Set eggs Feb 17th anyone else?

[2hot2chicken]

Well last time was heart breaking. started 23 was at 19 up till 2 days before lockdown then we had a really sunny day and the temp in my room where bator is got pretty warm. Then DH opened the window to cool the room and it got really cold ad since it was very dry cold the humidity got sucked out of the bator down to about 8-10% by the time I got home and found it.... : (
Ended up with 3 into Lockdown and 1 died during zipping, (I think from its possition it tried to turn but it suffocated itself? Its head was tucked very tightly curled under its leg, hard to explain but its face was against itself and nose was covered.).
I did get 2 healthy happy little chickies! 1 OEG and 1 silkie of unknown color.
They are taking well to my broody hen so they have a new mommy : )

This time around will be different though!
I did some wheeling and dealing behind the scenes here on BYC and got myself
16 Assorted color Araucana
10 Wheaten Ameraucana
18 Buff and Partridge Silkie
4 silkie eggs from my own flock of mixed white,blue,splash.

I got a full bator set tonight!
Anyone else want to set-along with me?

 

[Tressa27884]

I'm with you I set mine yesterday too. A mixed lot of cochin eggs. This is my first hatch so I'm really nervous!

 

[NancyP1]

I put 35 in yesterday too! Turns out to be the longest 21 days ever! I set just some mixed larger breed birds. This is my second year trying to hatch some. Not so good last year, hope it goes better this year! Good luck!

 

[Tressa27884]

When will you candle the first time?

 

[mazojoe]

I am going to 12 Jersey Black Giants for a friend and 24 Black Sex links tomorrow. I set up the incubator this afternoon and am trying to get heat and humidity correct before the eggs arrive tomorrow!

This is the first time I have incubated eggs, I picked up a GQF 1502 for cheap and thought I would give it a shot. I have done all my homework and readings, wish me luck and hope all goes well with everyone else's hatch.

Joe

 

[fuzziecreatures]

I set 6 LF eggs under a broody on the 16th, she was off on another nest for about 3hrs today. She's now isolated into a small dog crate with food and water. I'll let her out once or twice a day when everyone is in the run or free ranging so no one else can sit on her nest and distract her.

 

[2hot2chicken]

Well I am not an expert by any means but I do have a ton of knowledge as My grandpa grew up hatching mostly BR (Barred Rocks) in large quantities for eggs and meat and chicks to sell. So he is my main go to guy. There are also a ton of very knowledgable people on here as well. So don't be affraid we are with you here. Also you can expect a few mistakes to happen since it is your first time. But you will learn and with any luck you can have some success. Hell I made a major mistake last time and I didn't think about how much the weather can affect the temp in my house and I left for the day. Needless to say my room got very warm with the sun shinning right on my window and this caused my still air LG to heat up to about 105 for I don't know how long as I was gone. Then my DH noticed it and opened the window in my room to cool it down and I think he may have opened the bator to but when I got home a couple hours later the temp was at about 94-95` ish..... It was I the day before lockdown and when I candled them and found almost all of them dead I cried!!!
I did get 2 little fuzzy butts out of 23 eggs originally set though so it wasn't a total loss. There is always some hope in this!

What kind of bator are you using?

I'm with you I set mine yesterday too. A mixed lot of cochin eggs. This is my first hatch so I'm really nervous!

 

[2hot2chicken]

Remember with shipped eggs you want to let them sit for at leased 24 hours without turning them or anything so they can settle from the roughness of shipping. I always wanted some JG.... I have to wait a few more yrs though till we are in a better place to be able to sell our house and buy more property! I think DH may try to keep us here though because he knows if we get more room I will just fill it up with coops and runs!

There are so many breeds I want!

I am going to 12 Jersey Black Giants for a friend and 24 Black Sex links tomorrow. I set up the incubator this afternoon and am trying to get heat and humidity correct before the eggs arrive tomorrow!

This is the first time I have incubated eggs, I picked up a GQF 1502 for cheap and thought I would give it a shot. I have done all my homework and readings, wish me luck and hope all goes well with everyone else's hatch.

Joe

 

[2hot2chicken]

I set them and do not use a turner. Last time I opened the bator and turned by hand but it was only 23 eggs, I candled pretty frequently just an egg or 2 here and there every couple days. It was fun for my kids to get to see them growing and changing. This time around I am going to be a lot different and I will candle 3 times, day 7, day 14, and just before I put them in lock down. I am rotating the whole bator, from front to back 3-4 times a day on even days and right to left on odd days. I have the roll of rubber drawer liner I bought to cover the wire in the bator with so I just use that as it wont slide or let the bator slide off. It raises the end its under about 3 inches which should be enough. I am also using cartons to hold the eggs since they were shipped and many had broken air cells I thought this would help them keep the air cell at the top of the egg where it should be. I noticed to that some of the eggs especially the araucanas were really fat eggs and though they are in a jumbo sized egg carton they would be really hard to be able to rotate in the carton.

Would love to hear how some others are doing it!

Quote:

When will you candle the first time?

 

[mazojoe]

I am just getting eggs from neighbors, It will be a couple of years before I venture into purchasing eggs to hatch. My real reason for getting a incubator is for pheasants and qual. I have a couple of game farms around my area that I can collect eggs for free. I thought it would be a lot of fun for my daughter who is 3, to experience hatching instead of just going to the country store and picking up some chicks.

I have been bit by the fowl bug hard and can always understand why a person wants more land! I have an old barn on my property that is slowly going to be filled with all types of birds!