The Incubator Thread

[gimmie birdies]

I offer no help, but just got more eggs from friend

these eggs are in a separate incubator because they were colder, a brown mystery egg, a blue anedusian white egg, and 2 isbar eggs, the center green is from my flock,

the dark tan on the left is from my flock, a blue splash/delaware mix, 4 more eggs from same friend upper pic, right upper blue double yoke, Americauna, hiding under thermometer is poss, SFH egg, another isbar, then to the right another SFH. from a diff friend 6 green blue splash frizzle eggs ( one hiding uner thermom). I will not sleep for 3 weeks. I will candle in a few days to see which eggs are fertile.

I had to remove one of the SFH eggs because of a soft shell.

 

[DBerryhill]

@gimmie birdies and @PD-Riverman thanks for the input. I'm not brave enough to dry hatch because last year I lost 3 clutches under Broodies with dry membrane issues. 2 chicks out of 24 that were set. The second chick i had to assist out of the shell. It took me 12 hours to get her out. I was able to get my humidity regulated with a touch of foil! Here's to hoping this goes well. It's a test run anyway of my own flocks eggs before I set ones I pay for. If it is a flop, at least it won't hurt my pocket book. I'm still hoping for success though!

 

[Vasili]

Thank-you very much for the advice. I will follow it.

 

[Bean789]

Has anyone had any luck using this 48 automatic egg incubator? They sell on eBay. I saw a guy on youtube use one and hatched nearly all his eggs. I won one on eBay for $87 with shipping.

I have used one for hatching 2 batches of chicken eggs. Worked perfectly. Batch 1 - Barnyard mix, was 3 of 12 but 8 didn't develop at all. Batch 2 - EEs, hatched 9 of 12. 1 other pip but shrink wrapped/died in shell. Other2 didn't develop past day 10.

Now for the other news, I was in the middle of a 3rd batch when the temp stopped at 34.1 C and would not get any warmer. I tried covering it up with a blanket but still no warmer. It was in the exact same place as the other 2 batches before so it wasn't a draft, room temp fluctuation, etc. I unplugged it (put my eggs in another incubator that took forever to heat to temp. hoping to save my eggs, but lost all but one. It is still in the other incubator and it my have died also. I will see in 2 more days. Not willing to give up just yet.).

I plugged it back in this past weekend and tried to 'reset' to factory settings (thought maybe one of my grandkids messed with it) and same thing. Temp won't go up past 34.1 C. Fan works, temp 'works', turner works, just won't get hot enough.

 

[Bean789]

I have used one for hatching 2 batches of chicken eggs. Worked perfectly. Batch 1 - Barnyard mix, was 3 of 12 but 8 didn't develop at all. Batch 2 - EEs, hatched 9 of 12. 1 other pip but shrink wrapped/died in shell. Other2 didn't develop past day 10.

Now for the other news, I was in the middle of a 3rd batch when the temp stopped at 34.1 C and would not get any warmer. I tried covering it up with a blanket but still no warmer. It was in the exact same place as the other 2 batches before so it wasn't a draft, room temp fluctuation, etc. I unplugged it (put my eggs in another incubator that took forever to heat to temp. hoping to save my eggs, but lost all but one. It is still in the other incubator and it my have died also. I will see in 2 more days. Not willing to give up just yet.).

I plugged it back in this past weekend and tried to 'reset' to factory settings (thought maybe one of my grandkids messed with it) and same thing. Temp won't go up past 34.1 C. Fan works, temp 'works', turner works, just won't get hot enough.

On an additional note, a friend of mine has 2 of these. She has used them for over 2 years and 1 of them is always running at some point in time. She is always hatching something! Maybe I got a lemon?

 

[WVduckchick]

@Bean789 are you saying you can raise the temperature setting but the unit quits warming when it gets up to 34.1? I have the same one, but have only had it for a short time. I did find that the factory setting of 37.6 is not high enough. I am running mine on 38 or 38.1 because it heats up to that temp, then drops, so to get a good average, I raised it. Not sure that what I did is proper, but my duck eggs are doing fine so far. I'm on day 12.

 

[Bean789]

@Bean789 are you saying you can raise the temperature setting but the unit quits warming when it gets up to 34.1? I have the same one, but have only had it for a short time. I did find that the factory setting of 37.6 is not high enough. I am running mine on 38 or 38.1 because it heats up to that temp, then drops, so to get a good average, I raised it. Not sure that what I did is proper, but my duck eggs are doing fine so far. I'm on day 12.

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I can raise the setting up to over 40 and it still does not heat above the 34.1 or 34.2. Very frustrating. I thought maybe it might be the amps in the outlet (not an electrician here and have no clue about such matters) which is why I moved it to another location on my last attempt to get it to heat properly. I even completely covered it with the towel and it will not heat any higher. Beyond my comprehension why it will heat and not get any hotter. It did fantastic on my first 2 hatches. Kept temp and humidity was spot on when compared my additional digital hygrometer/thermometer. I have 5 incubators now and only 2 are working properly.

Little Giant with fan and turner - stopped working in the middle of a hatch. Reads '18888" constantly, indicator says heater is on but does not heat to temp. This made me wonder about the amps in the outlet also.
Little Giant Still Air with turner (from one above) - currently holding temp and humidity and 35 eggs on day 2.
Farm Innovators with fan and turner. Currently has the 1 last egg I am trying to save. I think it is a lost cause. Went into lockdown last night.
Egg Incubator - the one we are discussing
And.....by a fluke of a shipping order, another Egg Incubator, new, still in box, never opened.

 

[Roxannemc]

LESSON ON LATE HATCH.....Dont give up too early.
Had 6 eggs in ... first hatchi of this season bators in a cold Room this Time .Day 25...nothing unplugged bator. Hatch failed.
. Hear peeping minute later....Here is a chick!
Must have hatched during the night..I was gone yesterday..but it still has thevumbillical dry but attached

Humidity 27 in there.as I haven't added water in 2 days figure useless nothing will hatch past day 24.
..but I was WRONG
Little guy so far looks healthy too!!.

REPEAT...DAY 25 A BABY HATCHEDfor me.
Don't give up too early

 

[Roxannemc]

Have you used a couple other thermometers on that incubator ? Might be the thermometer and not the heat itself .if you can Use one your SURE is right .. from the bator that's temp has been holding steady.See What it reads in the low temp bator.or buy a glass and do the ice water rest to gauge its accuracy before you use it.I often have 3 thermometers in mine.
Good luck!

 

[Bean789]

Have you used a couple other thermometers on that incubator ? Might be the thermometer and not the heat itself .if you can Use one your SURE is right .. from the bator that's temp has been holding steady.See What it reads in the low temp bator.or buy a glass and do the ice water rest to gauge its accuracy before you use it.I often have 3 thermometers in mine.
Good luck!

Yes, I have 2 extra thermometers for the incubators. One is digital and one is mercury that has been calibrated. I compared the F to the C at 34.1 and the separate thermometers were spot on the same temp.