I started hatching eggs last summer.It seemed simple enough(my first mistake). My first batch I got one chick for 12 eggs.I had paniced about 10 days in and filled the other resevoir with water.Im sure I drowned them.Well I wasnt sure but anyway....The next batch I set 30 eggs.The incubator kept perfect temp/humidity the whole time..Result : 9 hatched ,3 died,and 10 more never made it out.The rest of the eggs showed no signs of life.I realized it wasnt as easy as thought, this hatching egg business.frustrated I stopped trying for a while.
We got some light sussex eggs in October .Again the incubator kept perfect temp/humidity.Result: 1 for 10.Now Im seriously not happy.I immediately bought 12 more light sussex eggs.Id heard all the horror stories about shipped eggs,so I thought maybe the first sussex eggs had been mishandled.Well unbeknownst to us the incubator went off one day and the temp dropped to 55 for about 12 hours.When they were broken open( one hatched) they seemed to have stopped growing about that time. So this is where the latest fiasco starts.
I started 11 light sussex eggs on Dec. 15.Jan. 1 I put 24 RIR eggs in with them.On Jan 5th I took out the light sussex to the hatcher.One of the light sussex eggs was stuck in the egg turner ,so I carefully removed it.Yes....BUT I hadnt noticed that a little yolk had dripped into the resevoir.As usual the light sussex hatch was 1 for awful.I started to smell something but thought it was the hatcher.I checked the incubator and it smelled terrible.So I paniced and sprayed the whole thing with H2O2,eggs and all for a couple days.I still hadnt found the cause of the smell.Finally I noticed the water and took everything out and cleaned them.The eggs were on an egg turner so it was easier and quicker.I put the eggs back in and sprayed the whole thing with H2O2 .I was sure I had nuked the whole bunch.All that bacteria?
So a few days later I was talking to a local breeder and she told me that you couldnt put that much water in a Hovabator incubator.Id had been filling the middle resevoir for 18 days then at lock down filled the rest of the resevoirs .Well she immediately contradicted herself and told me she fills them all up and keeps them filled to the end of the hatch.BUT the seed had been planted.I took all the water out of the incubator.The first couple of days the humidity dropped to 30ish.The next couple back up to 45.Then finally it went to below 20 and I got nervous.(this was about the 12th day of the hatch and the 7th or 8th day without water)I filled the middle resevoir with water and kept it there for the rest of the hatch.UREKA!!! On the 20th day of the hatch 3 chicks hatched( Yes I got all excited thinking 3 for 24 )the next day 10 more hatched.The final tally was 18 out of 24 eggs.WOW after all the trials and tribs,thinking I had nuked these for sure.... a very nice hatch.
Well I learned a few things: Yet another use for H2O2 and just because your humidity reads normal doesnt meen thats what is accually going on.
To those of you who think God doesnt have a sence of humor,...January 21 was my hatch date....my birthday....
Have a great year everyone, Herb
We got some light sussex eggs in October .Again the incubator kept perfect temp/humidity.Result: 1 for 10.Now Im seriously not happy.I immediately bought 12 more light sussex eggs.Id heard all the horror stories about shipped eggs,so I thought maybe the first sussex eggs had been mishandled.Well unbeknownst to us the incubator went off one day and the temp dropped to 55 for about 12 hours.When they were broken open( one hatched) they seemed to have stopped growing about that time. So this is where the latest fiasco starts.
I started 11 light sussex eggs on Dec. 15.Jan. 1 I put 24 RIR eggs in with them.On Jan 5th I took out the light sussex to the hatcher.One of the light sussex eggs was stuck in the egg turner ,so I carefully removed it.Yes....BUT I hadnt noticed that a little yolk had dripped into the resevoir.As usual the light sussex hatch was 1 for awful.I started to smell something but thought it was the hatcher.I checked the incubator and it smelled terrible.So I paniced and sprayed the whole thing with H2O2,eggs and all for a couple days.I still hadnt found the cause of the smell.Finally I noticed the water and took everything out and cleaned them.The eggs were on an egg turner so it was easier and quicker.I put the eggs back in and sprayed the whole thing with H2O2 .I was sure I had nuked the whole bunch.All that bacteria?
So a few days later I was talking to a local breeder and she told me that you couldnt put that much water in a Hovabator incubator.Id had been filling the middle resevoir for 18 days then at lock down filled the rest of the resevoirs .Well she immediately contradicted herself and told me she fills them all up and keeps them filled to the end of the hatch.BUT the seed had been planted.I took all the water out of the incubator.The first couple of days the humidity dropped to 30ish.The next couple back up to 45.Then finally it went to below 20 and I got nervous.(this was about the 12th day of the hatch and the 7th or 8th day without water)I filled the middle resevoir with water and kept it there for the rest of the hatch.UREKA!!! On the 20th day of the hatch 3 chicks hatched( Yes I got all excited thinking 3 for 24 )the next day 10 more hatched.The final tally was 18 out of 24 eggs.WOW after all the trials and tribs,thinking I had nuked these for sure.... a very nice hatch.
Well I learned a few things: Yet another use for H2O2 and just because your humidity reads normal doesnt meen thats what is accually going on.
To those of you who think God doesnt have a sence of humor,...January 21 was my hatch date....my birthday....
Have a great year everyone, Herb
