My Journey Begins--1st time Incubating--Join Me!!

[Sugar Sand Farm]

Mine are going on 10 days I will candle tomorrow Its my first time as well DD bought fthe incubator and of course its up to me to look after it. We put 41 eggs in and have another 43 at our friends. I also have 5 broody banties sitting on eggs and one blue orp. The bantiys are always broody I have 9 biddies in the brooder that she hatched this week two today. I think theres still at least 15 eggs under her. So far they have all lived but one he was extra tiny and so weak he couldnt stand I put him in a separate box and he lived for 2 days but died yesterday He was so cool he had a balck lightning bolt on his head. Hope this hatch does well. I have my eyes on the home made bator AL6517 built out of a bathroom cabinet its beautiful.

 

[MSHEN]

Got my bator running for the last 2 days, playing with it and reading everything I can, which has confused me at times. There are so many conflicting techniques concerning humidity, temp, etc. If you want to be enlightened, click on the incubating discussion topic at the beginning of this section. I think it's marked "sticky". There is a wealth of info and some spirited discussion among some pros. Glean from it what you will and know that our first hatch is a learning experiance and that what works for some, may not work for others. I ordered eggs from 3 good folks here on BYC. I tried not to get any of the rare breeds that I want to raise yet until I know for sure what I'm doing. This is my 2nd hatching but I'm still a complete newbie because that 1st hatch was about 15 years ago, and it was with a still air model. I have a forced air GQF 1588 for incubation and a 1602 for the hatch. I did get an egg turner to give me a little more freedom. My eggs should arrive tommorrow and they'll rest for a while, then, in they go!! Hope we can learn from each other. I think it's gonna be a wild ride!!

 

[AngieChick]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8510

These are the instructions for the Prissy Bator. There are many takes on this basic configuration, as well. Don't be intimidated by it, it's actually very straight forward and simple. Plus, it's cheap! Especially if you have some of the supplies at home to scrounge.

 

[Kristy in WA]

Day 2

Wow, how neat that so many of us are starting at the very same time! It's only day 2 and I'm ready to order a Hovabator 1588 with egg turner, and all the bells and whistles. I took my eggs out of the cartons because when they were leaning, they were so close to the heating element, I just didn't think that was a good plan. I have 3 thermometers, 2 digital and one normal, and 2 of them say 101, and one of the digital says 106. I am believing the 2. We turned the eggs twice today but forgot to wash our hands before touching the eggs. The thermometers are on the floor of the incubator, so the eggs are closer to the heating element, so I'm hoping they're right around 102 which is what I need with this ancient borrowed incubator. I guess if anything lives I"ll be happy. The thermometers were all above 104 at one point today, so who knows. It doesn't help that I am flat on my back, sick in bed, and send my kids downstairs constantly to give me the thermometer report. At least my throat is not hurting any more, thankfully! So, being so tired isn't helping matters with the mental attention needed to regulate this incubator. Hoping tomorrow will go better! Kristy

 

[MSHEN]

Just put 42 eggs in the bator tonight! They are all from shipped eggs, so I'm just hoping to have a fair rep. from each shipment. Day 1 will be tomorrow, hatch day scheduled for April 15th. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. The eggs all came in this morning early. The PO called and I went right down and rescued them, unwrapped them and set them up to rest for about 12 hours and just popped them in a little while ago, so day 1 will have to be tommorow. They were in great condition with no casualities and superb packing jobs, all of them. Hats off to Seabright Mom, Okie Hen and PasoFino Farm and the USPS for getting them to me intact and the rest is up to me and Mother Nature.

 

[ChickBond 007]

I am also hatching my first batch of 13 eggs:
6 buff silkies
7 Welsummers
These were shipped eggs that I purchased on this website on the auction thread. (Way too much fun there - beware)

I don't believe I let my eggs "rest" after getting home. They were already room temp and the bator was warm and inviting so I popped them right in. I am on day 1 for the Welsummers and day 3 for the buff silkies. I guess I have just a few days to figure out a hatcher because of the difference in days.
My 1588 is wonderful at keeping the temperature steady and perfect, but the humidity will bounce slightly. I woke up one morning to "Lo" on the humidity monitor but quickly added water. I hope that didn't hurt things. It's going to be a long three weeks, isn't it?

 

[Kristy in WA]

Day 4

I guess I missed yesterday. I have been sooo sick, in bed, and leaving the whole egg thing to my dd12. She has been doing a great job, and today the bator remained right around 100 degrees. I am feeling better today also, so maybe that is why I have a better outlook than I did 2 days ago. I can't wait to candle them and see what we have. Yes, it will be a long 21 days!!! Kristy

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

Hi candled mine on day 12. Out of the 41 eggs we set, 5 were either broken slightly or clear. The rest all have little embyros swimming around. Heres hoping. My DD candled the other 18 we set on the same day. She says they are all viable. These eggs were mostly from our own chickens We set cochins,orps,ameracunas,australopes,and polish. We also set some that we purchased at our local auction Claims to be pure ameracunas we shall see hopefully. We also have another 25 set but they were set a week later so we haven't candled them yet. Heres hoping. My temps have been running at 100-101 in a still air LG I have to watch the humidity here in Florida I am keeping it between 40-45-50 So far so good.

 

[peaceful]

The air pocket is at the large end of the egg.
I know this because we had some eggs under a broody hen and some of them didn't make it and we opened them up to see what had happened.

Meanwhile decided to try my first incubator hatching. Started 42 eggs yesterday (Thursday) in a still air Hova-Bator with automatic turner and am studying up to understand all I can! Looking good so far!

Wow, how neat that so many of us are starting at the very same time!

I agree!​

 

[MSHEN]

Day#2 and I'm fighting the rise in humidity to 64%. Just sucked what little water there was in there out and it dropped to 55%. Since this was my 1st batch in 15 years with a different incubator and since I live in MS, I decided to go with The Mississippi State University Extension Service's recommendations and try to keep the humidity 58-60% days 1-18 and raise it to at least 65% for hatching. I am using a 1588(forced air) with a turner for incubation and a 1602(still air) for hatching. Haven't gotten the still air out yet to see of I can stabilize it. I may be asking advice from some of ya'll when it comes time for that....19 days or so... WOW, That's a LONG time!! Been experiancing some severe weather the last 3 nights here with the power out at 2 am Thursday morning!! I threw a blanket over the incubator, cracked the top open and was able to maintain 90 degress. When the power did not come back on for half an hour, I went outside in the wind and rain, holding a flashlight in my teeth and fired up the generator, plugged that baby in and got her fired back up to speed in no time flat! Power stayed out for 3 hours! I had just set those eggs 2 hours before! SURE wasn't gonna loose them to bad weather! Having another round tonight with more tornado watches and warnings all over me. The generator is gassed up and my extension cords are run, I'm ready! Now if I can just stay awake until the danger is past. This will be the the third night I have stayed up most of the night standing quard to jump in if my power goes out again! I really hope I get a few little flufflings out of all this!! I wonder about my sanity these days..