow using one brand for the 'bator and a different brand of turner might have something to do with the vibration problems we had. But the temperature dials on the Little Giants are super sensitive, just a tiny tweak can make a big difference in temperature. Some people have good luck putting a larger knob (like from an old air conditioner or radio) on it, I'm just really careful to turn it very slightly when I adjust the temp up or down.

 

[PoultryGirly]

I'll join! My call duck eggs were set April 12 and are due May 8/9.

 

[Manna Pro Laura]

We use the same set up (little giant still air w/auto turner). The first few hatches we did were just the still air, we turned by hand three times a day. But last Christmas Santa brought me a turner and we used it on our last hatch in January. A word to the wise, the vibrations from the auto turner can throw the thermostat off! We had a few wicked spikes at the beginning of our last hatch which miraculously stopped once we placed wooden blocks on the corners of the incubator lid. This hatch I have the same sections of 2x4 plus two 1qt mason jars full of water to keep the vibrations to a minimum.

I will note that my turner is a Farm Innovators turner and not the Little Giant one, so there is a chance that somehow using one brand for the 'bator and a different brand of turner might have something to do with the vibration problems we had. But the temperature dials on the Little Giants are super sensitive, just a tiny tweak can make a big difference in temperature. Some people have good luck putting a larger knob (like from an old air conditioner or radio) on it, I'm just really careful to turn it very slightly when I adjust the temp up or down.

Yes, I have had to closely monitor the temperature as it seems to want to swing between 98 and 102... Every time I get it to the middle it doesn't last long. I'll try adding some weight on top of the incubator and see if that helps. Right now I'm able to monitor everything pretty well, but I'm a little concerned about when no one is here on the weekends!

Do you have any tips for monitoring the humidity? The Brinsea I've used in the past had a specific reservoir with lines on it to know to add a certain amount of water days 1-17 and the larger amount of water 18-21...