She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[RubyNala97]

LOL. He doesn't get offended, he's not from New York.....lol     If I didn't say it he would....lol

Yeah, you know us New Yorkers and our thin skin!

I've never done one trying to rescue one I believed to be alive.  But since my first "eggtopsy" attempt found a live chick, I go into every eggtopsy assuming it could be alive.  I have a seam ripper that has a nice sharp point that I have used to scratch the surface and weaken it before poking through.  I've also used one of those tiny Phillips screwdrivers (like you work on eye glasses with) to "drill" a pilot hole.  A nice sharp knife works too, if the shell is scratched really well first.   

WV, that's what happened to me my first time! The worst, isn't it!!! I use a screw and tap in a small whole, then go from there. I'm surprised at how tough those eggs are. I'm hitting them hard sometimes and can't break the shell!

 

[cppeace]

Well duck egg number 3 is getting very close to hatch, I'd say within an hour or so. Can feel movement from both eggs due in a few days so they are all still looking good. If even 6 outta the 8 eggs I had left hatch will be far better than I expected with this this experimental test run on the homemade incubator.

 

[RubyNala97]

Well duck egg number 3  is getting very close to hatch, I'd say within an hour or so. Can feel movement from both eggs due in a few days so they are all still looking good. If even 6 outta the 8 eggs I had left hatch will be far better than I expected with this this experimental test run on the homemade incubator.

I kinda think staggered hatches are awesome because hatch day is everyday! LOL! I love hatch day so it would be awesome to keep having one after the other. But I'm not brave enough to try it! Has it pipped yet?

 

[WVduckchick]

Yeah, you know us New Yorkers and our thin skin!

WV, that's what happened to me my first time! The worst, isn't it!!! I use a screw and tap in a small whole, then go from there. I'm surprised at how tough those eggs are. I'm hitting them hard sometimes and can't break the shell!

You New Yawkers.... pssh!

Yes it was awful! These last ones, I "knew" they were gone, but I still broke into them with that uneasy feeling... And yea, I've smacked the air cell with the back of a spoon and they can still be hard to break! A screw sounds like a good idea too.

Well duck egg number 3 is getting very close to hatch, I'd say within an hour or so. Can feel movement from both eggs due in a few days so they are all still looking good. If even 6 outta the 8 eggs I had left hatch will be far better than I expected with this this experimental test run on the homemade incubator.

Excellent! Hopefully you will give more details on your homemade bator, since you know it works now!

 

[WVduckchick]

The humidity is what worries me with staggered hatches. How are you dealing with it?

 

[cppeace]

I kinda think staggered hatches are awesome because hatch day is everyday! LOL! I love hatch day so it would be awesome to keep having one after the other. But I'm not brave enough to try it! Has it pipped yet?

Number three pipped yesterday and did a second pip hole today and is starting to zip so shall be out soon. The other two have internally pipped and hatch day for them is supposedly the 26th on them and the should have two more the 28 and one the 29th then the incubator will be empty and ready for the turkey eggs I can't wait.

 

[cppeace]

The humidity is what worries me with staggered hatches. How are you dealing with it?

I worried about it a bit too. I kept it in the 30s for the first week or so then slowly upped it into the 40s now that they are hatching I am keeping it in the 50s. Seems to be working for me so far but won't know how it affected the youngest eggs till they hatch or don't so far they are still alive and moving.

 

[cppeace]

You New Yawkers.... pssh!

Yes it was awful! These last ones, I "knew" they were gone, but I still broke into them with that uneasy feeling... And yea, I've smacked the air cell with the back of a spoon and they can still be hard to break! A screw sounds like a good idea too.

Excellent! Hopefully you will give more details on your homemade bator, since you know it works now!

It's a very very simple incubator. It's a large Styrofoam ice chest that I have a socket and 40 watt bulb in being run by an extension cord. Have a window in the front with a glass pane gotten from a picture frame. Have a 1x2 inch hole on the right side that I am having a fan blow in from the outside. I also have a piece cut out from the top, but I keep the styrofoam in it and only pivot it open if I'm having a too hot day that I'm worried about the temp going up too much. I use sponges/ towels to control the humidity. I have a pan and stretched shelf liner over it for the eggs to rest on. I turn them by hand 3 times a day. The incubator cost around $25. The combo thermometer cost almost $20 on top of that. I also had reptile thermometer and hydrometer from hermit crabs we used to keep and also have an aquarium thermometer in there. I primarily watch the digital combo for my temps but will average out between the 3. If I happen to have a high spike(Which I had at least 3 times where the temp registered at 104 for unknown amount of time) I let it cool down to 95 and then let it slowly warm back up. I also have been squeezing some droplets over the eggs when I re-wet the sponges. So far seems to be working out for me.

 

[WVduckchick]

I worried about it a bit too. I kept it in the 30s for the first week or so then slowly upped it into the 40s now that they are hatching I am keeping it in the 50s. Seems to be working for me so far but won't know how it affected the youngest eggs till they hatch or don't so far they are still alive and moving.

I hope this works for you. I don't mean to sound doubting. I seriously hope it works. I think we can get too technical, although years of experience has proven what works most often. But I also think some babies are destined to make it, no matter what you throw at them. You should end up with some very strong babies! I will be curious to see how it affects the ones due next week also.

I hatched one turkey with my first set of ducks. You will love hatching them!

It's a very very simple incubator. It's a large Styrofoam ice chest that I have a socket and 40 watt bulb in being run by an extension cord. Have a window in the front with a glass pane gotten from a picture frame. Have a 1x2 inch hole on the right side that I am having a fan blow in from the outside. I also have a piece cut out from the top, but I keep the styrofoam in it and only pivot it open if I'm having a too hot day that I'm worried about the temp going up too much. I use sponges/ towels to control the humidity. I have a pan and stretched shelf liner over it for the eggs to rest on. I turn them by hand times a day. The incubator cost around $25. The combo thermometer cost almost $20 on top of that. I also had reptile thermometer and hydrometer from hermit crabs we used to keep and also have an aquarium thermometer in there. I primarily watch the digital combo for my temps but will average out between the 3. If I happen to have a high spike(Which I had at least 3 times where the temp registered at 104 for unknown amount of time) I let it cool down to 95 and then let it slowly warm back up. I also have been squeezing some droplets over the eggs when I re-wet the sponges. So far seems to be working out for me.

Thanks! I started making something similar when I thought my heater was going out (day 18!), just in case I needed a hatcher. I used a piece of glass from one of those old filters that we used to put in front of computer screens so only the main user could see the screen. (you are probably too young to remember those!) My problem was getting the temperature just right, and stabilizing it. Do you have a thermostat to control it, or does the bulb just maintain steady temp for you? I probably should have just tried different heat sources to find one that worked. Once I put the heat lamp on my regular incubator, its temp stayed steady, so I never used my cooler-bater.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Now up to 3300 congrats on getting your 100% Amy
Nice set of congratulations SC
I would love to do some broody hatchees. I have 2 7 months old silkies so once they star laying I'm hoping that at least one will decide to be a good broody. My backyard mix chick is also the first in 4 generations to be incubator hatched so she might brood too. I really do need some more hens though as I have 2 roosters, with another 2 on the way and only 4 hens. Well 5 at the minute but zorrow goes out to the farm in a month. I just hope she resumes laying so we can get some frizzle genes chooks

Thank you.

Yeah, you know us New Yorkers and our thin skin!

WV, that's what happened to me my first time! The worst, isn't it!!! I use a screw and tap in a small whole, then go from there. I'm surprised at how tough those eggs are. I'm hitting them hard sometimes and can't break the shell!

LOL