stinky hatcher!!

[cgjsmith]

Hey ya'll I got the babies out of the hatcher (10 out of21 not too bad since 6 were one that were in the freeze) Anyway it was day 21 yesterday and I left the rest of the eggs in the hatcher to give them a little time. But I had to move the next batch of eggs in there tonight. The biggest problem is the hatcher stinks so bad i gag when I open it (I used jimnjay's wormbox hatcher which worked great!!) I was just going to throw it away when ewre done and start again when we need another one but what do I do about it now? I can't open the doors because of the humidity factor. I put a box of arm n hammer in there to help it a little. (doesn't seem to affect the humidity at all) Do I just hold my breath when I open it? (which is not very often just to replace sponges.) the next babies are scheaduled to hatch wednesday, but all my other eggs have hatched on day 19. not sure why. Crystal

 

[BeckyLa]

Well, I don't know what a worm box hatcher is, but I'd think that if you took all the old shell stuff out and wiped it out good with some weak bleach water it would help. Maybe just wiping it out without the bleach would do some good. Since you're putting eggs right back in it you might not want the bleach. hth.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Is it the hatcher that stinks or do you have a stinky egg in the hatcher?

I'd try to give it a quick cleaning before I put the new group of eggs in.
The bottom of a hatcher can get pretty mucky while the chicks are coming out (and can get smelly quick).
Good luck,

Lisa

 

[hencackle]

Try soaking some old rags in a weak bleach solution (or Oxine) and lay those against all along the inside. Styrofoam has tiny crevices between those little compressed balls and a quick wipe-down doesn't get those crevices clean.
Air-drying the incubator in direct sun will help also.
Stephanie

 

[jimnjay]

Crystal, what are you using to hold the water? I used a ceramic shallow bowl. Also if you are using a sponge they can get stinky too. Try to replace the sponge if you are using one. Mine never got stinky like that so I am wondering if you have a leaking egg. I have always cleaned out my orginal Omaha Steak box, similar to the Worm Box after each hatch I use bleach or Oxine and let it sun dry.

I think I would take the eggs out and place them on a damp towel with a light over them or put them back in the incubator for a little while. Quickly clean out the hatcher and check each egg as you take it out. It really should not smell that bad so I suspect your are working on an exploder anyway. If you catch it first you may save your chicks and yourself lots of nasty work.

Did any of my eggs hatch, is so which ones.

After what I went through last week with a mama that let one die and a second one was close to it, then she hatched a few and left the nest with two pipped eggs that got cold, I have more confidence in their ability to survive set backs even during the last critical stages.

Your 19 day hatchers are probably due to temps higher than recommended. You may have a thermometer that is reading a little low. Don't feel alone I have 4 and they all read something different. You may want to reduce the temp by 1 degree for your next batch.

Good Luck, Jaynie

 

[cgjsmith]

hi ms. Jayne yours are set to hatch wednesday (or tomorrow if they follow the other eggs which they should since they all incubated togather.) they are the ones I am really worried about now seeing as they are in the hatcher with the older eggs. For the safty of my newer eggs I will go ahead and move out the others

I think they are done anyway. i can't wait for the little buggers to hatch!

I din't even think about haveing a rotten egg in there. ha ha shows my newness LOL I'll check that right away and wipe the sides and bottom with bleach. i had a tea cup in there but one of my chicks tried to go swimming so I moved it out. Crystal

 

[jimnjay]

Crystal did you put in a rack of some sort? It helps to have the eggs raised off the bottom, then you can put something to hold water under the rack and you don't have to worry about babies swimming. LOL I had a hard time fitting something inside but finally did get a piece of wire cut and I just set it on pieces of 2x4 to support it off the bottom.

It funny that you did not think about an exploder, I was afraid to hatch eggs for over a year because of reading BYC members who had eggs explode. I finally gave in because I did not want to order 25 chickens from the hatcher anymore. Man reading the description of exploding eggs is enough to make you steer clear of incubators.

Keep us posted and good luck with the peeps.

 

[cgjsmith]

I found not one but two eggs just seeping yuck stuff! I was gagging like you wouldn't belive. I didn't put a wire in yet but have a puppy pad in right now. Not sure how thats going to work. Out of the eggs I had left over 2 were no grows 2 were stinky and 4 were compleatly developed but not hatched. Why would that happen/ maybe because i couldn't get the humodity where it was suppose to be for the first 6 hours.

Crystal

 

[jimnjay]

It might have been from bacteria from the bad eggs. I am so glad you got them out of there. The pad should work fine just put the water in something tall so the babies hatching can't get in it. That box is tall so you could use a couple of glasses of water in the corners. Experiment until you get it where you want it. It has been so dry around here lately it is making it extreamly hard to get that final humidity up.