Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[Beekissed]

Day 6 here!

 

[Coopnana]

Are you going to candle the eggs?

 

[subhanalah]

Quote:
she has, and has development!

 

[theawesomechick]

Okay, folks....candled some eggs this evening and I'm definitely seeing some things in a few of them that I didn't see in the last few nests. I think I saw an eye or two, blood vessels, etc. Only time will tell. I could definitely tell which ones had some type of development going on versus the ones where there is still just a yolk and nothing else going on.

Am praying that this means this nest is the one where I didn't mess anything up just yet!

I will candle again at day 10 or 11 to see if anything else is happening. Oh, I'm praying!

This is great news! After all, three's a charm! And we also have a Sunbeam heating pad from Walmart... just realized that LOL

 

[Shellz]

So exciting! I sure hope this one works out.

 

[TexasLisa]

Okay, folks....candled some eggs this evening and I'm definitely seeing some things in a few of them that I didn't see in the last few nests. I think I saw an eye or two, blood vessels, etc. Only time will tell. I could definitely tell which ones had some type of development going on versus the ones where there is still just a yolk and nothing else going on.

Am praying that this means this nest is the one where I didn't mess anything up just yet!

I will candle again at day 10 or 11 to see if anything else is happening. Oh, I'm praying!

That is wonderful news Bee! I am praying also!

Lisa

 

[Zombified]

I've been following for a while, but now, I'm going to comment. I wanna try this! I think I'm still going to wait until temperatures aren't so cold here, because I tend to wait until late morning to go pick up eggs(my ducks lay in early morning). The eggs are basically left in 40* weather for several hours. They're always very cold by the time I pick them up. I have a broody mallard right now, who has a nest. I don't know if there are eggs, or if the eggs are fertile because I can't get to the nest, lol, but I guess time will tell.

Anyways, I want to do this with my Welsh Harlequin ducks. If I've been understanding everything about chickens and ducks correctly, they incubate at relatively the same temperature and humidity, but ducks take longer to hatch. I actually looked up humidity for hatching duck eggs, and got this, which I think is really interesting:
http://poultrykeeper.com/incubating-and-hatching-ducks/what-humidity-should-i-use-to-hatch-duck-eggs

Since I don't think I'll have a very large collection of eggs, and because I also want to make this as natural as possible, I'm not going to do the weigh method that this person did. It seems like, as long as I follow your nest #3 relatively closely in terms of the moisture, the humidity will be fine. I don't really have many feathers, either, so I'm also going to use my dog's fur.

So basically, I need a cardboard box, trash bags, moist soil and leaves, straw, fur, heating pad, something to insulate the box, water wiggler, thermometer, and a hydrometer. It's going to go in my room, in my closet. My room temps do fluctuate quite a bit, so I'm going to get something for insulation, and I'm going to do a lot of temperature testing before I put eggs in so I know what I need to do to keep the temperatures in the eggs from fluctuating too much.

Bee, thank you so much for this! I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to hatch any eggs, or only hatch a small number, because we don't have a lot of money. I was going to buy a Brinsea Mini Eco, but I like this idea so much better! And it's cheaper! And, because I'm holding off for slightly warmer weather, I can still wait and see if I need to make any big changes.

 

[kimmers]

Awesome! That is great news!

 

[Beekissed]

I've been following for a while, but now, I'm going to comment. I wanna try this! I think I'm still going to wait until temperatures aren't so cold here, because I tend to wait until late morning to go pick up eggs(my ducks lay in early morning). The eggs are basically left in 40* weather for several hours. They're always very cold by the time I pick them up. I have a broody mallard right now, who has a nest. I don't know if there are eggs, or if the eggs are fertile because I can't get to the nest, lol, but I guess time will tell.

Anyways, I want to do this with my Welsh Harlequin ducks. If I've been understanding everything about chickens and ducks correctly, they incubate at relatively the same temperature and humidity, but ducks take longer to hatch. I actually looked up humidity for hatching duck eggs, and got this, which I think is really interesting:
http://poultrykeeper.com/incubating-and-hatching-ducks/what-humidity-should-i-use-to-hatch-duck-eggs

Since I don't think I'll have a very large collection of eggs, and because I also want to make this as natural as possible, I'm not going to do the weigh method that this person did. It seems like, as long as I follow your nest #3 relatively closely in terms of the moisture, the humidity will be fine. I don't really have many feathers, either, so I'm also going to use my dog's fur.

So basically, I need a cardboard box, trash bags, moist soil and leaves, straw, fur, heating pad, something to insulate the box, water wiggler, thermometer, and a hydrometer. It's going to go in my room, in my closet. My room temps do fluctuate quite a bit, so I'm going to get something for insulation, and I'm going to do a lot of temperature testing before I put eggs in so I know what I need to do to keep the temperatures in the eggs from fluctuating too much.

Bee, thank you so much for this! I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to hatch any eggs, or only hatch a small number, because we don't have a lot of money. I was going to buy a Brinsea Mini Eco, but I like this idea so much better! And it's cheaper! And, because I'm holding off for slightly warmer weather, I can still wait and see if I need to make any big changes.

That's so cool! Make that soil in the bottom of the box about 2-3 in. or more if you want it to hold good moisture, then you can top it with leaves and then the grass hay to make for holding in good humidity in that soil. I add quite a bit of water in it all the same because this house heats with wood, which makes for dry air.

Please keep us informed of it on this thread? I'd love to see how others do with this.

I'm also going to be using this heating pad to brood the chicks like one would use a heat plate type brooder, so it makes it even cheaper...cheaper than the cost of the plates and cheaper than running a heat lamp for that long. I've got a wire frame on which to strap the heating pad so they can gather under it like they would a broody mama. I'll post pics of it when it's all together and the chicks(if any) hatch.

 

[Adelina]

I have a chick from the incubator that hit 80*