The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Junibutt]

HEY:
I sold my crapbator.
We are buying a cabinet bator in May.
I have $200 to spare until then.
Im thinking of buying a hovabator 1588 to get me by....
What bator would u guys buy if u had a $200 budget????
Im buying something Thursday

If you really want to buy one right now, I would recommend the PI-24 for 119 plus shipping. Its available on Amazon as well as from Double R Supply in FL. It would serve as an excellent hatcher later on.

Pros: Very stable temperature. Auto-turner. Can view eggs and chicks from outside because of translucent lid. Although the capacity says 20-24 eggs, one can easily place 10-12 eggs outside the tray as well and turn them manually.
Cons: Very big water channels, so instead of using the water channels, you may have to put a small cup or its lid to maintain lower levels of humidity. However, excellent during hatch because easily maintains 70-80% humidity without any problems.

 

[Junibutt]

 

[minihorse927]

Candled and only had 24 fertile, and 2 or 3 of them were dark enough I wasn't sure if they're really fertile or not. :/

 

[lungewhipqueen]

Gah! I hope my Easter eggs aren't fried! I have eggs stacked in my incubator and my fan quit! I'd put them in my hatcher but it's temp doesn't hold steady. I don't know what to do but cross my fingers. :-(

 

[RedIII]

Luckily it is forced air...but it's old. What incubator are you currently relying on?
Thanks for the tip! I do have a new accurate thermometer so incorrect readings shouldn't be an issue. Room temperature should remain stable +/-2degrees or so.
I just hope the temp fluctuation hasn't caused any deaths...Only time will tell.

QuailGuy...Red is using a brand new Brinsea now.     She's pretty happy with it. 

Yep! Brinsea Octo 20. It's so much nicer to deal with than the cheap-o I was using.

I've just about given up on my test hatch I checked on them in the still air and they were all cold =...( I don't know what happened. It still seems to be working, used it as a Hatcher all last year without a hiccup. Good thing everything else is in the cabinet guess I'll be hand turning ducks and my Easter set while the rest go on lockdown fun.

Don't give up on them! I have two gorgeous hens that came from a hatch where the incubator got unplugged for a day and the temp was down to 70 or something. They're tough!

Red..read this post about the Brinsea..possibly holding humidity too well.  ??   Could be what happened with yours?  

I did wonder about the oxygen levels being a factor. The humidity hasn't been an issue for me so much as the temps slowly going down at times, but I think that's because the incubator is in a room where the heater vet blows a lot of air.

 

[wicket 07]

All seven of mine look good. olive eggers and black copper marans are dark , the lone leghorn can see right through bouncing around. none of my are shipped eggs.
I will not candle again until lock down. I wonder what a leghorn black copper cross will look like??

 

[Dcat]

Happy Chooks, I have two other rescue chihuahuas but my home is their forever home. Also a rescue pit bull and our only purchased dog is a 140 lb rottie. Its so funny to watch him play with the chi's. Newest chi is a 1 yo girl who is so sweet and luckily, house trained. She just needs to acclimate and learn a few more things before I start her home search.

 

[SimplyLogan]

The first issue to address is biosecurity. I would totally brood the shipped chicks separately for at least a month.
Then I would introduce 2 or 3 hatched chicks into the shipped chicks brooder. Watch them for about 9 days. If they are all healthy together...you should be OK to integrate them together

So at the risk of sounding stupid

, you never put new hatches and new chicks together for at least a month? Therefor my bator full of eggs should not be mixed with my new live chicks I'm getting. Keep them separate just to be safe until I am sure they are not sick?

Another question, I have two bators going, one with shipped eggs and one with my eggs: should I keep both separate since I know where my eggs came from?
brooder 1 - shipped hatching egg chicks
brooder 2- my hatching egg chicks
brooder 3 - shipped live chicks

I'm pretty sure I understand with you are saying, I just want to make sure. I never really thought about this and I have chicks, chicks, and more chicks coming! I'm coming off of a long weekend shift at the hospital and my brain is fried

. I actually got a moment to breathe so I'm catching up on BYC. Sounds like I need to work on a second brooder, maybe even a third one.

 

[ronott1]

So at the risk of sounding stupid

, you never put new hatches and new chicks together for at least a month? Therefor my bator full of eggs should not be mixed with my new live chicks I'm getting. Keep them separate just to be safe until I am sure they are not sick?

Another question, I have two bators going, one with shipped eggs and one with my eggs: should I keep both separate since I know where my eggs came from?
brooder 1 - shipped hatching egg chicks
brooder 2- my hatching egg chicks
brooder 3 - shipped live chicks

I'm pretty sure I understand with you are saying, I just want to make sure. I never really thought about this and I have chicks, chicks, and more chicks coming! I'm coming off of a long weekend shift at the hospital and my brain is fried

. I actually got a moment to breathe so I'm catching up on BYC. Sounds like I need to work on a second brooder, maybe even a third one.

Quarantine new to your place chicks and chickens. If you hatch them at your place then you do not need to quarantine.

Depending on the breed and the size of chicks, you can combine up to a week or two difference in age. The trick to to make sure that the bigger ones do not think that the littler ones are dinner.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

I need a finger tapping (waiting) emotocon! No adjustments to be made to a broody hen except extracting extra eggs.

We are going out of town for a couple days for spring break so I am giving special instructions today to my chicken sitter.

Here's hoping that my broody doesn't quit while I am gone!

Also, I set late so my one week will be Tuesday so I will have to wait until I return from my trip to candle.

I am being sooooooo patient!