The "How tos of incubating please?"

[Our Roost]

Okay, my girlriend got me an incubator for christmas. I'm 66 years old so it has been quite a while since I got a toy of such magnitude! We have been raising chicken together for a bit over 3 years now. The experience is gratifying and it has been educational as well as very satisfying to supplement ourselves with the bounty we get in return. That includes enjoyment in case you might ask.
We have elected to purchase some hatching eggs from private breeders carrying the chickens in which we have elected to breed ourselves. It is at this point that I need to get educated on the dos and donts of the incubation process! I am sure there are many articles BYC members might suggest that may be useful tips on guidelines to follow. And of course I will read the instructions hopefully included that came with the incubator! 2 things I find that are most importantly discussed is temperature and humidity. But some things like how much time from when the chicken lays the egg do you have before it actually needs to go in the incubator? Our incubator holds 46 eggs and our chickens dont lay that many in a day! I might get ten or more eggs a day currently. They may or may not be fertilized. Checking eggs while they are in the incubtor to see if they are fertile or inactive is another concern. When and how often is that done. Lock down seems to be another term frequently used for the last days of non tampering in wait for the hatch to occur. So many dos and donts that I am sure are not explained within the instruction sheet. So any help would be appreciated.

 

[midget_farms]

CONGRATULATIONS!

You will soon be addicted to hatching. The rest of us are.

1st - Consider a hen lays 1 egg per day & it can take several days to have enough eggs for a clutch - because of this mother nature allows eggs to sit at room temperature on your counter (or basement - cooler is better) for a week without developing or dying! If you are getting 10 eggs per day - it wont take you long to have enough to fill the bator. Hold the eggs large side up in an egg carton & turn the eggs to a different angle 3x per day - meaning - stick something under 1 side of the egg carton to raise it higher & then switch sides 3 x per day. Do this while you are collecting the eggs & waiting to start incubation. BIG END UP!

2nd - Don't wash the eggs. There is a "cuticle" or slimy layer that has dried on the outside of the shell - its very helpful in controlling how much water evaporates from the egg in the 3 weeks it takes to hatch.

once you have your eggs collected - get them in the bator & away you go!

 

[Our Roost]

Couple of good tips there! Thankyou.

 

[midget_farms]

Your second question was regarding how to check if they are fertile. The only way to tell if an egg is fertile (w/o cracking it open) is to incubate it! After 7 days in the incubator if the egg is fertile you will be able to see veins spiderwebed around the shell when you candle.

Not much use in checking before day 7 as the development is usually too small to see. Get a small POWERFUL flashlight & stick it against the egg in a totally dark room. You will know if it is fertile.

You can candle as much or as little as you like. Most first timers candle every couple days just to watch progress. Consider the hen will get up & walk around every day to eat & drink & the eggs can cool down a bit without any problems. So there really is not limit to the number of times you can candle.

Heat & Humidity - these are truely the two things that are most important to the success or failure of your hatch.
HEAT KILLS! - If the incubator gets up to 103* you have probably fried your eggs. It is far better to have temp dips than temp spikes. So keep a close eye on when the thermo kicks on & off. If you run the incubator a little hot (but not too hot) the chicks will develop faster & may hatch a full day early. If you run the temp a little cool - they will delveop a little slower & may hatch a day late. You can't go wrong with a flat 100* - most incubators fluxuate between 99 & 101.

Humidity - this is one of the things people love to talk about most - as it is just about the only thing you can manipulate during the incubation period. General rule - keep it 50 -60% relative humidity & crank it up during lock down. I say general rule - there are a thousand variables that determine where your humidity needs to be - Best way to tell if you have it right - watch the size of the air cell at the top of the egg grow over the weeks - grow too fast - you will have dry sticky chicks that can't get out of the shell, grow too slow & they may fully develop & drown at the last minute & never hatch. Read up on this - as the incubator size, shape and airflow will determine where you need to keep your humidity. Trial and error - it took me 3 hatches in my home made bator to get it right.

Finally - lock down. Just like the name implies - dont mess with it, dont open it. The hardest thing a new hatcher can learn is to not open the incubator & help chicks out of the shell. DONT DO IT! no matter what - even if some die.

Once the chick has pipped (made the first crack in the egg) it starts the clock on cutting off the blood supply to the membrane & turning on their lungs. If you help a pipped egg too early it will bleed to death.

If you open the incubator after a chick has pipped - the sudden drop in humidity will cause the membrane to suddly dry up - we call this shrink wrapping - the membrane becomes very sticky & the chick can't get out - they usually die in the shell.

Consider this ratio - for a first time hatcher if you meet these numbers you are doing well - most beat them, but some first timers lose the entire hatch - so learn as you go. Figure half of the eggs you keep after day 7 will not hatch. So if you set 40 eggs & 10 are not fertile - you have 30 that you want to hatch - half will have some issue - so 15 hatch - half will make it to adult hood - lets say 8. Half are roosters - so 4 hens.

That sounds BAD - but for a first ever hatch - if you get these numbers dont be disappointed - you will most likely have MUCH better results & many experienced hatchers are in the 90+ percent range -

GOOD LUCK & let us know if you have any questions! Everyone loves pitching in to help!