Setting eggs July 6th. Need some hatching buddies. Lets have some fun!

[denmage]

We set 12 eggs in the incubator on July 4th. They were given to us by a nice woman who has a nearby farm. We don't know what kind they are, they are mixed white and brown eggs. We candled them last night and believe that approximately 8 are viable.

 

[efanie]

I have not don't it yet as i think I might be like you and once i start I will be doing it all time. do you know that best way to candle is?

 

[walkswithdog]

Quick check of my busted hatch eggs and I have some bouncing eyeballs! Go wigglers! Tossed four more with blood lines or clear. But any after a power outage is good. I'm adding more eggs thur or Friday. That's one tough little silkie and a bbs orp, might be a couple wh. Marans, they're harder to see.

 

[CGinJCMO]

Aw shucks on the small eggs making bantams

but glad to know that size doesn't affect hatchability.

I've never incubated eggs before, my Dad always bought mail-order chicks from a hatchery. I got mine this year from the farm store bins. My kids have more experience than me because their kindergarten class hatched eggs as a class project.

Thoughts on making an incubator is that it might be cheaper, but then there's all the fiddling with it and having a higher hatching failure.

The appeal of buying one, is that it should work out of the box. I say should because I've read where people have problems with them sometimes. To make my own incubator, I've kept a styrofoam mailing box about 12x12 and I'm sure I can get a computer fan from my hubby (he's a computer geek), but I don't have the light, & socket (unless I take the brooder lamp and use a sheet of glass on the top), thermostat and whatever else I need. July would be a good time for me because I could keep an eye on everything this month but next month will start all the back to school meetings. The other problem I see is that I'm only getting one egg per day as I only have one laying right now so it would take a while to get enough to make it worth the effort. I didn't refrigerate today's egg - the the three I have left from the weekend have been chilled down already. I'm being tempted. LOL

I wonder if I can talk myself into doing this: Baby chicks are so cute and seeing as my two oldest birds are both EE's, I won't have any EExBarred Rock (BR's only a couple of months old so I don't think he's going to be doing any mating yet (maybe I ought to look for the bulls-eye in one first). Might be good to practice a time or two before I try for a batch in the spring (and possibly for the classroom if the teacher likes the idea) Talk my self out: I'd be two or more weeks behind everyone here since I'd have to start collecting eggs for incubating. Can I get a incubator made for cheap? Should I even think about buying one (really ought to pay down debit)? Will they begin laying before winter? What if I end up with a lot of roos to process. Can I afford to feed a dozen pullets (if I'm lucky) for 8-9 months before I start getting eggs? Don't have an incubator. Have to set up a brooder. What will DH say (he thinks I'm a bit crazy already)? Don't have hen house finished yet and here I am considering adding more chickens. Can I keep DS2 from messing with the incubator (he has a hard time with "No", esp. from me)?

CG

 

[Danielle2017]

Aw shucks on the small eggs making bantams

but glad to know that size doesn't affect hatchability.

I've never incubated eggs before, my Dad always bought mail-order chicks from a hatchery. I got mine this year from the farm store bins. My kids have more experience than me because their kindergarten class hatched eggs as a class project.

Thoughts on making an incubator is that it might be cheaper, but then there's all the fiddling with it and having a higher hatching failure.

The appeal of buying one, is that it should work out of the box. I say should because I've read where people have problems with them sometimes. To make my own incubator, I've kept a styrofoam mailing box about 12x12 and I'm sure I can get a computer fan from my hubby (he's a computer geek), but I don't have the light, & socket (unless I take the brooder lamp and use a sheet of glass on the top), thermostat and whatever else I need. July would be a good time for me because I could keep an eye on everything this month but next month will start all the back to school meetings. The other problem I see is that I'm only getting one egg per day as I only have one laying right now so it would take a while to get enough to make it worth the effort. I didn't refrigerate today's egg - the the three I have left from the weekend have been chilled down already. I'm being tempted. LOL

I wonder if I can talk myself into doing this: Baby chicks are so cute and seeing as my two oldest birds are both EE's, I won't have any EExBarred Rock (BR's only a couple of months old so I don't think he's going to be doing any mating yet (maybe I ought to look for the bulls-eye in one first). Might be good to practice a time or two before I try for a batch in the spring (and possibly for the classroom if the teacher likes the idea) Talk my self out: I'd be two or more weeks behind everyone here since I'd have to start collecting eggs for incubating. Can I get a incubator made for cheap? Should I even think about buying one (really ought to pay down debit)? Will they begin laying before winter? What if I end up with a lot of roos to process. Can I afford to feed a dozen pullets (if I'm lucky) for 8-9 months before I start getting eggs? Don't have an incubator. Have to set up a brooder. What will DH say (he thinks I'm a bit crazy already)? Don't have hen house finished yet and here I am considering adding more chickens. Can I keep DS2 from messing with the incubator (he has a hard time with "No", esp. from me)?

CG

My husband made mine. Of course he's a man and they like to over do things, but it turned out nice. You could use the cooler if you want to, but my husband made a box out of wood. We used dollar store picture frames and took out the glass for the windows. One sheet of styrofoam cut down for the insides, a computer fan, dimmer swich and a light kit. He drilled holes in the top for ventilation that I can close / open when needed. Our first hatch were mailed button quail eggs. I had 10 out of 15 hatch! Two were unfertilized, two died early, and the last poor baby just didnt make it out of the shell. So it was a good hatch for me! Good luck. You can do it.

 

[JakeBremer]

My incubator is also homemade wooden box. If you go to my photos you can see them.

 

[AZ Birds]

My husband made mine. Of course he's a man and they like to over do things, but it turned out nice. You could use the cooler if you want to, but my husband made a box out of wood. We used dollar store picture frames and took out the glass for the windows. One sheet of styrofoam cut down for the insides, a computer fan, dimmer swich and a light kit. He drilled holes in the top for ventilation that I can close / open when needed. Our first hatch were mailed button quail eggs. I had 10 out of 15 hatch! Two were unfertilized, two died early, and the last poor baby just didnt make it out of the shell. So it was a good hatch for me! Good luck. You can do it.

awesome build! i think im going to build one of these soon for a hatcher since my dad can get all the wood and styrofoam for free . one thing i dont see in the picture is a thermostat do you use one?

 

[Danielle2017]

I actually use the thermostat / humidity combo pack from the pet store you see in my avatar. Those worked better for me for some reason. I have them more on the floor though now. Good luck!

 

[Stephanie739]

Okay, I set 7 eggs this morning (I fell asleep last night & didn't get then in the incubator). I am already having a hard time getting the humidity down in the incubator. I opened both holes and put a dry sponge inside too. Any other ideas?

Use a hair dryer.

 

[AZ Birds]

I actually use the thermostat / humidity combo pack from the pet store you see in my avatar. Those worked better for me for some reason. I have them more on the floor though now. Good luck!

oh i wasnt talking about the thermometer/ humidity combo im talking about a thermostat that would normally be wired to the light so when the thermostat gets signal that its to hot or to cold it will turn or turn off the light.