Table Top Incubating ?

[ChickenJohn1]

I am using a Brinsea Mini Advanced incubator and I am about half way, 9 days, through the process. I candled the eggs after 7 days and had two that appeared bad which I discarded. "The instructions" say to leave the chicks in the incubator for a day after hatching to feather out. Anyone had experience with this small table top (7 eggs) incubator?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have that incubator and from my experience the chicks just don't dry out in there. I remove them (use your judgement on this, because if you have one that has broken open the shell a bit (pipped) then you can cause him to shrink wrap and get stuck in there if the humidity drops too low) to dry out in the brooder, only I make sure that the temp to begin with is 95 degrees (on the higher end of normal) and watch them carefully.

They dry out soooo much faster in the brooder...not sure they would dry out at all in that incubator in a reasonable time. I try to time it so that after a couple have hatched I take them out and then wait for the other eggs to pip. If I have pipped eggs I wait.

 

[ChickenJohn1]

Hey, thanks so much. I was aware to increase the humidity the last two days, but hadn't thought of the "shrink wrap" possibility. About how long does it take a chick to hatch out after the first pip?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hey, thanks so much. I was aware to increase the humidity the last two days, but hadn't thought of the "shrink wrap" possibility. About how long does it take a chick to hatch out after the first pip?

For me (in my limited hatching experience) I have seen only at most a 4 hour wait.

However, in reading many posts here on BYC, I have learned that 24 hours is not uncommon. Personally I don't believe in assisting with hatches, so they are not going to be helped out of the shell by me anyway. I always give the eggs 3 extra days if they candle OK to hatch, as I have read that some DO hatch that late. One fella threw his eggs out in a field, walked over and there was a chick alive.

It made it and grew up, as of course he took it to the brooder.

 

[ChickenJohn1]

Well I had high hopes on incubating this first time, but I think I will have to try again. The eggs have been in the incubator for 18 days now and I just see what is probably the yolk mass on the side of the egg and it doesn't move around when turned. It was free the first couple of days. I think I have just slowly "cooked" a few eggs.

The candling eggs post, (The chicks are here) in another forum show a lot more life early on than I ever saw. Plus, my eggs were extremely porous, which I guess is not good to start out with. These eggs were from, Dorthy, my loan Easter Egger and she has always had very porous, rough feeling eggs. I will try again with some from my Jersey Giant which don't seem as porous feeling to me.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Well I had high hopes on incubating this first time, but I think I will have to try again. The eggs have been in the incubator for 18 days now and I just see what is probably the yolk mass on the side of the egg and it doesn't move around when turned. It was free the first couple of days. I think I have just slowly "cooked" a few eggs.

The candling eggs post, (The chicks are here) in another forum show a lot more life early on than I ever saw. Plus, my eggs were extremely porous, which I guess is not good to start out with. These eggs were from, Dorthy, my loan Easter Egger and she has always had very porous, rough feeling eggs. I will try again with some from my Jersey Giant which don't seem as porous feeling to me.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/candling-pics-progression-through-incubation-of-chicken-eggs
So yours made it to day 10 then or thereabouts from your description?


Well, I hope your next batch is a good hatch for you!

 

[ChickenJohn1]

I think another misstep I did was to hold several of the eggs at room temperature rather than in the incubator or refrigerator. My logic was that brooding hens don't have access to refrigeration and that it would be more normal to have them at ambient temperature. Duh, the normal temperature would under the hen as she is accumulating more eggs in the clutch.