Newbie- Lots of questions

[cforrester]

Hi all! I'm new to incubating and chickens in general. We made our incubator from a 10gal fish tank and had lots of trouble getting the temp right for the first few days using 3 60w CFL bulbs and had already set our 4 eggs in it. So we got a 250w heat lamp bulb from tractor supply and have been able to keep the temp in an ok range for the most part. Anyways, I have candled the eggs several times. On day 5 there was veining in all 4. On day 6 I could see the embryo in 3 of them but egg #4 didn't look right and on day 8 I checked it again and it looked like everything was runny but the air sac was still intact. Today is day 10 so I candled them all again this morning after a power outage last night. 3 of the embryos are very active (yay!) But #4 I determined as a quitter so I did an eggtopsy

Any idea what may have caused this?
Also,there is a problem with 2 of my other eggs but the babies are still alive. Egg #2 it appears that everything has stuck to one side of the shell even though I have been turning them 3x a day. Is there anything I can do or will it end up dying? Egg #3 has had a small hairline crack since we got it so I covered the crack with tape. Baby appears fine but the air sac developed around the crack instead of the bottom of the egg. Do you think it will still survive to hatch? And final question, I'm starting to have trouble keeping my humidity in the 45-50% range.(it's too low) I already have 2 cups and a small plate of water in there. Is there anything else I should be doing? Here is a pic of my setup.

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Thanks in advance!

 

[cforrester]

Sorry just noticed my "incubator" pic did not attach. Here it is.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

There is no problem incubating at lower humidity. Many like myself prefer it. I have a shot glass I use for water and it puts my humidity at a bit over 40% which is a bit more than I like so let it evaporate and run dry for a day, 25% RH, before refilling with water. Day 18 I use a coffee mug that gives me 57-60% RH.

 

[cforrester]

There is no problem incubating at lower humidity. Many like myself prefer it. I have a shot glass I use for water and it puts my humidity at a bit over 40% which is a bit more than I like so let it evaporate and run dry for a day, 25% RH, before refilling with water. Day 18 I use a coffee mug that gives me 57-60% RH.

Ok thank you! I've been so worried about getting it all right! So should I just keep check on the air sac and make sure it's getting larger instead of worrying so much over the humidity? I marked the air sacs on day 7 and I think they were ok (not too small or large)

 

[HickoryHollow]

Hi all! I'm new to incubating and chickens in general. We made our incubator from a 10gal fish tank and had lots of trouble getting the temp right for the first few days using 3 60w CFL bulbs and had already set our 4 eggs in it. So we got a 250w heat lamp bulb from tractor supply and have been able to keep the temp in an ok range for the most part. Anyways, I have candled the eggs several times. On day 5 there was veining in all 4. On day 6 I could see the embryo in 3 of them but egg #4 didn't look right and on day 8 I checked it again and it looked like everything was runny but the air sac was still intact. Today is day 10 so I candled them all again this morning after a power outage last night. 3 of the embryos are very active (yay!) But #4 I determined as a quitter so I did an eggtopsy

Any idea what may have caused this?
Also,there is a problem with 2 of my other eggs but the babies are still alive. Egg #2 it appears that everything has stuck to one side of the shell even though I have been turning them 3x a day. Is there anything I can do or will it end up dying? Egg #3 has had a small hairline crack since we got it so I covered the crack with tape. Baby appears fine but the air sac developed around the crack instead of the bottom of the egg. Do you think it will still survive to hatch? And final question, I'm starting to have trouble keeping my humidity in the 45-50% range.(it's too low) I already have 2 cups and a small plate of water in there. Is there anything else I should be doing? Here is a pic of my setup.

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Thanks in advance!

I would guess the crack may have allowed the membrane to dry out and stick the chick. If you ever have a need to patch a crack again, try dripped candle wax or fingernail polish to seal the crack better. You might lay just that egg on a wet paper towel, crack down and see if you can "unstick the chick".......nothing to loose! Good luck!

edit: Oh, and one other thing. You really, really need to get the humidity up for lock down. I think part of your problem is the huge hole on top under the light. Humidity can't be sealed into the bator. I am not sure what you can do, because of fire hazard, but that needs to be closed I think. Maybe a peice of glass over the hole or something? Just my 2 cents. Hope that helps.....

 

[cforrester]

I would guess the crack may have allowed the membrane to dry out and stick the chick. If you ever have a need to patch a crack again, try dripped candle wax or fingernail polish to seal the crack better. You might lay just that egg on a wet paper towel, crack down and see if you can "unstick the chick".......nothing to loose!  Good luck!

edit: Oh, and one other thing. You really, really need to get the humidity up for lock down. I think part of your problem is the huge hole on top under the light. Humidity can't be sealed into the bator. I am not sure what you can do, because of fire hazard, but that needs to be closed I think. Maybe a peice of glass over the hole or something?  Just my 2 cents. Hope that helps.....

Ok thanks! The one with the sticking embryo doesn't have the crack though. They are 2 different eggs. Sorry I may not have been too clear in my questions. And I will definitely figure out something with that hole before lockdown! Thank you!