May Hatch-a-Long!

[marcbarsby13]

Any Lu k with the EE candling? I'm in the same boat. Can't seem to figure out what to use to see in them. Checking Sunday before lockdown.

Today my mission is to find a solution to my never being able to see through my EE shells, I will need to have something decent to candle the 16 in my bator and 2 under my broody (the other 5 broody eggs are orp eggs)

 

[Kelsykin]

Any Lu k with the EE candling? I'm in the same boat. Can't seem to figure out what to use to see in them. Checking Sunday before lockdown.
Quote: Years ago my husband made a box and put a 100 watt bulb inside with the socket parts wired in one end with the bulb on the opposite side he put a hole for the egg to sit in. It lit up the eggs very well. Similar to this one

 

[Roxannemc]

I hope everyone is having a good hatch so far!
Out of the 27 eggs I have 26 that are growing! One of them had a scrambled yolk, so I cracked it open and saw no signs of life in that messy little egg.
My home made incubator is far from what I'd call "stable". But they're all growing great! 3 of the eggs I set about 2 weeks before the rest of them, so those ones are due to hatch on April 24th. They look great and are very active little duckies.

The heating element in my incubator is a 25watt bulb, and it works great at keeping the temperature... But only on one side of the incubator. I have a computer fan in there to try to even out the temperature but the eggs that are farther away from the light only get to about 95-97 degrees while the ones closest get about 101.5. The eggs that are a few inches away are at a perfect 99.5.
I rotate the eggs every time I turn them (3 times a day). So I move the ones closest to the heat to the area that's far away from the heat, and visa versa.

Is there anything I can do to stablize the temperature better?
Thanks!

Might work ok moving them.101 isn't too bad The low temp might cause some foot issues etc.I don't know for sure don't quote me .I had irratic temps my last hatch and had 4 or 5 I had ot assist and all but one had bad feet.
Can you add another 25 watt bulb on the other end? When my bulb in my home made bator got too hot i just put aluminum foil around it underneath of it so only a little light came out and extra air holes in the bator over it and it dropped the temp enough to be perfect. Worth a try!. Add a new bulb and then foil even heat anyway Are their any 15 watt out there.? Or lower than 25? i dont know. Better to have 2 lower wattage than heat uneven Also if your lone bulb goes out you are in trouble no heat if its at night for how long..? JUST SOME THOUGHTS

 

[Roxannemc]

It is a simple fix to a serious problem. My DH is the one who thought of it. I was going nuts with having 4 of the stupid thermometers not agree. We will not talk about the hygrometers not agreeing. 90% on one and 45% on the other. LMAO

You can calibrate the hygrometer simply too
Add a 1/2 cup salt dampen it not wet like damp sand but it in a air tight container Put the hygrometer in there but not touching the salt!! ...leave in with lid on tight for 24 to 48 hours...it should read.. I think its 70 have to look it up.. and edit this....
ITS 75....Some people use a zip lock big baggie I use a plastic container

 

[Roxannemc]

Fernie
That's a nice one!!
Someone told me they used a wood lid on their cooler and thought it was better than the regular lid because it would absorb some moisture so hold humidity better GOOD IDEA WOOD!!

I found a super guy on Youtube,,,who shows how to build incubators and close up how to WIRE it all. The most scarey part to me! AND best tells WHERE to buy the parts and WHAT to buy.......Videos called Rush Lane Poultry

.Has one Exclusively on Bator Wiring
.Hes the best ive seen.
Makes it all so easy to understand. I am for sure going to make an incubator like he does on there with confidence now.I already put a computer fan in a still air from his ..easy peasy instructions on using what where to buy and how.

 

[Roxannemc]

Marc
I only see the shadowed form of dark in my EE eggs and in my tan LO eggs. I have only seen movement a couple times and a vein once.They still are alive. usually
At 10 days the dark area (chick)should take up about 3/4 of the egg .
Earlier on you can put a pencil mark where the dark is on the egg and then see next time if its bigger than before pasat the pencil mark so you know its growing.

 

[marcbarsby13]

Thanks...thats actually really helpful. I hadn't thought of that. As long as they are growing. No need to see too many details. Just to be sure they are progressing to a better hatch than the last one.

 

[Kelsykin]

So of course I gad to candle the eggs again. I will do it as gsin on Friday night, but had to check t Ge duck eggs. I only have 10 duck eggs left. 32 turkey eggs with 7 of those iffy. So 8 eggs I refuse to toss until I absolutely have to toss them. Which if I have to toss all of them I will be down to less than half of what I started with 12 days ago. Of the 8 I have lost in that pass 12 days. 1 was my fault. 4 cracked in the bator. And the othe 3 were clears that I tossed the other day

 

[CarolynEarley]

We have a chicken, Dolly, with 6 eggs due to hatch on 8th May, an incubator with 44 turkey eggs and 4 chicken eggs due to hatch on 10th May, a turkey, Dilly, with 12 eggs due to hatch on 17th May and another turkey, Oprah, with 14 eggs due to hatch on 21st May. We have some'candling' to do before those dates, but hope to have many babies in May. Looks like it will be a very busy month!

 

[Nightwhispers22]

I have about 20 eggs that are being hatched by a professional (my hens). She started going broody about 2 weeks ago. It's a mixed egg jumble with some bantam eggs,comet, aerocanna,Wyandotte,buff and many more. May I join or my hen join?