Set My First Batch of Eggs Ever Today.... anyone setting today?

[Chickenhugger2]

Tax Day Chicks...lol . They are in the incubator. Due date is May 6th. Here's hoping!

 

[Lucky1]

I set eggs that should hatch on the 5th is it close enough?? I have 42 eggs in my 1602 and it is my first time hatching with a real incubator!

 

[msfarab]

Hi,
My first incubation. Still air Little Giant incubator, I collected & saved eggs for a week from 6 chickens.
My temp is holding at 97 humidity 54.
We hope this will work. I lost about 50 "loose" farm chickens last summer to predators. We trapped
with live traps and or killed possum, skunk, and caught coon and 7 ft black snake!!! ....
Eating an egg in the live trap.... we have mink, too, coyote and fox, but they carry off their kill, where our chickens were killed in the bank barn, drug up the stairs to the hay mow, and eaten there, so must be a strong enough animal to carry a chicken, then eat it, and LICK the bones clean, not tear it apart.

We have peacocks as well and lost a pea hen brooding her chicks( near our house garden), and ate her, leaving one chick to be an orphan,
which adopted me. It came to the back door for breakfast every morning, and roosted on the porch roof above the door.
Feb, during light snow I heard thumping, so looked out the back door and saw a snow angel on the walkway.... my orphan had been beheaded, no head to be found. Next morning at dawn, a HUGE owl, with 5ft wing span was trying to LIFT off carrying the pea baby( now 6 months old) and could not get it off the ground. Can't win for losin'!!!

I am going to try to incubate my peacock eggs when they lay them in about a month and have put the birds now in a net pen for protection.
Lesley

 

[Chickenhugger2]

WOW! I thought we had it bad with predators... but I can"t complain after that account! My Temp has been up and down. Hope I am not killing the eggs. I am not sure what is the best kind of thermometer and i am not completely confident in the accuracy. I guess I will count this as a learning experience. I am amazed at how primitive the whole thermostat thing is. You would think they would have a better system for regulating the temp. If this hatch doesn't go I am going to get a better incubator. I borrowed this one and it has surely been around the block a few times!

 

[Chickenhugger2]

Well if i was better prepared I would have Had them in yesterday too. I was busy testing the incubator . I was trying to get a steady temp reading. Thought I had it , but now that the eggs are in , it seems harder to regulate. What kind of thermometer are you using? I am skeptical about the accuracy of this one. Lets stay in touch and see what we get!

 

[Lucky1]

I use a National Geographic Indoor/ Outdoor thermometer and hygrometer, i got it at walmart for 20 bucks and it has an accuracy of +/- 5% RH and 0.2 degrees, so far i love it. I have it in the little space between the bator wall and my turner. fits very nice. I also have the thermometer that came with my 1602 and a digital thermometer that came with an alarm clock. Its 1 degree off but i have learned to just add a degree in my mind every time i look at it.

What do you have? I am thinking about getting another thermometer, just to be sure lol

 

[Chickenhugger2]

I use a National Geographic Indoor/ Outdoor thermometer and hygrometer, i got it at walmart for 20 bucks and it has an accuracy of +/- 5% RH and 0.2 degrees, so far i love it. I have it in the little space between the incubator wall and my turner. fits very nice. I also have the thermometer that came with my 1602 and a digital thermometer that came with an alarm clock. Its 1 degree off but i have learned to just add a degree in my mind every time i look at it.

What do you have? I am thinking about getting another thermometer, just to be sure lol

Thanks for the in put. I grabbed something similar from tractor supply. What's really cool is it has a remote weather station. LOL I have one piece in the incubator, and the other piece is free standing on my kitchen counter. I can see the temp in the incubator up to 200 feet away ! Overkill I know, but a fun gadget and it was all they had that read both humidity and temp. Cost was $24. It will be a good investment even when I'm done hatching. I can put one piece outside and have the "weather station" on the counter! all this fuss.... This reminds me of being pregnant!

 

[leirob007]

I set 13 for a friend on mine Saturday. and came home with a box more eggs to set for him today. so I'm with you on both sides.
My Hovabator is loaded with 38 eggs. most of which are due to hatch on the 21st ( my birthday ) I built me a new incubator out of a fish shipping crate Saturday morning.
Much to my AMAZEMENT holds a better temperature then my Hovabator and the Hovabator holds a lot better temps then my Little Giant. So it looks like I'll have to pop my new egg turner into the homemade job I have in there before I even finish it ( I still don't have a power indicator on it )
and I only use my Little Giant for the last three days. ( I'm too lazy to take egg turners out and in )
So currently in the bators are.
Batch 1- 11 game eggs Hatch date 04/21.
Batch 2- 14 Rhode Island Red / Barred Rock crosses. Hatch date 04/21
Batch 3- 9 Game eggs Hatch date 05/04
Batch 4- 4 Game eggs Hatch date 05/04


Setting tonight
7 game eggs
3 Game eggs
In case your wondering each breeding pair I count as a batch on his eggs. we keep them seperate all the way through. My RIR/BR I run together as I have no idea which ones come from which hens. I've been debating on using nest traps to figure out that part.

 

[leirob007]

I ordered 25 RIR chicks from a hatchery in November. Between the Foxes, Racoons, Hawks, Owls, Skunks, Coyotes and wild cats. I have 9 of them left.
it was quite dis-hearting.

WOW! I thought we had it bad with predators... but I can"t complain after that account! My Temp has been up and down. Hope I am not killing the eggs. I am not sure what is the best kind of thermometer and i am not completely confident in the accuracy. I guess I will count this as a learning experience. I am amazed at how primitive the whole thermostat thing is. You would think they would have a better system for regulating the temp. If this hatch doesn't go I am going to get a better incubator. I borrowed this one and it has surely been around the block a few times!

 

[leirob007]

I have used several different Hygrometers. BUT, I replaced them all with the ones I got from incubatorwarehouse.com for 14 dollars each.
without a min/max button that is resettable I am lost.
My Little Giant temps run on a rollercoaster ride too. 97 to 102 but the hatch rates are the same as my Hovabator which ranges 99.5 to 101
My home-made Fish Cooler Incubator runs 99.5 to 100.3 Tonight will be my first setting in it. So lets see what it does in the " real world "
I was not fond of the plastic heat strips that came in the kit I ordered at first. but I mounted it on ceramic tile and it cycles on for 30 seconds and off for 15 min. so I'm not complaining anymore.
I added fans to all my incubators. which drastically increased my hatch rates. I was getting 60-70% hatch rates in a still air. and since I added fans to everything I have not had a hatch rate below 87.5% and my last hatch rate was 100%

It may be of intereast to you to know. that maintining exactly 50% humidity did not work that well for me. I started letting the humidity drop to 18% or so before adding water back into the incubators ( makes no difference which incubators ) sure jumped my hatch rate WAY UP!.
In lockdown ( the last three days. ) I make sure my humidity is up when I put them in. and I do not care what it drops too from there. when chicks start hatching the humidity is going to skyrocket anyway.

WOW! I thought we had it bad with predators... but I can"t complain after that account! My Temp has been up and down. Hope I am not killing the eggs. I am not sure what is the best kind of thermometer and i am not completely confident in the accuracy. I guess I will count this as a learning experience. I am amazed at how primitive the whole thermostat thing is. You would think they would have a better system for regulating the temp. If this hatch doesn't go I am going to get a better incubator. I borrowed this one and it has surely been around the block a few times!