Still air incubator

[Joplus]

My 30 chicks took about 24 hours to hatch. By the end they were going crazy. Its a still air farm innovator and says it holds 42. It seemed extremely overcrowded with just 30. And they were practically screaming. So I took them out. Some were dry for a day and others barely but they're all fine now. Then in the brooder they all passed out and it scared me but that's normal too.

 

[blucoondawg]

Being a little crowded in the incubator for a couple days won't hurt them, what I get concerned with is the heat and humidity in there, last time my humidity was very high, I couldn't see in the windows because of the condensation once the eggs started pipping and hatching, this time I am going to try to start lockdown at a slightly lower humidity.

 

[only1bgirl]

Thank you so much Blucoondog for your input, I'm not seeing anything that suggests growth yet either. Waiting until day ten to try again sounds good, here's hoping at least a couple of them are productive. I'll keep updating.

 

[blucoondawg]

My first hatch I tried a partial load in the incubator and used the thermometer that was provided with the incubator which needless to say was a piece of garbage, it didn't go well at all I didn't have anything hatch, I got a new thermometer and put in a full load of eggs for my 2nd try, I didn't candle until day 10 and when I did I had embryos swimming in all but a few eggs which were clears, I was very surprised and happy with my results, I lost a few more before hatch and 3 died during hatch for some reason, couldn't get out of the eggs. I ended up with a 66% hatch rate which I was satisfied with for my first hatch from a Styrofoam incubator. I think not fussing with the eggs early on makes a difference as that is when the embryos are at their most fragile point.

 

[luvmychikens65]

blucoondawg, what thermometer and hygrometer do you use? And what humidity do you recommend starting my lockdown on on my next batch since i have no idea what it was on this last one?

 

[blucoondawg]

My thermometer is just a Taylor bulb thermometer from fleet farm, they had probably 20 different thermometers hanging near each other I looked them over and picked one that seemed to have consistent readings with others, my hygrometer is a little round one from a pet store made to stick to the side of a lizard aquarium, we got it at a pet store, just a cheapo but is right on the money. My thermometer cost a little over 3 dollars I'm not sure about the hygrometer since my wife bought it but I assume it was under 5 dollars as well. I don't like digital s I tried using digital medical thermometers at first and they didn't work right.

 

[only1bgirl]

Hours away from being day eight of incubation, I candled two of those Silkie eggs again, one looked clear and another looked dark at top with a couple of very small veins in the clear part. I put it back to wait for day ten when I will candle all of them but I felt movement in the egg, really neat! Here's hoping we'll end up with a couple of chicks after all. Thanks for sharing your experiences with me Blucoondawg, very helpful and greatly appreciated! Nervous first time egg mom here!

 

[only1bgirl]

Day ten I candled eggs and no signs of life, cracked one open and the white was partially cooked, apparently incubator was too hot. I'm guessing somewhere between day two and three because I can see a spot with small veins floating in the rest of eggs and I do remember catching temperature rise then. What a bummer, off to buy another thermometer and more eggs, even though they were shipped across the US, they were fertile and the air sacs intact. I think the movement I felt was the egg cooling and popping on the inside, not a chick, this was the partially cooked egg, when candled it looked darker too, harder for light to pass through solid. Definite learning experience and on a positive note maybe we'll hatch now closer to when the kids are out of school for summer break. Thank you all for your input, greatly appreciated!

 

[luvmychikens65]

Thanks for the info, blucoondawg! Going to get that stuff before I do my next incubator batch. Right now I have 6 broody hens, though! 5 old english game bantams and 1 ameraucana.