Ok, I'm starting to FREAK! We have two sets of eggs, one to hatch this Friday, the other on Saturday, if all goes well. We have two incubators and I have used a hygrometer from the very beginning. I just vacuumed/sanitized the larger, hand-made syrofoam bator with light bleach water. Sanitized water bowl and metal wire racks; put the fan up off the floor, turned on the light and put the hygrometer on the floor to measure humidity and temperature. Now its airing to dry and lose the chemical smell. Its big enough to keep the hatched chicks quite nicely until they are dry, then I have a box to transfer them to the brooder area. Today I will test the large bator to maintain the correct humidity while keeping the temperature at 99. We used it quite awhile before we bought the hova-bator so I know this one works well. The first set of eggs is going in tomorrow evening for lockdown. The second set is staying in the hova-bator and goes into lockdown on Wednesday. What I'm looking for is any last minute advice concerning anything and everything... This is our very first hatching and we don't know much except what we've read that other people have done. The chicken coop is almost completely built; we are planning to insulate it before sheeting it with tarps. It will also have a window made from two glass panes from photo frames I bought today. We are setting up a brooding area in the porch with a heat lamp and cardboard to pen them in (this is where the shavings will come in), the little room has a heat vent and a door to close so the cats can't get in and the chicks can't get out. I already have 25 kgs of chick starter, a waterer and two bales of shavings. Hubby is making a feeder. Is there anything we have not planned for? We have been candling them and marking the air cells and have weighed a few to make sure they are losing the moisture they are supposed to be losing. Out of 68, I think we may get half, when we bought them the owners had a rooster running with the hens but they weren't sure if all the eggs were fertile. Some that we've candled are very dark and you can easily see the air cell, all eggs are brown so some are very hard to see anything and some, clearly have nothing in them. Last minute advice? Something else that should be done? Something we haven't thought of? Please feel free to give advice...
