the Will They Hatch? thread

[gryeyes]

Well, now, instead of just following this thread, I'm joining.

One of the BAD things about having a totally reliable incubator is that you may possibly check it less often than you should. < *ahem* >

I changed the occluded tubing on one of the two MiniAdvance EX units in which I'm incubating 12, shipped, call duck eggs. Before using it, of course. Duh. Apparently I forgot to use distilled water for one of the last hatches in that 'bator. I used filtered tap (well) water. You know, using Brita and/or Pur pitcher filters. Good enough for coffee and cooking....

Anyway. I forgot to PRIME the danged tubing!

I have one MiniAdvance without a humidity pump and four EX units running right now, and I listen for the sound of the humidity pumps working. If it doesn't sound "right" I go check.... One of the pumps ran low, started running pretty often trying to suck up water to raise lowering humidity. I caught that one, and it was on one of the Octagon20 Advance EX units, with eggs early in incubation. No problem there.

Checked the one without the pump, hygrometer was a bit low, so I added water.

Then I looked at the displays on the two MiniAdvance EX units with the call duck eggs. One was fine. The other was down to 37% with the little blinky asterix warning next to the display. WHAT?!?!?!?

Y'see, when I set the eggs, there was some dampness in the 'bators so the humidity pump was "happy." But without the tube being primed, it couldn't pump anything TO the bator when it needed to keep the humidity within range. And for call ducks, I start at 55%.

It's all been fixed now, but I'm nervous. Especially since one egg in the very back was cracked, badly. Not something I thought I should wax over to attempt to save.... after more than a day at 35% humidity.

< *sigh* >

So, here I am. And with duck eggs, I have longer to worry about 'em.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
I'm sorry for the reason you're here , but glad you're here [ if that makes any sence ]

 

[macdoogle]

I posted way back and am still waiting to see what will happen. So. To check development at lock down I tried the Float method. They all sank. I also felt no movement. When I held a fertile cockatiel egg at 14 days I felt a distinct heartbeat. I would think the same is true for chicken eggs. Day 21 is thursday and I have more eggs arriving on Thursday or Friday True Auracana from ebay. I would like to prepare the bator for the new arrivals AE clean it. From reading other posts miracles can happen, but is this first batch of eggs a lost cause?

 

[gitlost80]

Im gonna go ahead and join too. I Have a nice homemade incubator already and decided to make another. My temps were perfect during my trial run so i added 16 eggs. Since I put them in 9 days ago, I have had temps drop to 92 degrees all the way up to 107. At day 7 I candled and removed 8 that had passed. I cant even leave the room for a few hours without the temps going kooky. I have tried to change bulbs and various other ways to fix my problem to no avail. Thank God I have the lightbulb on a dimmer switch. It has been a nightmare. I feel sooo bad for these eggs! I actually just bought a Hovabator 1588 so this never happens again. It is in the mail. I feel responsible for their little lives and feel terrible. I cant even sleep throught the night without getting up several times to check on em.

 

[bkwurth]

My name is Kathy. I bought a used styro bator to hatch eggs from the barnyard chickens I already have. Instead I bought FBCM eggs on ebay. So the were shipped in the winter. I put 30 eggs in on the 5th. Two days later I found an extra egg in the box. I didn't know what to do so I put it in a piece of egg carton and stood it up in the incubator.

So I bought the most expensive eggs I could find. Put them in a cheap used incubator and have never hatched chicks before. I could cry i'm so nervous.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
I've never float tested , so know nothing of its accurassy[sp?] . I've never felt a heartbeat through a chicken's egg shell , nor seen movement in an egg at lockdown , but they hatch .

 

[macdoogle]

Hey Kathy, That's just what happens. I'm right there with you. Wishing you all the best.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Sorry you're havin' such a rough go on your first try .

Welcome aboard though .

 

[macdoogle]

Thanks SteveH. I'm a lost cause kind of girl. I hope to come home and see a chick.

 

[SteveH]

Heckel's Hens :

I checked my viable eggs to see if all the air cells were weird, and...they were. All 7 of them! And yet there are squiggly jigglies in there.

But it definately looks like the air cell was "loose" and settled in two places: where it should be at the big end of the egg, and slightly down the side of that end.

Every one of the ones that developed. Huh???

Also, it looks like maybe the air cell is too big in a few? How big should it be for day 11?

Somehow I scrolled past this post and never saw it earlier .
I've seen a chart somewhere here at BYC that shows what size the air cell should be if you're running at the right humidity .​