Serma eggs

[mrs cluck]

What would be the best incubator to buy for Seramas? I don't need a large one.

 

[usschicago1]

Broody Hen is the BEst Incubator out there...Low electricity cost too

 

[mrs cluck]

Thanks for the info. Where is the best place to get one?

 

[mrs cluck]

Lol!!!

 

[usschicago1]

Quote:
Haha Im sure you must have a friend with a broody at this time of the year! )

 

[catwalk]

I use a homomade incubator for all my eggs, and I have deplorable hatch rates, especially with Seramas. My pullets have just started laying, so I have three non- shipped Serama eggs in the bator now; wanna see if that makes a difference. I haven't had a broody yet, but I am really looking foreward to one.

 

[elmo]

The best incubator for Serama eggs? Easy. A Serama hen (hee).

 

[walkswithdog]

Seramas can be tough to hatch regardless of incubator. And I've seen a lot of broodies ruin hatches as well. It's why I started incubating - because I was too often left with the results of pea brained brooding.

I have only done two serama hatches, one was just two eggs. Then I set 25, only 10 made it to day 18 and six of those hatched and one died later. The other five were worth the trouble.

It's not the incubator - it's the eggs and the art. And if you do it often enough I am told you get better even at these tiny eggs. I hatch in an incubator a LOT of my own and shipped eggs that aren't serama and get great hatches in both my homemades and my antique redwood cabinet bator.

I'm still fiddling with the right humidity and other things that might just play a role when hatching seramas but part of it's genetic, there are lethal genes in Seramas and I think small eggs loose rather more moisture than most over a hatch so I'm fiddling with that.

I got my last five just running them the same as my own eggs. Most were clear so I know it wasn't just the incubation, then a few middle run quitters and then 10 at the end.

I think there's a learning curve with them rather than any ONE incubator. There is rarely any Magic to incubation. And nature aka Broodies also fail though in some cases a well seasoned, well practiced broody can excel at difficult eggs. Or not, they do have brains the size of peas.

I prefer, since mine free range and are not separated from the flock, to incubate precious eggs myself now.

And this time of year brooding outdoors has a lot of hazards. We had a freak storm and freeze yesterday and a broody with three chicks lost two of them to the damp and cold before she could round them up and get them warm. Fortunately they were just mixed chicks to keep her happy anyway.

 

[Akane]

If you can find a good proven broody they do hatch far better than in incubator but if not seramas don't need a specific incubator. The same one that hatches other eggs in your house well will hatch seramas as best as you can hatch seramas. I'd suggest either the hovabators (styrofoam) or the brinseas(plastic) over little giants. The hova genesis 1588 is really popular.

For any of the small incubators you need a room that has a stable temperature with no drafts and do not put the incubator where sunlight hits at any time of the day. Some actually put them in closets. Keep the incubator away from heat/ac vents, windows, and doors. The smaller the incubator the more trouble you are likely to have. The fewer eggs you put in it the more trouble you are likely to have. There isn't much mass there to hold heat so it is lost easily as any air blows and the heater has to work harder risking more temperature changes. If you want to hatch only a few eggs I suggest still getting the largest incubator you can and adding something to help hold temp. In a hova that's easy since they are a big box with a flat bottom. I just fill some empty bottled water containers with hot tap water, screw the lid on tight, and lay them in there. They absorb heat and then when the temp drops release it again keeping the air warmer and the heater from having to run. The same happens if you fill an incubator with eggs. The more mass to hold heat the more the incubator can withstand a change in temperature because the objects in it won't cool or heat up as quickly as air will.

The only exception to this rule might be the rather expensive rcom mini which is designed to be automatic and have much better temperature control than most small incubators. However it will cost alot and it's still not really suggested. The other problem with setting very few eggs is that if you don't get a great hatch you risk ending up with no chicks or even worse a single chick. A single chick is worse because chickens are social. A single chick cries constantly and may even die from loneliness.

 

[TommyVT05]

eBay by far has the best deal if you need a "bundle". Incubator, fan, turner, etc.

Good luck!

- Tommy