Tips for incubating peacock eggs?

[Motherhenhomestead]

Hi everyone! Hope all is well I don’t have much experience raising chickens or incubating. I am currently raising a few chicks and don’t have broody hens yet, hopefully some chicks turn out to be females anyways I am trying to incubate peafowl eggs in a very small incubator, brinsea mini advance.

I noticed the turning is near impossible because of the size! What is the best way to turn manually? Would it be a bad idea to get them into another incubator at this point? We’re on day 9.

Also, I didn't know about weighing the eggs before incubating, is there a guide I can reference to check the air cell? Every how often do you guys weigh the eggs?

I appreciate your help and hope you all have a wonderful day!

I don’t know if I’m saying the days correctly honestly. They’ve been in the incubator for 9 days

 

[KsKingBee]

I don’t know if I’m saying the days correctly honestly. They’ve been in the incubator for 9 days

If they have been in the incubator for nine days you can candle them and see veins. If they are yellow and no veins they are 'clear' and did not start developing.

If you are going to hand-turn the eggs you need to mark one side with an X and the other side with an O so you can keep track of which side needs to be up.

If you did not weigh the eggs before setting you have no reference and any weighing now is wasted. Check the 'Stickies Index' for charts for egg development. It is located at the top of the main Peafowl page.

 

[Midnightman14]

Hi everyone! Hope all is well I don’t have much experience raising chickens or incubating. I am currently raising a few chicks and don’t have broody hens yet, hopefully some chicks turn out to be females anyways I am trying to incubate peafowl eggs in a very small incubator, brinsea mini advance.

I noticed the turning is near impossible because of the size! What is the best way to turn manually? Would it be a bad idea to get them into another incubator at this point? We’re on day 9.

Also, I didn't know about weighing the eggs before incubating, is there a guide I can reference to check the air cell? Every how often do you guys weigh the eggs?

I appreciate your help and hope you all have a wonderful day!

Most turners on smaller incubators aren't strong enough. You can compensate by turning the eggs 180 degrees a couple times a day. Or you can do what we do with our max 20 rcoms and leave the turner on while also doing the 180 turns.

 

[Motherhenhomestead]

Thank you @KsKingBee @Midnightman14 for the response! I have it set to turn every 45 minutes and I have caught it rotating one of them but the other two don't rotate/twist. They all have moving embryos. Should I rotate by hand as well? I worry I’ll risk killing them if I open the incubator too much.

Two of them have a yellow spot that appeared recently. Have you seen this before?

Half of the egg has a dark shadow when I candle it, is that the yolk? Again thanks so much!!

 

[KsKingBee]

The dark spot is the developing embryo.

 

[Motherhenhomestead]

The dark spot is the developing embryo.

Thanks!

 

[DukesDucks]

The marking X and O is a great suggestion that I also use. I only turn my pea eggs twice a day.

 

[Motherhenhomestead]

The marking X and O is a great suggestion that I also use. I only turn my pea eggs twice a day.

Thanks! Do you think I should shut off the turning feature of the brinsea and turn them manually twice a day?

 

[Motherhenhomestead]

With the brinsea incubator I find that I have to fill up both chambers in the middle to get a 60% humidity, but when the humidity has gone up a little, I see water through the hole on the tray (where the egg is supposed to go)

Is this bad? How could I avoid it? Has this happened to anyone when using this incubator?

I’m sorry for all the questions

 

[KsKingBee]

With the brinsea incubator I find that I have to fill up both chambers in the middle to get a 60% humidity, but when the humidity has gone up a little, I see water through the hole on the tray (where the egg is supposed to go)

Is this bad? How could I avoid it? Has this happened to anyone when using this incubator?

I’m sorry for all the questions

Doesn't sound like you have been reading the Stickies. I incubate eggs at 45% and hatch at 60%. Incubating at high humidity does not allow the egg to lose the necessary moisture it needs for a successful hatch. If the embryo does not lose moisture the chick will be too large and can not chip out. There can also be excess liquid in the egg and the chick drowns.