Moral support needed for novice!

[beckymom3]

After a sad first hatch (see "they died" thread from a few days back) that taught me A LOT about this whole wonderful process of incubating eggs, I have set my second batch of eggs.

My incubator: Hova-Bator 1583, forced air, automatic egg turner. Temp 100, humidity 58%.

The eggs: 13 Red Dorkings (locally obtained by a devoted breeder trying to sustain this rare breed)
15 Black Australorps (shipped, allowed to set at room temp x 10 hours)
14 mixed Brahmas (also shipped, set x 10 hours)

The incubator is full!

The Dorkings were set last night, having been taken from their broody hen to my incubator after about a 2 hour drive. We packaged them pointy end down in cartons with warm packs to keep the temp up for the drive, then I put them right into my waiting incubator when I got home. The incubator had been sitting at 100 deg stable for 2 days and was ready to go. I'm calling the setting date yesterday, since that's when I put them in the incubator, but the breeder thinks I should start from the day before as that's when the hen went broody. Any thoughts on that? Would you start the count from the day they were placed in the incubator, or the day mommy went broody?

The Australorps and Brahmas were shipped out Monday, arrived yesterday in excellent condition, packaged immaculately. I should have taken pics as an example of superb packing. Only one out of 51 eggs cracked, and that just a teensy bit with just dampness leaking. What a miracle!

I placed them at room temp overnight, pointy end down, then placed them in the waiting incubator, the same that has the Dorkings.

Now I'm fretting: the temp of course dropped when I added all those cool eggs. It's been about 2 hours and the temp has just crept up to 98. It seemed to take forever!

The humidity is stable at 58%. I'm worried about the Dorking eggs. I know the broody momma would shift them and even go eat and drink for a few minutes at which time the temp would drop, probably even lower than what the incubator did since it's been in the 50's in the mornings here in Central Texas. Gosh, it's so easy to worry! And it hasn't even been 24 hours into the incubation! I have to wait the 7-10 days to candle to make sure they are okay, but that seems like forever!

I have 21 of the mixed Brahmas still to place, but my new incubator isn't here yet! I shouldn't have ordered the eggs until the incubator was here and ready to go but I got thrown off by my friend's Dorking going broody and me needing to get those eggs set right away yesterday. I meant to just incubate the Australorps and Brahmas in my waiting incubator, then place the Dorkings in my fancy new Brinsea that's on it's way...Darn!!!!

My next question, then, is: how long is too long before placing eggs in the incubator? I would like to set up the new incubator and have it stabilize for at least 24 hours before placing the eggs in it, thinking it would be better for conditions to remain stable rather than put them in an incubator that's still changing temp and adjusting humidity. Any thoughts? I'm not sure when these eggs were laid, but they were shipped on Monday and arrived yesterday (Wed.) My Storey's Guide says 6 days will not harm the hatch rate. I think, if that incubator gets here today as promised, I could get them in by tomorrow evening or the day after assuming the incubator behaves. It has all the bells and whistles, including an electronic thermostat and egg turner, so by golly it shouldn't be too hard to equilibrate!

Thanks for any and all input. BYC has been my saviour through my terrible losses on my first hatch!

I have learned so much from you BYCers. I hope I can do you proud and get a gorgeous little flock hatched!

 

[mediazeal]

Sounds good
the eggs will be ok til the Brinsea gets here if it is coming as expected.
you do not need to run that brinsea for 24 hours
an hour will get it up to temp and humidity if not sooner

this time I put my eggs in before I even turned it on
they are pretty 'instant'
you can run it an hour to verify the temp is set at 99.5 etc and not 120 or something but they are pretty rock solid on temp.

you can open it 1 or 2 times a day at first to add more water or remove water, etc. to get the humidity right
I just fill the troughs 2/3 of the way, put in the eggs and let her go

eggs need to sit for at 12-24 hours anyway
you are good to go

have a great hatch

 

[bigstack]

Eggs can be set up to 7 days old with out affecting hatch rate. any older and you could have issues. I have seen some 2 weeks old and still had 75% hatch rate. It really depends! I try not to use anything over 10 days old. The first time the eggs achive incubation temp, wether under a chicken or in a bator is when counting starts.

Good Luck and God Bless!

 

[beckymom3]

"The first time the eggs achive incubation temp, wether under a chicken or in a bator is when counting starts. "

OOh, that means I may have pips on April 6!

Hmmmm. Would you begin lockdown based upon that broody hen? So, I may need to just shift the Dorkings to a hatching incubator (separate them from the newer eggs) and put them in separate lockdown a day before the rest. I'll candle them that day when I shift them. Whew!

Darn, I just talked to My Pet Chicken, my source for the Brinsea, because there's no sign of that incubator. They said they do not send incubators next day!!!!!

It was shipped ground on Monday, but there's no tracking number. It was a good price, and I paid for next day ($84!) but they are going to refund me the difference with ground shipping. They had no idea when to expect it!

I am going to Tractor Supply and/or my local feed store and just buy an $80 incubator. That makes 3 incubators once the Brinsea comes. Is that crazy? I can use the LG/cheapy one for hatching I suppose.... I feel like I'm hatching mad!

But I know I'm not clever enough to make one like some of you folks. It's not a waste of money for me, as this is a huge project I'm doing with my kids.

 

[Penturner]

incubation starts when the eggs hit the correct temp. Embryos don't know if it was a hen or a light bulb that warmed them. just don't be alarmed if many of your eggs are a day later than others.

7 days is the number I have in my head for the age of an egg and not be causing extra losses.

2 hours of a dip in temp is not going to hurt the eggs. It is not as exact as reading the posts woudl leave you feeling. A steady high or low temp will effect development of the embryos. Remember you will get the same effect when you open to candle and to prep eggs for the last 3 days.

about 7 hours at least and I have rad up to 24 hours to let the eggs settle before setting them. main issue here is to not let them be to cold when exposed to the 100 degrees of the incubator.

Good Luck,
MY EGGS JUST ARRIVED!!!

 

[beckymom3]

ARRRGH

My Pet Chicken says my Brinsea won't be here until the 22nd! That's too long to wait. I'm going to TSC to get an LG and just go for it. Darn it all!

By the way, we found a nice egg in the coop just now while scrubbing it out in prep for when all my babies are big enough to move out. It must be from one of our wild Gypsy chickens I bought from a lady in Key West. They roost and nest all over the place, are very feral, but one must have found it's way into our coop because there hasn't been a laying hen in there for a good 4 months. I candled it and it shows a yolk but has no odor like an old rotten egg. Besides, I'm sure a possum, dog or raccoon would have found it before now since I left the coop open to air out. I washed it off and will incubate it and see what I get! stranger things have happened, I'm sure!

 

[beckymom3]

Okay, the Brinsea won't be here until Monday at the earliest so I put my remaining Brahma eggs in an LG still air, the only thing I could find on short notice at Tractor Supply. I'm quite aggravated with it.

I did a crazy thing and put the goose eggs in there, too. I couldn't let them sit and possibly die without even trying so I just put them in and am hoping for the best.

Of course the temp is wacky. I have 3, yes, 3 thermometers in there and am about to switch out one and put in a new thermometer/hygrometer. I'm a nervous wreck!

The temp plummeted to 88 when I put the eggs in after holding pretty steady for hours at 100-101. Once the eggs were in, I lay the temp probe on top of the eggs and within half an hour it read 113!

If the Brinsea gets here on Monday, would anyone recommend transferring from the LG to it? I'm tempted as the LG is requiring a lot of attention. I left it to normalize for over 12 hours and simply putting the eggs in there totally threw it off. I hate how you can't just set a temp and go. This having to tweak it a tad and wait, tweak and wait is driving me bonkers!!!!

Any thoughts on the LG and how to get that temp right? And what do you think about taking the temp at multiple sites? What is the best thermometer placement?

 

[beckymom3]

Water wiggler!!!! I'm genius! Made per BYC instructions I saw on an old thread (type in water wiggler on the search window and look for water wiggler instructions, how to make a water wiggler). I made one, put it in the LG, now to wait and see if that helps me figure out what the temp is. 99.5 is what I'm aiming for the internal egg temp, right?

 

[clothdiaperingmom]

Quote:
LG's SUCK!!!

I got none on my 1st tried hatch.
2nd hatch today and I got 1 out of 10 that made it to lockdown.

Temp is all over the place, for no flipping reason.

I bought an older used hovabator with fan from someone that responded to my wanted ad on craigslist. (came with a turner too which I didnt have). This thing keeps a great stable temp! Larger water channels then the LG.

I hate LG. As soon as I get the chick out of the bator and Im sure the other eggs arent going to hatch, Im listing the LG on ebay (if I cant find the receipt)

My experience with the LG has me really frustrated with incubating, and about to give up.

Since you got one due to waiting on the Brinsea, save the receipt and take it back when your other one gets there!

I do have 2 therms in there in diff spots and neither one ever reads the same, even with humidity.

And the having to adjust the temp hadnt gotten any better during the past 30 days. It was steady for a few days, then when I got up 1 morn, it was 103. Later that day it was stuck on 98. Its very rare that a day goes by that I dont have to adjust it. STOOPID STOOPID STOOPID thing!

(My hovabator has dropped 1 time, very briefly, to 98. 1 other time the temp rose, to 100. Every other time I check on it, which is alot, it is 99).

 

[bigstack]

In my LG ( I got rid of it as soon as I could) The temp was 102 ontop of eggs, 99.5 at egg center, and 86-87 in bottom of the tray! I had 30 of 32 hatch! I let temp stand at 100 for 24 hrs. then loaded bator. It dropped but was back to normal by morning. It takes a while for all the eggs to come to temp. Then it stayed pretty consistant. Only had 3 spikes up to 108 but only lasted bout 2 hrs or less each time. It never dropped below 98. I just had to much trouble with humidity and trying to add water. I added 4 trays under the small vent holes in each corner. I used a syringe with a small tube to refill the trays with HOT water. I also added 4 wadded up wet papertowels at lock down. this helped to maintaine humidity. Then I could just use syringe to keep them wet. I used 3 LG thermometers until I found them to be off by 3 degrees. ALL 3 different temps!!!!! I got a hygro/thermometer from Lowes (wireless) I like being able to keep the readout with me at all times!

Good Luck and God Bless!