New to hatching

[CountryGirl1120]

Hatching is amazing. I know quite a few that use or have used the 1602 that highly praise them as well. I don't think I've heard a wide range of negative things about any of their models. Of course you have a hatcher here and there with any brand that have not had good "luck" with their incubator, but you never know how much is operator error or maybe a bad unit.

Now the new digital little Giants that TSC sells...oh boy, you're doing good when you find someone that has bought one and not regreted it...lol (There are a few but they are hard to find...lol) And the Farm Innovators, has a slightly better rep, but still no where near the Hovabators and Brinseas. I know a couple people that really love their Incuview incubators as well, but I don't see a lot of people with them.

I myself have an old Little Giant 9200 that I "borrowed" from my sister two years ago and she had it for at least 3 years before I stole borrowed it. And they are not known for longevity, so I can't complain it's finally hitting the brocks. It's served me well. A lot more work than some of your other bators and a lot more babysitting, but I've only had one bad hatch and that was my very first one, and that was operator error not incubator error. I had bought a new thermometer for it and never checked it for accuracy, plus I had my humidity at the highly recommended 50-60% that is touted in manuals and books that is soooooo wrong. After a failed attempt with 1 chick hatching out of 17 that went into lockdown and hatching day 24 I was told to check my thermometer, and sure enough it was 6 degrees off!!! I fixed that problem, (bought three new ones and checked them,) and researched humidity and switched to low humidity incubations and have not had a bad hatch since. (Well, providing the bator don't kill the eggs...)

At some point we want to do quail, but I need an enclosed set up before that happens.

Wow thank you for all that. I know Ive heard bad things about the ones TSC so thats why Im trying to stay away from an impulse purchase every time I am in that store. Im thinking the hovabator is the way to go. Its about the same price as the ones in TSC. One bad hatch thats amazing! So should you always have a spare thermometer on hand to check the bators accuracy? Note to self do not follow the manuals instructions. I will have to keep that in mind.

On the bright side I am supposed to be going and picking up three Ancona ducks this weekend. A blue male, a chocolate female, and a buff female to go with the lilac girl I already have. I may have to get a black female as well when I go because well, chicken/duck math!

I cannot wait to hatch out some eggs in the spring!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Wow thank you for all that. I know Ive heard bad things about the ones TSC so thats why Im trying to stay away from an impulse purchase every time I am in that store. Im thinking the hovabator is the way to go. Its about the same price as the ones in TSC. One bad hatch thats amazing! So should you always have a spare thermometer on hand to check the bators accuracy? Note to self do not follow the manuals instructions. I will have to keep that in mind.

On the bright side I am supposed to be going and picking up three Ancona ducks this weekend. A blue male, a chocolate female, and a buff female to go with the lilac girl I already have. I may have to get a black female as well when I go because well, chicken/duck math!

I cannot wait to hatch out some eggs in the spring!

Yes, no matter what bator you have, if it has digital display, always check it against a thermometer you know is accurate. Hovabators usually are pretty close as are Brinseas. The digital lgs I''ve seen the majority say they were 2 degrees or more off. I keep three thermometers in my bator....lol I actually have four but my accurite isn't so accurate and I use that mostly for the hygromter, (though that's off too...lol) A lot of people buy the cheap hygrometers from the pet store, in the reptile section and swear they are good accurate hygrometers. The manuals are good for product info and how the bator works, they just suck for humidity recommendations and a lot of them still recommend 99.5F for still air, when still air should be 101-102F taken near the tops of the eggs.

Exciting on the ducks, you'll have to post pics once you get them home.

 

[CountryGirl1120]

Yes, no matter what bator you have, if it has digital display, always check it against a thermometer you know is accurate. Hovabators usually are pretty close as are Brinseas. The digital lgs I''ve seen the majority say they were 2 degrees or more off. I keep three thermometers in my bator....lol I actually have four but my accurite isn't so accurate and I use that mostly for the hygromter, (though that's off too...lol) A lot of people buy the cheap hygrometers from the pet store, in the reptile section and swear they are good accurate hygrometers. The manuals are good for product info and how the bator works, they just suck for humidity recommendations and a lot of them still recommend 99.5F for still air, when still air should be 101-102F taken near the tops of the eggs.

Exciting on the ducks, you'll have to post pics once you get them home.

So much learning for me. How do you recommend testing a thermometers accuracy? Do the ones that you put like outside or something work? Are there special thermometers I should invest in?

If the humidity is off a bit is that horrible? I only ask because you said your hygrometer is off but that you've had successful hatches. I dont plan on getting a still air incubator only because I'm thinking where I generally work about 4 hours a night a circulated fan would be better so I dont have to bug household members to help me out as much. Im pretty sure some would be rather happy if I got rid of all my birds.

I will definitely post pictures of them. I'm super excited. Unfortunately this past Friday night I had something get into my duck house (it was my fault, I had the roof propped up just a bit for ventilation and it never got closed ) and I am down to 4 survivors out of 9. One I lost was my blue male that I got when I got the lilac female. I am pretty sure one of the other males I have is going to have to be culled. But luckily for me I have 6 smaller females as well that were not in the house so all 6 of those are well and good.

So I am hoping this person I am getting them from hasnt lied about their age or anything since I am looking forward to breeding them.

 

[n8ivetxn]

this is good stuff!

 

[CountryGirl1120]

this is good stuff!

It is and AmyLynn is wonderful for letting me pick her brain.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

So much learning for me. How do you recommend testing a thermometers accuracy? Do the ones that you put like outside or something work? Are there special thermometers I should invest in?

If the humidity is off a bit is that horrible? I only ask because you said your hygrometer is off but that you've had successful hatches. I dont plan on getting a still air incubator only because I'm thinking where I generally work about 4 hours a night a circulated fan would be better so I dont have to bug household members to help me out as much. Im pretty sure some would be rather happy if I got rid of all my birds.

I will definitely post pictures of them. I'm super excited. Unfortunately this past Friday night I had something get into my duck house (it was my fault, I had the roof propped up just a bit for ventilation and it never got closed ) and I am down to 4 survivors out of 9. One I lost was my blue male that I got when I got the lilac female. I am pretty sure one of the other males I have is going to have to be culled. But luckily for me I have 6 smaller females as well that were not in the house so all 6 of those are well and good.

So I am hoping this person I am getting them from hasnt lied about their age or anything since I am looking forward to breeding them.

One of the most common ways is to have a glass thermometer, take a cup of ice and add cold water and let sit for a couple minutes and come to temp. Put the thermometer in it and let it register. It should read 32 degrees. Once you know how accurate that thermometer is you can use that to compare to any other thermometer. Lots of people like to use the Brinsea spot check thermometer to monitor the temps in the bator. I think they are like $20 online. As for humidity, there is no special number. Different levels work for different people because of variables in environment/ habits egg quality. The best way you can figure out the humidity you need is in that link that I gave you. I run dry if possible aiming for about 30% but I monitor my air cells to know if and when I need to adjust. I use the hygrometer more as a guide than anything. I know roughly how much it's off. The link explains it all. Another way is to weigh the eggs to see how much moisture they loose, but that's too much fuss for me.

Oh, sorry to hear that. I had my first experience with a predator earlier this spring, and still don't know what it was, but it ended up with 3 of my hens. It's tough to loose birds like that.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

It is and AmyLynn is wonderful for letting me pick her brain.

Where is the middle of nowhere for you. I'm middle of no where too...lol Northern New York.

 

[CountryGirl1120]

One of the most common ways is to have a glass thermometer, take a cup of ice and add cold water and let sit for a couple minutes and come to temp. Put the thermometer in it and let it register. It should read 32 degrees. Once you know how accurate that thermometer is you can use that to compare to any other thermometer. Lots of people like to use the Brinsea spot check thermometer to monitor the temps in the bator. I think they are like $20 online. As for humidity, there is no special number. Different levels work for different people because of variables in environment/ habits egg quality. The best way you can figure out the humidity you need is in that link that I gave you. I run dry if possible aiming for about 30% but I monitor my air cells to know if and when I need to adjust. I use the hygrometer more as a guide than anything. I know roughly how much it's off. The link explains it all. Another way is to weigh the eggs to see how much moisture they loose, but that's too much fuss for me.

Oh, sorry to hear that. I had my first experience with a predator earlier this spring, and still don't know what it was, but it ended up with 3 of my hens. It's tough to loose birds like that.

Thank you for that advice! I'll have to keep those in mind and when it comes to the humidity to just check the air cells. I'm going to read more into that link you gave me hopefully tomorrow. It's been a busy past couple of days here with my daughter starting school and I work nights so sleep changing is hard for me.

I had an issue earlier this year as well with what I believe was a hawk, snatched 4 of my free range girls. I got a puppy about a month later to help combat the predators but he is still too young to be of much help right now. It was so tough for me with the blue ancona male. We had named the pair Jack and Rose. I usually dont name my birds and I think that might have made it harder for me than normal.

You are farther north than I am. I'm in Austerlitz which is right near the berkshires and Im quite literally on the mass line almost. Takes me only 8 minutes to get to my boyfriends place in West Stockbridge. Its horrible in the winter because I'm about 15 minutes from town where they get like 2 inches of snow and meanwhile I have just about a foot and people at work cant understand why I'm not risking my life for them.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you for that advice! I'll have to keep those in mind and when it comes to the humidity to just check the air cells. I'm going to read more into that link you gave me hopefully tomorrow. It's been a busy past couple of days here with my daughter starting school and I work nights so sleep changing is hard for me.

I had an issue earlier this year as well with what I believe was a hawk, snatched 4 of my free range girls. I got a puppy about a month later to help combat the predators but he is still too young to be of much help right now. It was so tough for me with the blue ancona male. We had named the pair Jack and Rose. I usually dont name my birds and I think that might have made it harder for me than normal.

You are farther north than I am. I'm in Austerlitz which is right near the berkshires and Im quite literally on the mass line almost. Takes me only 8 minutes to get to my boyfriends place in West Stockbridge. Its horrible in the winter because I'm about 15 minutes from town where they get like 2 inches of snow and meanwhile I have just about a foot and people at work cant understand why I'm not risking my life for them.

LOL. Yeah, not familiar with a single place you listed....lol We're about 45 minutes from the Canadian border going in from Ogdensburg. We get quite a bit of snow up here. I hate it so much. I want to be in a state that doesn't get snow!!

 

[CountryGirl1120]

LOL. Yeah, not familiar with a single place you listed....lol We're about 45 minutes from the Canadian border going in from Ogdensburg. We get quite a bit of snow up here. I hate it so much. I want to be in a state that doesn't get snow!!

Lol. Its okay. I dont know many places that arent within a hour driving radius. Everything else when I'm looking into getting new birds or such goes through google maps. I bet you get snow! I actually kind of like the snow, not so much the freezing cold temps that usually come with it but the snow itself I find quite serene. I used to hate it more when I first started driving and dreaded that first winter. Now Im just like whatever, as long as I can get out of my driveway snow doesnt stop me! I think I would need to live in a state that still gets some snow, maybe not as much as one would get up here but still a bit. Not sure I could do the temps of summer all long either. My body is a very particular creature.