Set 3/9/12 HATCH ALONG!

[mkhenderson17]

Ok, So just a refresher, on March 3rd I set 7 eggs under a broody hen, on March 5th I set 32 eggs in my incubator... Today I had a little peep hatch from my broody hen 3 days early!!! Im so excited!!!! Its my first chick ever to hatch out on my farm! The other 5 are due this Saturday (she ate one egg so it must have been bad...)

As far as my incubator goes, I'm down to 13 eggs. That's less than half but I'm hoping to just get a few to hatch. I would be thrilled with just a few lol. Its my second attempt.

Heres a pick of my little peep! Its supposed to be a Millie Flure D'uccle! His "Mom" is a broody little Golden sebright, shes a good first time hen.

 

[mkhenderson17]

DirtCreature - I agree with meshellrose - unfortunately, your eggs don't look like they're developing. Can you get replacements for these? Don't give up on incubating. There is alot of trial and error involved in getting it "right". I don't know how old your kids are, but you can make this easier on them by being as matter-of-fact as you can, and tell them that sometimes things don't turn out how we want them to. Then get more eggs and move on!

If you don't feel you can handle getting more eggs and the disappointment that incubating will cause (there will be disappointment along the way since it's rare to get a 100% hatch), get some chicks instead. Whatever you do, go into it with the attitude that you will enjoy the chicks you have, and try not to stress over the losses too much.

I agree!!! After my first hatch was a total flop (set 30+ eggs and 0 hatched), I bought some replacement chicks from TSC. That did not stop me from tryign though. I put more eggs in my incubator and a hen went broody so I was set. My first chick ever hatched from my broody hen 3 days early. I went from 32 in the incubator to 13 but Im not giving up yet. If nothing hatches this time, Well, its back to collecting eggs and putting more on! Im determined to figure this out! I have an LG, its not the best Incubator but I figure its a good one to learn on (and I got it free from a friends divorce). I figure if I can figure this thing out I can figure out any incubator right? lol

 

[Domestic_goddess]

As I have mentioned before, this is my first ever hatch. I started with 34 eggs and I'm down to 23.....3 of which are not looking good either. So I hope that I can get some to hatch! We have 6 more days until lockdown, crossing my fingers some make it.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

Ok, So just a refresher, on March 3rd I set 7 eggs under a broody hen, on March 5th I set 32 eggs in my incubator... Today I had a little peep hatch from my broody hen 3 days early!!! Im so excited!!!! Its my first chick ever to hatch out on my farm! The other 5 are due this Saturday (she ate one egg so it must have been bad...)

As far as my incubator goes, I'm down to 13 eggs. That's less than half but I'm hoping to just get a few to hatch. I would be thrilled with just a few lol. Its my second attempt.

Heres a pick of my little peep! Its supposed to be a Millie Flure D'uccle! His "Mom" is a broody little Golden sebright, shes a good first time hen.

Congrats, what a cutie!

 

[bobbi-j]

So, how's everyone doing? I keep reading posts and seeing pictures of chicks hatching, which is making me impatient and wishing it was time for mine to start. I'm planning to candle again on Sat., hoping I will be able to better see the questionable ones that I have. Plus, I like to see the development. I bought 2 aquarium thermometers yesterday and put them in the incubator. The thermometer that came with it is consistently showing 99.5* at the top of the eggs. The new ones are tucked between the eggs and showing 98*. I'm not going to make any ajdustments, though. I don't want to take a chance on spiking it or something. I just know that next time, I'll set it to the aquarium thermometers. Now, off to work in my turning-a-shed-into-a-coop project so I have room for these babies when they hatch!

 

[DirtCreature]

well, im just waiting for my 24 hour mark of my eggs to settle, then im going to put them in. finally got the bator all temp and humitity right... im just really worried idk how to keep the humitity right while the batch is going....

you should post some pics of your shed/coop project!

 

[bobbi-j]

well, im just waiting for my 24 hour mark of my eggs to settle, then im going to put them in. finally got the bator all temp and humitity right... im just really worried idk how to keep the humitity right while the batch is going....

you should post some pics of your shed/coop project!

I forgot if anyone has asked you this before. Do you have a hygrometer? If you do, keep an eye on that, and add water as needed. If not, you can put water in the trough, and add a little every few days. Then you can judge your humidity by the air cell in the egg. Find a good picture of what it should look like on days, 7, 14 and 18 and adjust accordingly. (You'll have to do some research on that) Fluctuations in the humidty are going to happen. Think about it - if a broody hen is on eggs and the humidity outdoors changes, it's going to change for her eggs, too. If your eggs are good, this time should go alot better for you.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

It's day 13~ 8 more days to go, 5 says until lockdown. I candled a few questionable ones this morning, took out 2 that had blood rings and all the rest seem to be doing fine, which leaves me with 21 viable eggs. I'm getting excited! I'm getting the coop ready, I think I might have to move my chicks outside this week, and that will make more room for my hatching chicks. Let me know how your progress is going everyone

 

[DirtCreature]

yes i do have one, i made my bf go get one from a cigar shop for me. it has temp and humitity. then i have a meat thermometer and regular thermometer in too. so far up until this moring it was holding at 99 and 50% but now its down to 96 degrees (of course right before i put the new eggs in!)

I forgot if anyone has asked you this before. Do you have a hygrometer? If you do, keep an eye on that, and add water as needed. If not, you can put water in the trough, and add a little every few days. Then you can judge your humidity by the air cell in the egg. Find a good picture of what it should look like on days, 7, 14 and 18 and adjust accordingly. (You'll have to do some research on that) Fluctuations in the humidty are going to happen. Think about it - if a broody hen is on eggs and the humidity outdoors changes, it's going to change for her eggs, too. If your eggs are good, this time should go alot better for you.

 

[bobbi-j]

Results of Day 14 candling - According to the pictures, they look more like day 11-13 development. There is alot of space toward the bottom of the egg yet, the air sac is still small, and the dark band that is the developing chick is about 1/2"-3/4 inch width in the middle of the egg. I think my temp is a bit low. The thermometer that came with the incubator is still reading 99.5-100 on top of the eggs, but the two aquarium thermometers lying between the eggs is showing about 98*. Tempted to bump it up a bit, but will wait till morning so I can monitor better. The good news is, out of my 35 remaining eggs (out of 41), they all appear to be alive and developing. It's kinda fun watching the little embryos jump around in there. Since they're so far behind, I'm thinking of waiting until Wed. to start lockdown. I set my eggs at 10:30pm, so they'd start at that time on Wed. Any thoughts?

Dirt Creature - I'll try to get some pics of the shed conversion posted.