Peafowl Incubating/hatching setup.Tips and tricks.

[Pratik1234]

Hello.

I’ll be using a gqf 1502 SportsmanDigital cabinet incubator and 1550 Hatcher.
I’ve heard that people continually put new eggs in throughout the hatching period. I need some tips about setting Peafowl eggs in the incubator and Hatcher. We have a lot of peahens and I’m trying to figure out what will be the best way to incubate and have a good hatch rate. With keeping track of the genetics.

How often should you set new eggs in the incubator and Hatcher without messing up the humidity?

How to separate the eggs and keep track of the eggs from different breeding pens, specially when they are different colors and patterns and while you are incubating them at the same time?

Is there any way to mark the eggs before incubating and hatching?

Any more tips will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[R2elk]

Hello.

I’ll be using a gqf 1502 SportsmanDigital cabinet incubator and 1550 Hatcher.
I’ve heard that people continually put new eggs in throughout the hatching period. I need some tips about setting Peafowl eggs in the incubator and Hatcher. We have a lot of peahens and I’m trying to figure out what will be the best way to incubate and have a good hatch rate. With keeping track of the genetics.

How often should you set new eggs in the incubator and Hatcher without messing up the humidity?

How to separate the eggs and keep track of the eggs from different breeding pens, specially when they are different colors and patterns and while you are incubating them at the same time?

Is there any way to mark the eggs before incubating and hatching?

Any more tips will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Most of your questions are not peafowl specific.

I would add eggs to the incubator on a weekly basis. This will allow moving eggs to the hatcher once a week which will allow time to clean up the hatcher after each hatch before moving in the next group.

When adding new eggs to the incubator, I would not be concerned about messing up the humidity and if you do weekly batches to the hatcher, you will be starting fresh with each batch because each batch should not take more than 4 days to finish off.

If you are set up so that you know which pea hen laid which egg or at least which pen the egg came from, you can write on the egg. I use a pencil to write on the eggs while others use a sharpie. Keep a written record of what you have written on the eggs so you can track them. When you move the eggs to the hatcher, you can separate groups of them into different trays. If you don't have enough trays for the groups of eggs, you can put dividers in the trays to create more segregated areas. I made my dividers from hardware cloth that I cut to fit and then taped in place. I know at least one person who found a plastic version of hardware cloth to use as dividers.

Good luck.

 

[KsKingBee]

Excellent post Bob!

 

[Pratik1234]

Thanks a lot that really helped. Appreciate your kind help.

 

[KsKingBee]

I collect our eggs every night after dark and mark them with a sharpie before leaving the pen with the date and pen ID. When I get inside I assign a number to every egg and record it in my notebook. I set my eggs once per week and mark on the egg the date set. I am careful to not write on the zip line so the info can be read after hatch. I candle the eggs at two weeks and note in the notepad any that are not fertile or quit developing.

I pull the eggs from the incubator four days before the expected hatch day and put them in the hatcher keeping them separate by pen, (color and pattern). After they hatch they are given wing tags on both wings and a colored zip tie on the left leg that is unique to the pen they came from. Zips have to be watched carefully so they do not get too tight and damage the birds leg. Any unhatched egg is noted for late quitter or fail to hatch in the book.

The temperature in your incubator should be set at 99.6* but your humidity will vary a bit according to local conditions and weather. I am usually set at 45% and hatch at 65% in the hatcher. There is no more important setting than the humidity percentage. The best results are garnered when the egg loses between 11% and 13% of its total weight by hatch time.

 

[Pratik1234]

View attachment 1579368 View attachment 1579370 View attachment 1579372 View attachment 1579373 View attachment 1579374 I collect our eggs every night after dark and mark them with a sharpie before leaving the pen with the date and pen ID. When I get inside I assign a number to every egg and record it in my notebook. I set my eggs once per week and mark on the egg the date set. I am careful to not write on the zip line so the info can be read after hatch. I candle the eggs at two weeks and note in the notepad any that are not fertile or quit developing.

I pull the eggs from the incubator four days before the expected hatch day and put them in the hatcher keeping them separate by pen, (color and pattern). After they hatch they are given wing tags on both wings and a colored zip tie on the left leg that is unique to the pen they came from. Zips have to be watched carefully so they do not get too tight and damage the birds leg. Any unhatched egg is noted for late quitter or fail to hatch in the book.

The temperature in your incubator should be set at 99.6* but your humidity will vary a bit according to local conditions and weather. I am usually set at 45% and hatch at 65% in the hatcher. There is no more important setting than the humidity percentage. The best results are garnered when the egg loses between 11% and 13% of its total weight by hatch time.

Bill you are the best. Thanks for educating people and always helping out with your kind information. I am excited to follow the tips and see the results.
I’m going to practice this and test my incubators and hatchers with some chicken eggs.

 

[DriftPrairie]

View attachment 1579368 View attachment 1579370 View attachment 1579372 View attachment 1579373 View attachment 1579374 I collect our eggs every night after dark and mark them with a sharpie before leaving the pen with the date and pen ID. When I get inside I assign a number to every egg and record it in my notebook. I set my eggs once per week and mark on the egg the date set. I am careful to not write on the zip line so the info can be read after hatch. I candle the eggs at two weeks and note in the notepad any that are not fertile or quit developing.

I pull the eggs from the incubator four days before the expected hatch day and put them in the hatcher keeping them separate by pen, (color and pattern). After they hatch they are given wing tags on both wings and a colored zip tie on the left leg that is unique to the pen they came from. Zips have to be watched carefully so they do not get too tight and damage the birds leg. Any unhatched egg is noted for late quitter or fail to hatch in the book.

The temperature in your incubator should be set at 99.6* but your humidity will vary a bit according to local conditions and weather. I am usually set at 45% and hatch at 65% in the hatcher. There is no more important setting than the humidity percentage. The best results are garnered when the egg loses between 11% and 13% of its total weight by hatch time.

I know this thread is a few years old, but I just found it and this is great advice! I have about 20 peafowl and would like to hatch in my GQF Sportsman. I have tried the past few summers without any luck. I have been very successful with chickens and various pheasant species. I think humidity is where my issue comes in. Do you up the humidity to 65% for hatching just by adding more water to the pan? Any tips on humidity adjustment in general are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[KsKingBee]

I know this thread is a few years old, but I just found it and this is great advice! I have about 20 peafowl and would like to hatch in my GQF Sportsman. I have tried the past few summers without any luck. I have been very successful with chickens and various pheasant species. I think humidity is where my issue comes in. Do you up the humidity to 65% for hatching just by adding more water to the pan? Any tips on humidity adjustment in general are appreciated. Thanks!

I mostly use Brinsea incubators and a Brinsea hatcher that the humidity is digitally controlled so it is easy to set at the exact amount I want. I do not hatch in my incubators. I do have a Leahy 416 redwood I use for hatching and have found the right size pan that has the right amount of surface area to produce 65% humidity. I can also use the vent hole shutters to open and close the vents which regulate the amount of fresh air and vent out carbon dioxide as well as humidity. You can also add sponges above the surface of the water to boost the humidity. Just adding more water to the pan does not add humidity as it takes water surface to produce more or less humidity. That is where the sponges come in by adding more surface for the fan to blow over and pick up more water. It is a balancing act that you need to experiment with to find what works for you at your location.

Put your incubators in the basement or placed in a room in your house that the temperature is not going to fluctuate. Avoid sunlight and open windows, I have had ruined eggs because the wife opened windows and doors on very pleasant days. Here is a pic of my 'Man Cave', it is a room in the basement with no windows and only one door. Although the room is cooler than anywhere else in the house the humidity is very stable.