We bought a Hova-Bator last year and never got to try it out. On April 18th this year I put 40 eggs from our mixed flock of Barred Rocks,Welsummer,Delaware,Red Hybrids & Buff Orpingtons. We have two Roos - a Buff Orpington and Lakenvelder. We were impressed how the Bator stayed so consistently on 99 degrees and good humidity and "hoped" for maybe 2 or 3 to hatch on Sunday - Mother's Day. Saturday night at 3am 3 hatched. I got up at 5am (too excited) to find 5 more had hatched. Even more had hatched when we got home from church in the afternoon and a few Sunday evening late. Monday afternoon two more are breaking out of their shells and the 3 eggs left we candled, suspected they were duds and broke them open to find just runny egg (not fertile). We are so thrilled to only have 3 out of 40 not hatch - a great first experience, but we credit the incubator as we really researched which was the most foolproof for us amateurs. I moved the chicks to a large brooder in my sunroom under a heat lamp and they are so active and already eating minced boiled egg, & chick starter and drinking. They should be a hardy little bunch being from good dual breeds. Most are golden showing their Buff Orpington side, 3 are pale yellow and two little guys are black w/yellow (could be Lakenvelder daddy). Can't wait to see them develop. Wanted to share my good news with everyone - if you haven't tried it, read up, get a good incubator and go for it. Now we have a dozen turkey eggs in there given us - hope we are even half as successful with them. After receiving two shipments of chicks last year with half of them dead, this is the way we are going to go. If I want to introduce a different breed, I'll just buy fertile eggs in the future and hatch them myself rather than pay for chicks which have to sometimes undergo a careless shipping procedure.
