New hatcher here!

[Lenny loves chickens]

Thoughts about incubator vs using a broody?

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

Also thought about taking the chicks away from the hem after they hatch?

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

I’ve heard little giant is prone to breaking, there was one more but I can’t remember it.

The eggs will need to be turned at LEAST three times a day, at most five. The humidity needs to be between 65-70, the humidity will go down, so it needs to be refilled when it gets below that but not too much or the chicks will drown. The temperature needs to be 100.5 and you don’t want to leave the incubator open even the slightest or open it too often, for candling you just hold a flashlight on the bottom of the egg in a dark room and look for veins or a little ball like thing in the egg, for lockdown you CANNOT open the incubator unless it’s to remove a chick or if it’s necessary to save one, so if it’s wrapped in anything or injured. For lockdown it’s best to wrap the incubator in a towel or blanket to keep the heat and humidity in but leave the little opening where they have it uncovered, for me it was on top of the lid

I’ve made a few of those mistakes but nothing serious happened to the surviving chicks but 1-3 eggs would die each batch until I found where I was going wrong

This was super helpful!

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

This was super helpful!

So glad I could be of help!

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

Thoughts about incubator vs using a broody?

I think broody is easier, less heat expenses and then they would have a momma so you wouldn’t have to pay for a heat lamp, a brooder and get it friends, that’s why I got two silkie hens and a Pavlovskaya hen… good for brooding

Also thought about taking the chicks away from the hem after they hatch?

that might stress the hen out depending on the hen, chickens Are different from other animals when it comes to babies, they’re one of the few that will never abandon their babies unless it’s a life or death situation in which case some hens will leave the chick while running away, they generally care for the chick until it can take care of itself. But I’ve also seen people who have done that it I don’t believe it had any negative long term affects

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

I think broody is easier, less heat expenses and then they would have a momma so you wouldn’t have to pay for a heat lamp, a brooder and get it friends, that’s why I got two silkie hens and a Pavlovskaya hen… good for brooding

that might stress the hen out depending on the hen, chickens Are different from other animals when it comes to babies, they’re one of the few that will never abandon their babies unless it’s a life or death situation in which case some hens will leave the chick while running away, they generally care for the chick until it can take care of itself. But I’ve also seen people who have done that it I don’t believe it had any negative long term affects

I have all the brooder stuff. As i usally gwt them from a hatchery at a day old.

 

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

Ok so lost my favorelle to a dog about a week ago any way i fell in love with her so much i was sad,but i decided i want to add a couple to my flock. So i want to hatch 2 females. I have never hatched before so this is new anyway i was thinking about starting with 12 eggs. Any advice and or things i should know for spring?

I do humidity of 45-50 with a temperature of 100F. I turn the eggs slightly by hand at least 3x a day. So I’m able to go to work, school, go out, etc.. Day 18+ humidity goes up to 50-60 and I stop turning.
I get a 100% hatch rate every time with that method.

I also talk to them loudly and often from day 12 and up so that my voice becomes something they are eager to come out to. You can replace that with duck (etc) sounds in a video. I reccomend finding a video then pasting the link on a site called “listen on repeat” so it plays constantly.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

I do humidity of 45-50 with a temperature of 100F. I turn the eggs slightly by hand at least 3x a day. So I’m able to go to work, school, go out, etc.. Day 18+ humidity goes up to 50-60 and I stop turning.
I get a 100% hatch rate every time with that method.

I also talk to them loudly and often from day 12 and up so that my voice becomes something they are eager to come out to. You can replace that with duck (etc) sounds in a video. I reccomend finding a video then pasting the link on a site called “listen on repeat” so it plays constantly.

Super helpful.

 

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

Thoughts about incubator vs using a broody?

I’ve noticed the hatch is a little later with broody than incubator. Maybe it’s because you can control the humidity in the incubator and prevent dry out. Incubator is also best if you want the chicks to be used to you more than the mother.

I have a very simple brooder box for my chicks after the incubator. It’s a big plastic bin (not see through) with a heating pad covered with napkins. My birds are seramas, which are tiny, so they stay there for a while until they’re large enough to regulate their own body temp. Then I put them outside.

 

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

Also thought about taking the chicks away from the hem after they hatch?

This is my first bird, I took her from her mother at 2 days old I think. She cried quite a lot and was scared of my hand for some time. For a few months into her life she always trembled like a leaf when I held her, even though she identified me as her mother/flock member/what have you. Maybe a year into her life she stopped shaking. But she’s not as affectionate as my incubator birds. Those guys are puppies and never shook with me.

I right now separated a chick that hatched an hour ago under broody. (It’s not shaking, so I think you can do well with removal if it’s on the day of.) The other hatching eggs are still swallowing liquid and aren’t ready to hatch. The chick was fussing about so the females were moving.

So something you should know is when chicks hatch, most of the time they are not ready to come out. They’ll swallow and stick out their tongue. They’re still absorbing the yolk into their bodies. In an incubator I had one poke out downward and it drowned. The mouth needs to be up.
That’s why I removed the chick, so that the mother wouldn’t move the eggs down.

That is another reason I prefer incubator over broody. Also I made the mistake of having two female brood in the same spot. Someone broke open an egg in the nest and tossed the fetus out. There’s too many variables with broody vs. my perfected incubator method.