set some eggs, have some ???

[pintail_drake2004]

I set 2dz eggs last night in my incubator my wife got me for my birthday back in December. This is my 1st time doing this outside of a classroom setting, so I was wondering what kind of success rate you typically get?
All the eggs are <24hrs old and were not washed. I set up the incubator the day before to stabilize the temp and humidity. The eggs are nothing special, just a mix of BR, BO, and EE. But I was wondering what percentage should you expect to hatch? A friend of mine, set 3dz eggs last year for me and 11 hatched. But, the eggs were 3-5 days old.

 

[Stacyoung13]

I just have a small 12 egg incubator, (16 silkie eggs), and I hatch my own silkie eggs. I collect them and set them point down till I have enough, then I lay them in. I’ve had 13 out of 13 hatch, that was my best, the worst was with shipped eggs, 6 out of 11, with 5 surviving. You should expect about a 75% hatch rate with everything working as it should, temps at 99.5 and humidity between 45-55 first 18, then 65-75 during lockdown, and turning 3-5 times a day. Do you have forced air or still air? Good luck with your hatch

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Oh boy... use calibrated thermometer...

My very first hatch was almost 100%.

My average hatch rate is closer to 75%. Most often at least 1 week old eggs. I get my best hatches in my still air bator, hand turning. But it also varies according my breeds... so your barn yard mixes might get great hatch rates!

So may things matter... breeding stock age, nutrition, incubation parameters, power outages...



A fantastic resource for hatching...
https://www.hubbardbreeders.com/media/incubation_guideen__053407700_1525_26062017.pdf

 

[Ridgerunner]

Each hatch is different. For example, one time I hatched 5 out of 5 shipped turkey eggs. Another time from the same source I hatched 1 out of 6 shipped turkey eggs. What would you call typical for shipped turkey eggs?

One time I brought 30 eggs home over a rough country road and shook them up pretty badly. That was the worst incubator hatch I ever had, 10 out of 30 eggs. My best incubator hatch was 25 out of 28 eggs set. I've had 100% hatch under a broody, I've had 0% hatch under a broody hen. Each hatch really is different.

When I hatch pullet eggs the hatch rate is usually not quite as good as when I set eggs from hens that have been laying a while. I never store my hatching eggs for longer than a week. I number my eggs as I collect them so I know which are fresher than others, that has not made a difference in hatch rate. How you store them might affect that however. Sometimes I can tell which eggs were laid by the same hen. On a few occasions I've noticed that all at least developed or all didn't. But at other times I've noticed that the one that did not hatch were laid by random hens. No consistent pattern.

Most of the time I set 28 eggs at a time. Most of the time I'll get at least 17 chicks, usually several more. But it is hard to say what is typical, they can vary so much.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

My wife got me the hovabator 1602N. The eggs were collected and stored in the house at 69*. My Hens are 1-2 years old, and I'm planning replacing my 2yo stock this fall with the hens I hatch. I have 4 roosters, and in the past, under broody hens I've had great luck.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

The chicks hatched. 16 of the 24 eggs hatched. I checked the remaining eight eggs, for did not appear to be fertilized, and the other four or dark on the inside. I got rid of the four that did not appear fertilized, and left the other four for one more day.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

So how do you calculate hatch rates? Is it the number of eggs set, and that case I had approximately 66%. Key factor in the eggs that were fertilized only, then my heart rate was Approximately 80%. Not bad for my first attempt with an incubator.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In the commercial hatcheries there are typically two separate operations. The laying barn people want to know how many are hatchable. That doesn't mean just how many are fertile, there are several reasons eggs might not develop other than just fertility. That could be health or nutrition of the parent flock or how the eggs are handled. Fertility counts too. Their responsibility is to give the incubator people hatchable eggs.

The incubator people are only interested in how many of the eggs that develop hatch. If the laying barn people gave them eggs that won't develop that is not their problem so their hatch rate only includes eggs that developed.

You can use either definition you want. Since I'm the laying barn people and the incubator room people both I count how many eggs I put in the incubator and how many chicks I get out.