new bater setup??

[gimmie birdies]

I add my eggs after I feel the bator is holding the heat. the temp will go down and eventually back up when the eggs have heated up. don't try and make it warmer right after you put in the eggs, it will warm up soon enough. with home bators, always watch the temp. sometimes i will put a towel on at night to keep it warmer, I cannot suggest this to you because a towel might make yours too hot, but it does get colder at night. sometimes the temp may drop to 96 but son't worry too much your hatch might just be a little delayed- of course you don't want it to stay at 96 the whole time. mine maybe drifted to that temp while I was asleep. Good luck!


Francesca hatched under mom out in the coop. I brought her in to wait for 2 more chicks to hatch. these are the surviving chicks from our heat wave.
I gave them to mom because they are supposed to be the best bators- but you cannot control 100 degree heat, and a hot hen at the same time. yikes!
That is why I am hatching with my bator-

 

[gimmie birdies]

Up date- I got my chicks mixed up! I name all my chicks on the shell so that I know who hatched. I assumed Francesca because she had an internal pip an was peeping and pecking the shell. then last night I peeked at the eggs under momma, and I saw an egg with an external pip. assuming it was Francesca- I went to bed. this morning I found 2 eggs unhatched and one hatched chick still thinking it was Francesca, but no shell where did the shell go?. when I went to check on the other two eggs, the mom dropped the shell out from her wing- "oh this is Shelly, not Francesca." Since Francesca had an internal pip I thought I would candle her, but when I did she was in the air space but still. I popped the bit of top since she has been in the airspace a couple of days, and there was no movement. just sad since she made it so close. The 100 degree heat here was just too much for the babies. I checked the last egg. she has not internal pipped, not too worried, they are due sat. and can be a couple days late, this egg went to bator

, but I put the mom (Penelope) and the baby (Shelly) that hatched in the outdoor pen. she was excited and scratched for the baby, but realized it just wanted to be sat on and she figured this out. Shelly doesn't have Maran,I got eggs from diff. sources, but she is a mystery chick. I would guess, RIR/EE because brown shell- colored like RIR but had stripe on back like EE and Comb like EE.

 

[naightengale]

ok so weather changed and junkubator went nutz and wouldnt stablize..sooooo we built junkubator2....testing it now...best part junkubater2 can hold 40+ eggs with outside acess turners.
now running temp test wish me luck
and a big THANKYOU to my trooper of a husband.

 

[naightengale]

by george i think ive got it got thermo sat to where its 102 to 100 (gave amicro adjustment to lower that by 1deg. and got humid 39-48...
how long do i need to have it maintain this before i add my eggs i have 36 eggs. ready to go.

 

[gimmie birdies]

you know, I add my eggs after I feel I have the right adjustments and it has held the heat awhile.(couple days.) and since my heat adjusts slightly throughout the day I am always checking on it. but I like to fuss.

 

[gimmie birdies]

my latest creation.

 

[naightengale]

thats just niffty lol