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

[Nomibear]

Caught up!

 

[ronott1]

The problem is with the 4200 w/autoturner.
They leave you no room to place thermometers without losing or jamming in the rack. The water wiggler with the meat probe therm ( that has an alarm set ) has helped me achieve very successful hatches.
I have no problems with them and they are closest to my calibrated therm which I believe over the built-ins any day!

For those reading this post--not directed at HugHess but a general audience post:

If a person does not have an extra meat thermometer with a probe(I could not give mine up for a month) The Brinsea Sport check will cost about the same and it has a probe. It is .1 accurate for temperature too.

We can go out and buy a lot of general purpose things that will work. Incubating is common enough now that we do not need to do that though. We can buy equipment and accessories that are made for incubating--They often work better for that purpose too. Incubator warehouse is a great source as well as the GQF store and Brinsea direct. Another example is candling. We can buy a $40.00 flashlight from amazon or walmart(some are less expensive but not as good) but the brinsea occuview candlers are made for candling and do not cost that much more. I have had mine for more than two years. If it were a regular flashlight someone in my family would have broken it or lost it by now.

I have made candling videos using by occuview high intensity--even with marans eggs--and you can see stuff with it!

This is from last year:

 

[vandamma72]

H

 

[LadyCluck77]

Ron, can you recommend a safer chick warming product? I'm so worried about burning down my house with the heat lamps!
Do the heat plates work for new just hatched chicks? Can you use just those for heat, or do you also need a lamp?

 

[vandamma72]

@vandamma72 I'm not an expert about incubators. But here's what I did. I had an old still air incubator that got lousy results because I could not keep the temp stable. I purchase this kit; http://incubatorwarehouse.com/48-watt-incukit-dc.html Cut out the top and replaced with plexglas so I could see everything and BAM! My first two hatches were a success. Your mileage may vary.

Is that a thermostat? I have a thermostat hooked up to a 25 w light bulb, it just doesn't turn the light back on fast enough so I get about a 10 degree change.

 

[Nomibear]

This was a day 4 candle. I LOVED that I could see the beating heart already!

 

[CowboysAngel]

So sorry. You could still keep everyone posted with how your hatch is going, and post pics of the chicks when the do hatch. I always love seeing the pictures. It gets me excited for when mine start hatching.

That's great! I candled one of the bantys today, And tried to candle one of the Easter egger (green egg) but the only ones I can see through at this point is the bantys... The egg is so tiny, and the baby is just bigger than a pea, but I can see a network of veins and the lil baby inside was moving close to the shell and back out...my hubby had never Seen it before and he thought it was so cool!

This is My first time incubating, My Dad retired from hatching and brought me his home built incubator that he found here at backyard chickens...it holds 54 eggs, but I have just under half that...I don't have a meter that measures humidity, just going on my Dad's experience...he has a tray in the bottom that I keep filled with water, he always had about a 90-95% hatch rate , he says if I keep it full all will go well. So I am trusting his word

He built the trays so that they rotate back and forth so I rotate them 3 times a day... Same time I bottle feed my goat baby...I'll get a picture next time I rotate, a count...

So excited!

 

[Wisher1000]

If a person does not have an extra meat thermometer with a probe(I could not give mine up for a month) The Brinsea Spot check will cost about the same and it has a probe. It is .1 accurate for temperature too.

We can go out and buy a lot of general purpose things that will work. Incubating is common enough now that we do not need to do that though. We can buy equipment and accessories that are made for incubating--They often work better for that purpose too. Incubator warehouse is a great source as well as the GQF store and Brinsea direct. Another example is candling. We can buy a $40.00 flashlight from amazon or walmart(some are less expensive but not as good) but the brinsea occuview candlers are made for candling and do not cost that much more. I have had mine for more than two years. If it were a regular flashlight someone in my family would have broken it or lost it by now.

I have made candling videos using by occuview high intensity--even with marans eggs--and you can see stuff with it!

Good point, Ron, I have two of the Brinsea Spot Check thermometers and I will be getting two more soon. I don't have a candler, yet, but I want one. I use my work flashlights and have gotten used to that method, so I am content for the moment. With the importance of temperature on the hatch rate, considering the cost of shipped eggs, and the heartbreak involved in bad hatches, we really need to get the best available equipment (especially since it is not much more expensive than the others.)

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I went ahead an ordered one. It is made by Farm Innovators (I see a lot of folks on here with it and mixed results). I will run it side by side with the hovabator genesis that I have with the same set up (digital, fan, turner) that I paid about $200 for. I am curious how it will do. For a styrobator the genesis has given me great hatch rates so far.

I thought that's what it looked like. Yeah, I've seen a lot of mixed reviews too. I've been thinking about getting one. TSC has them $129 normally.

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

I already had a dreAm about hatching chicks. Three weeks is such a long wait

When do people start candling? I'm still unsure on when to do it and what I'm looking for, but I don't want to keep eggs in the bator if they aren't viable.

It depends on the person as far as how soon and how often you candle. Between day 5 and day 7 is good for a first candle. I wouldn't pitch any eggs until day 10 though, in case you have some slow starters!