newbie to incubating- need help

[sueandthe6]

History: One time maybe 7 yrs ago I did a homemade incubator and tried hatching eggs. Didn't go well and since then I leave it all in the hens hands/wings??
Facts: I'm not great at picking up eggs regularly (maybe 3 or 4 times a week-not an issue, until the ladies want to sit)
I'm even worse at marking eggs when the ladies do decide to sit (but i do get a little better at picking up).
I now have 12 eggs in an incubator that vary in age from poss 3 weeks to maybe 5 days old.
my problem: On Saturday one of my mommas was off the eggs she's been collecting for several weeks, with two hatched peeps. There were 15 still in the box. I brought them in and tried to candle them (failed mostly). There were 3 i was comfortable were duds, and 12 i put in the incubator. Some looked days away from hatching based on charts i looked at and some were somewhere in between. Incubator was never used- someone gave it to me a couple years ago and i just put it away. Temp isnt regulating well, humidity i cant get away from 50 +/- and 2 eggs have pipped!!!! I worked 4 pm till 1 am. When i left they had pipped but I didnt see any movement. Came home just a bit ago and now I see beaks moving in both. So it has been 11 hours and I dont know what to do next. Let them be? Help them? I actually turned everyone last night cause again I have no idea how old some are...Obviously that didnt kill them- Id hate to do something now that will The holes might be ever so slightly bigger now at 2 am than they were at 3 pm when I left for work but not by much.

Side note: the cardboard is because I am worried if any are no good they might explode so i had hoped if that does happen maybe the cardboard will prevent too much splatter to the other eggs.

 

[cherrynberry]

History: One time maybe 7 yrs ago I did a homemade incubator and tried hatching eggs. Didn't go well and since then I leave it all in the hens hands/wings??
Facts: I'm not great at picking up eggs regularly (maybe 3 or 4 times a week-not an issue, until the ladies want to sit)
I'm even worse at marking eggs when the ladies do decide to sit (but i do get a little better at picking up).
I now have 12 eggs in an incubator that vary in age from poss 3 weeks to maybe 5 days old.
my problem: On Saturday one of my mommas was off the eggs she's been collecting for several weeks, with two hatched peeps. There were 15 still in the box. I brought them in and tried to candle them (failed mostly). There were 3 i was comfortable were duds, and 12 i put in the incubator. Some looked days away from hatching based on charts i looked at and some were somewhere in between. Incubator was never used- someone gave it to me a couple years ago and i just put it away. Temp isnt regulating well, humidity i cant get away from 50 +/- and 2 eggs have pipped!!!! I worked 4 pm till 1 am. When i left they had pipped but I didnt see any movement. Came home just a bit ago and now I see beaks moving in both. So it has been 11 hours and I dont know what to do next. Let them be? Help them? I actually turned everyone last night cause again I have no idea how old some are...Obviously that didnt kill them- Id hate to do something now that will The holes might be ever so slightly bigger now at 2 am than they were at 3 pm when I left for work but not by much.

Side note: the cardboard is because I am worried if any are no good they might explode so i had hoped if that does happen maybe the cardboard will prevent too much splatter to the other eggs.

Thats going to be a busy few days for you! Eggs take a while to hatch, I wouldnt intervene until they have externally pipped for 24 hours and then stopped.

 

[cherrynberry]

Temp and humidity is really important, I would check to make sure they are even reading correctly.

 

[sueandthe6]

Thats going to be a busy few days for you! Eggs take a while to hatch, I wouldnt intervene until they have externally pipped for 24 hours and then stopped.

thats great. I am off from work tomorrow so I can keep a close eye on them. Hopefully things go ok. Thank you for the advice.

 

[Mellowmalt]

I agree to do everything you can do monitor temp and humidity. But don't open the incubator too much.
This is why it is generally important to run the incubator for 24 hours first to see how well it operates and let it stabilize first. It is very common for an incubator to overheat, underheat, then stabilize.
Hatching really is a busy time. Don't think about assisting, try to work out how old each egg is so you can figure out when to stop turning them.

It doesn't sound like you have a brooder ready then either once they hatch.

I'll cross my fingers for you but at the same time I do have to emphasize hatching is not just pot luck, it depends on the husbandry given. Making sure the incubator works well first, making sure it has been cleaned, making sure they will have space and the right environment to grow.
Otherwise it's a bit of a gamble and I don't believe treating hatching as a gamble is the right approach, you should put maximum effort into it not being a gamble. But that's my opinion.

 

[sueandthe6]

I agree to do everything you can do monitor temp and humidity. But don't open the incubator too much.
This is why it is generally important to run the incubator for 24 hours first to see how well it operates and let it stabilize first. It is very common for an incubator to overheat, underheat, then stabilize.
Hatching really is a busy time. Don't think about assisting, try to work out how old each egg is so you can figure out when to stop turning them.

It doesn't sound like you have a brooder ready then either once they hatch.

I'll cross my fingers for you but at the same time I do have to emphasize hatching is not just pot luck, it depends on the husbandry given. Making sure the incubator works well first, making sure it has been cleaned, making sure they will have space and the right environment to grow.
Otherwise it's a bit of a gamble and I don't believe treating hatching as a gamble is the right approach, you should put maximum effort into it not being a gamble. But that's my opinion.

I do have a brooder as I have a friend who takes in all the males from a breeder she knows. We get them at a couple days old, raise them then process for dog food. So I've got the small dishes, heat plates etc...its just this part I prefer to leave to the feathered professionals I told my friend this will cure me of being lazy next time the girls sit. I'm usually on top of things a little better but life was life this time and I also usually just assume momma knows best and when she gets up I ditch the rest- usually 2 or 3. I just couldn't let 15 go though. Doing the incubator that one time cured me- apparently for 7 years...this will cure me again for plenty longer than that.

 

[sueandthe6]

UPDATE the two that had pipped hatched overnight with no assistance from me-woo hoo! The first one worked his way around the corner to his not hatched friend and within half an hour he was out too.

New concern- I opened the incubator to put a piece of dishtowel down as the peeps were slipping on the cardboard and I realized that wasn't good for traction, and T smelled rotten. I'm very concerned with this issue since the ages of the eggs are unknown. So quick as I could I picked up each egg to look for oozing and smell it. I found the offending egg and took it out, but also found another egg that had pipped- on the bottom!? I put it back pip up, but I've been reading like a fiend for 3 days and I'm worried about disorienting the baby, Would I be better to leave it pipped on the top and hope he isn't turned around, or should i turn him back over and put the pip facing down?

Pics of the two newbies for fun!!!

 

[cherrynberry]

UPDATE the two that had pipped hatched overnight with no assistance from me-woo hoo! The first one worked his way around the corner to his not hatched friend and within half an hour he was out too.

New concern- I opened the incubator to put a piece of dishtowel down as the peeps were slipping on the cardboard and I realized that wasn't good for traction, and T smelled rotten. I'm very concerned with this issue since the ages of the eggs are unknown. So quick as I could I picked up each egg to look for oozing and smell it. I found the offending egg and took it out, but also found another egg that had pipped- on the bottom!? I put it back pip up, but I've been reading like a fiend for 3 days and I'm worried about disorienting the baby, Would I be better to leave it pipped on the top and hope he isn't turned around, or should i turn him back over and put the pip facing down?

Pics of the two newbies for fun!!!

Leave the pipped egg on its side. Did it pip at the sharper end of the egg? opposite of the air sac? If so, leave it be, it is malpositioned, just watch and make sure that your ready if it doesnt get out in 24 hours.

 

[cherrynberry]

As for bad eggs, I would wait until a few eggs have hatched and no more are pipping. Then, I would do a quick candle and remove the ones that have a blood ring or blood spot.

 

[-Flash-]

how are they?!