Please say this normal?

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TwoCrows said:
Since these eggs started out so cold, there is no doubt some farther behind, similar to a staggered hatch, some will need lockdown sooner than others. Not the best scenario but these things happen!

If these were my eggs, with ranges of 14-18 days, I'd wait one more day and tomorrow put them all on lockdown. I would candle each egg to make sure it's alive and with a pencil, draw the air cell outline onnthe eggs. Turn off or remove the egg turners and lay down that rubber shelf liner with the tiny holes and put all the eggs on it so you can see the air cells for pipping, and close the lid. Get the humidity up around 60% to 65%, it can take several hours to do so, if needed, add a small cup filled with water and a damp piece of a new kitchen sponge to put in this cup to raise humidity if needed. You should never open the lid if there is external pipping in any egg as the loss of moisture from opening the lid can dry out the chick and it will stick to the shell and die. We can worry about hatched and unhatched later. But for now, this should be the plan. :)
Click to expand...
OK. Please don't judge me. I have 5 kids and it's Christmas time... I freaked and bought what I thought to be a cute, homey little incubator off amazon before I even got to my house with the eggs (and before doing any research) because all I could picture was little chick's shivering their buns off. Good news, humidity is good, temp is good... but this rubber mat you speak of... yea.. it didn't come with one. It has a bottom pan (for water) with the egg tray sitting above it (I'm the egg turner). Here's a pic. And now that I have done a little research... I see humidity reading may be off on this thing. Should their be condensation on the windows? It was reading in the 50s and I put a little sponge in to up it when 18th day hit. It's reading 63-69 but also has condensation
 

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Newoldhen said:
OK. Please don't judge me. I have 5 kids and it's Christmas time... I freaked and bought what I thought to be a cute, homey little incubator off amazon before I even got to my house with the eggs (and before doing any research) because all I could picture was little chick's shivering their buns off. Good news, humidity is good, temp is good... but this rubber mat you speak of... yea.. it didn't come with one. It has a bottom pan (for water) with the egg tray sitting above it (I'm the egg turner). Here's a pic. And now that I have done a little research... I see humidity reading may be off on this thing. Should their be condensation on the windows? It was reading in the 50s and I put a little sponge in to up it when 18th day hit. It's reading 63-69 but also has condensation
Click to expand...

It's good that you had the incubator before the eggs, eggs are only good for hatching for about a week to a week and a half. 69% is pretty high imo, and that would certainly cause condensation. I try to keep mine under 70% while they're actively hatching. When they start hatching it will make a huge humidity spike. 50 - 55% is what I set my incubator to for hatching, but I do run it dry for the first 18 days. So long as the chicks can't fall into the water, your floor will be fine.

I ask only because you said you didn't research ahead, do you have a heat lamp and place for the chicks to live while they're tiny set up already? If not, a rubber maid bin and a 60 watt incandescent lightbulb very close to the floor of the bin about 2" up, on one end will work. and it's a lot cheaper than the feedstore lamp and heat bulbs. Also, they grow fast, if they're standard size and all 8 happen to hatch you'll need at least a 5x6 building plus outside space for them to roam every day. 5 weeks inside is pushing it for that many birds. They start needing their bedding changed every day at about 3 weeks or the smell is unbearable, if you're using wood shavings. If you use peat moss and it doesn't get wet it lasts a lot longer, but it's incredibly dusty.
 
Newoldhen said:
OK. Please don't judge me. I have 5 kids and it's Christmas time... I freaked and bought what I thought to be a cute, homey little incubator off amazon before I even got to my house with the eggs (and before doing any research) because all I could picture was little chick's shivering their buns off. Good news, humidity is good, temp is good... but this rubber mat you speak of... yea.. it didn't come with one. It has a bottom pan (for water) with the egg tray sitting above it (I'm the egg turner). Here's a pic. And now that I have done a little research... I see humidity reading may be off on this thing. Should their be condensation on the windows? It was reading in the 50s and I put a little sponge in to up it when 18th day hit. It's reading 63-69 but also has condensation
Click to expand...
No worries, we all started as newbies at some point! :)

Here is the rubber shelf liner I was talking about, you can get it most discount stores. Cut a piece to fit fairly well under the eggs on the floor...
Screenshot_20231218-061530_Chrome.jpg


60 to 65 % humidity is perfect. Try not to let it get above 70 or below 60.
 
Rose Quartz said:
It's good that you had the incubator before the eggs, eggs are only good for hatching for about a week to a week and a half. 69% is pretty high imo, and that would certainly cause condensation. I try to keep mine under 70% while they're actively hatching. When they start hatching it will make a huge humidity spike. 50 - 55% is what I set my incubator to for hatching, but I do run it dry for the first 18 days. So long as the chicks can't fall into the water, your floor will be fine.

I ask only because you said you didn't research ahead, do you have a heat lamp and place for the chicks to live while they're tiny set up already? If not, a rubber maid bin and a 60 watt incandescent lightbulb very close to the floor of the bin about 2" up, on one end will work. and it's a lot cheaper than the feedstore lamp and heat bulbs. Also, they grow fast, if they're standard size and all 8 happen to hatch you'll need at least a 5x6 building plus outside space for them to roam every day. 5 weeks inside is pushing it for that many birds. They start needing their bedding changed every day at about 3 weeks or the smell is unbearable, if you're using wood shavings. If you use peat moss and it doesn't get wet it lasts a lot longer, but it's incredibly dusty.
Click to expand...
I didn't have the incubator but got it from Amazon with a quickness. Never saw the eggs coming nor did I have any idea I would be a mommy to little balls of feathers until it happened.

That being said, I DO have a sweet little setup (if I do say so myself). Probably went a little overboard, but hey, they're only babies once. 😊 As far as outdoors goes, we have several unused sheds and barns and have already turned one into the Mac daddy chicken coop. (Well, almost finished). I say every day, we don't need chickens on our funny farm of odd rescues, as I continue to work on their new home... 😂🤣

Hoping they hatch soon. Looked back and they are actually day 21 (but were near ice cubes when I found them) this causes more anxiety than potty training a strong willed toddler.
 
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