SECOND TRY IS A CHARM UPDATE PG 2!!!

[chick_newbie]

I have 24 eggs in the bator right now. They are a mix of RIR, SLW, EE, and BR. They were placed in the bator on Aug 9 after lunch. Temps have been very stable, but the humidity dropped from 30's to upper 20's so I did add some water to bring it back up to the 30's range. I have a still air bator and no turner but I am trying the egg carton method. When I candled last night, it looked as though about 4 eggs were duds, but the others either looked good or the shells were too dark to see through.

Now since today is day 15 right? So in 3 days I will stop rotating the eggs and put the cartons flat?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[ginbart]

So today after lunch will be day 15. And after lunch on Thursday will be day 18. Stop turning the eggs then, yes the carton should be flat. You will love the cartons. It makes less of a mess. Try to get your humidity up to 70. Don't open the bator after day 18. AND don't forget the pictures.

Good luck.

Maybe someone else has more to add.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

You will hear many different figures when it comes to humidity. Some folks use 70%, some 60% and many other around 50%.

Because I've had issues with chicks drowning because the egg did not lose enough humidity, I now keep my humidity MUCH lower. The 30% that you kept them at during the first 18 days is perfect.

I don't increase my humidity until the first pip...after that I keep it between 55% and 60%. This way I know the egg has lost enough water but the air is still moist enough to prevent the membrane from drying after the shell is pipped.

Good luck to you! And remember...not all eggs hatch right on day 21. Sometimes a bit early...sometimes a bit late. Some of it depends on your average temp during incubation. For a still air, it should be 101-102.

 

[chick_newbie]

The temps have been running on the average of 101.3 or so, pretty steady anyway.

My last hatch didn't yeild any chicks, so I am really nevous about this hatch not working out either. Although, when I candled the last time, I believe that there was movement in at least 5 eggs, 4 duds,and the rest too dark to see through.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

The "too dark to see through" is a good sign. Probably filled with a chick body!!

 

[Charlene1234]

I'm new to this too and just hatched my first bunch of chicks last week. My humidity was all over the place at first. So I put jars of water with a paper towel sticking out of it. When that got dry I added more water. When I needed to bump up my humidity I had a bowl of in the bottom of the incubator (homemade) and I also added water to this. When the jar and bowl didn't do enough, the paper towel usually did the trick. It's not easy maintaining humidity. The first week I used a log book and recorded what I did to get the temp and humidity correct. When I added my metal wire to hold my eggs, the temps went all wacky!! Add the wire THEN figure out the right settings for temps. My husband says metal holds heat differently which made it wacky. My humidity was about 30-50% the entire time and I didn't bump it up till they started pipping. Good luck! Hope this helps. 11 out of 19 chicks hatched. 2 out of 3 ducks hatched... maybe 3? Still waiting...

 

[DragunzGirl]

oh dang its only day 18 for me and i put the hum up to 60+ dang it .... i hope i did not kill them...

 

[thepetpaw]

I am one day ahead of you - I put my eggs in the afternoon of the 8th.... I will give you good hatch vibes - hopefully all goes well for us both!

 

[chick_newbie]

I am sending out all the good hatching vibes for everyone trying to hatch this week, but of course I am holding some back for myself!!

Let me know how everyone else's turns out. I just love to see all the little fluffy butts!!!

 

[chick_newbie]

OMG OMG I got up today to see if I could candle them just one last time since later today will be day 18. I thought that the little fluffy butts outside were making noise, BUT here it is the little eggy's making the noise. Then I picked one up and it has a little hole in it. My poor DH just can't understand how I am sooooo excited. The sad part is that I won't be home today since I have to go to my grandma's funeral in a neighboring town. Oh shucks!! I will probably be thinking about this poor little eggy trying to hatch. Do you think that it will wait for me to get home??? I already have a name for it, but DH says, what if it is a roo???