So frustrated! And ready to give up. :-(

[silkiechicken]

I think Scbatz was trying to point out that manual turning means opening up the bator thus causing more temp fluctuation, not the turning itself. I would try putting the bator in a closet or under blankets in effort to minimize any potential temp fluctuation at let's say 3am when the house is cooler.

 

[farmin'chick]

Are you ventilating enough?? I had trouble with my LG before I figured out to give them more ventilation -- and I have insulated the outside of the box with a thick towel to help keep the temp more constant. Hatched 4/6 fertile last hatch on mailed-in eggs.

 

[Poliwag]

Quote:
Just wanted to say, I know how you feel

. About a year ago I tried to hatch Silkie eggs and nothing formed in any of them... after 3 tries, I gave up and bought some chicks instead

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
Exactly! I had trouble with humidity until I got an auto turner.

 

[MIKE555444]

This is my first hatch WITH the fan. My dad had about a 10% hatch rate without a fan.

It's pretty easy to do and makes a world of difference in steady temps. I am of course "counting my chicks before they hatch" BUT I do have 2 peeped this morning. I have found that I can increase the humitity by adding a small pan of water near the fan... the closer I move the water to the fan the quicker the water is transfered to the air. So i adjust my humitity that way.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I have heard that the fans are important and all of mine have fans. Also with a still air the temp needs to be 101-102 (they need higher temperatures)

Ventilation is very important as farmin' chick said.

As for the humidity, I am not sure what you are currently doing for that but I am having much better success controlling my humidity now that I went and bought "air line tubing" from the fish department in the pet store.

I bought the flexible blue silicone tubing for about three dollars and cut off a piece around 2 feet long . I have a 50cc syringe (don't know where I got it--probably out of the dog worming box but you can get one at a pet store too)

Insert the tubing into the vent of the incubator and aim it where you want the water to go. Fill the syringe with WARM water and squirt it in. Move the tubing around to get a greater "area" of water on the bottom. Don't get the eggs wet if possible.

I have found that the "area" of evaporation is important. More area= more evaporation=more humidity. When I have a sponge in there-getting it wet helps but not nearly as much control as the tubing.

 

[walkswithdog]

I agree with Cbiblis. If there's no formation at day 7 your temps are off. Three thermometers does not mean accurate. Calibrate your thermometers to MAKE certain of what temp you have at the top of the eggs. You want 102 measured at the top of the eggs in still air.

Yes an auto-turner helps because you don't open the bator so things stay more consistent. No, it should not be necessary, just nice. Ventilation is important after about 10 days and more so in the last five days. Without adequate ventilation chicks suffocate and die in shell.

Shipped eggs are always in ??? because postal gorillas can ruin them without breaking them, and it's very hard to tell what has been shaken to death before you try to hatch it. I've had zero hatches on shipped and everything from there to 100% hatches on shipped eggs. It's a matter of luck as much as anything else.

As to pushing your humidity up. If you have not calibrated your hygrometer. Do so now. Knowing how much it is off, is going to be important to this hatch if they go. Trying to push a hygrometer - that reads 30 but is actually 60, to 60% means you're trying to push the humidity to 90 without knowing it and that would drown most chicks in the egg.

Calibration instructions are in the "read me" file aka Sticky at the top of this forum.

I hatched in an LG first. It actually can be done, even done well once you understand the equipment. Yeah, it's not fun.

I enjoy hatching in the mini-fridge bator I built from speckledhen's instructions. Love it. So much so that I still use it even though I have a cabinet bator now. I use both.

Good luck and best wishes..

 

[NoVA Chicks]

My plan is to leave the eggs in until Friday at least (Day 10) and candle them again. If I have the patience, I may wait until Sunday (Day 12). At that point if there still aren't any signs of life, I'm either going to buy chicks (might be making the four hour drive up to hinkjc's, I see they have chicks) or completely rebuild my incubator. I have a mini fridge I can use as a body and I figure I can cannibalize the LG for the heating element and add in a fan (or two?). At this point, I'm vacillating between wanting to give up and just buy chicks (or just give up entirely for now and buy chicks in the Spring) and really digging my heels in and making this work. What I don't want to do is go out and spend a ton of money on a new incubator or an auto turner. We're trying very hard to be frugal right now and I had to work hard to justify the $40 for the LG in the first place.

 

[walkswithdog]

I wnet with homemade after I found out that I didn't like my LG very much. Use the mini-fridge, use the heating element if it fits and a cheapo lamp socket and lightbulb if it doesn't. The fridges hold temp really well, much easier to keep it stable. Even if you have to open it. I got glass for the "window" I cut in the door from the thrift store - used frames. I got my water "pan" from the thrift store too, it's a small glass baking dish. The fans came in it - they just had to be rewired a tad, and I reversed the fan and added a second one. Drill some holes, and you're golden... Not all that hard, not much in the way of money. You can reuse the LG thermostat as well, since it is working. Remounting it isn't all that big a deal.'

I vote for getting chicks and for continuing to try. You need a fuzzy fix

I understand that, if you were anywhere near Knoxville Tn I currently have too many fuzzies and more hatching. LOL.

 

[NoVA Chicks]

This hatch is definitely a bust, so I'm formulating my plan for the next one already. (I'm sure I should give up at this point, but obviously I've crossed the line into obsession.) I'm going to ransack the house this afternoon and see what I can come up with . . .