Uh oh... found an egg today! ... - A journal of sorts, from finding eggs to hatching them... Update

[PeepsCA]

Thanks everybody, and OF COURSE there will be more pics, lol. I have all eggs and that lil guy moved over to the hatcher now. Waiting on that pipped egg to hatch so the 1st lil guy has a buddy. I hear them talking to each other, maybe keet #1 is giving keet#2 tips on how to zip out of that thick shell.
Got my brooder all sterilized and set up ready to go, and bought Medicated Game Bird Starter Feed on Saturday... now I just need fluffed and dried keetsies.

 

[BritinMO]

OMG - the babies have started - how very cool is that!!!!

 

[The Red Rooster]

Thanks everybody, and OF COURSE there will be more pics, lol. I have all eggs and that lil guy moved over to the hatcher now. Waiting on that pipped egg to hatch so the 1st lil guy has a buddy. I hear them talking to each other, maybe keet #1 is giving keet#2 tips on how to zip out of that thick shell.
Got my brooder all sterilized and set up ready to go, and bought Medicated Game Bird Starter Feed on Saturday... now I just need fluffed and dried keetsies.

GREAT! Thank you for sharing the pictures!

 

[GuineaLady93]

Have any more hatched?!

 

[PeepsCA]

No, but I hear lots of peeping in the hatcher coming from the eggs. I thought for sure the pipped egg would be out peeping away all fluffed and dried when I got up this morning, but maybe he will zip his way out today sometime. Day 26 is the usual hatch day, so there should be a hatcher full of bulldozing in there keets when I get up tomorrow.

 

[cupman]

You seem to be quite the expert, Peeps. I just had a couple quick questions and I am not trying to derail the thread or change the subject at all.

When you incubate guinea eggs do you need to use different temperatures or humidity than you do with chicken eggs?

Also, it looks like you are using a HovaBator 1588. I have the same incubator and it has 3 water reservoirs in the bottom. With the center one filled it brings me to around 45-50% humidity. Do you fill all three reservoirs up during lockdown or do you just fill two? Or maybe you do something else. I'm still new to hatching.

 

[PeepsCA]

You seem to be quite the expert, Peeps. I just had a couple quick questions and I am not trying to derail the thread or change the subject at all.

When you incubate guinea eggs do you need to use different temperatures or humidity than you do with chicken eggs?

Also, it looks like you are using a HovaBator 1588. I have the same incubator and it has 3 water reservoirs in the bottom. With the center one filled it brings me to around 45-50% humidity. Do you fill all three reservoirs up during lockdown or do you just fill two? Or maybe you do something else. I'm still new to hatching.

I'm farrrr from an expert, but I do hatch a lot and raise a lot, lol.

I've never incubated chicken eggs (I don't own chickens), but I've read that many other use the same temp and humidity and have great hatches. I use 99.5 degrees for forced air (101.5-102 degrees for still air, but I don't incubate still air) and about 50% humidity, then of course raise the humidity for lockdown/hatch. Personally I like around 70-75% even up to 80% humidity for lockdown/hatching tho, it helps soften those though thick shells and membranes and give the keets plenty of moisture to be able to spin in the shell to zip the top off. I am not sure that high of humidity will work with chicken eggs tho for hatch, it's possible that the chicks could drown more easily. The Guinea eggs take a week longer than chicken eggs tho, so most people set the Guinea eggs first, then add chicken eggs a week later so they all hatch together.

I do not hatch in my 1588s, because hatches are messy/yucky and stain up the inside of the incubators... so I use 2 cheap Little Giants that I have added PC fans to. IN addition to filling all the troughs in those I still have to add wet sponges and jar lids filled with water to the bottom under the wire floors to get my humidity up high and keep it high enough. If I were to hatch in the 1588 I'd start with adding water to the largest of the 2 remaining reservoirs and see what the humidity is after an hour or so, if it's not high enough, then yah, fill reservoir #3 too. If it's still not high enough, add some wet sponges. I use digital hygrometer/thermometers in my incubators and hatchers, so everything is easy to read at a glance.

Sorry I don't have 1588 hatching answers... I just don't hatch in mine.

 

[mohillbilly]

LOL hush enabler! Cuz I DO want duckies, really bad, it's just way too wickedly hot and dry here in the summers and I don't have a pond yet... some day!

who needs a pond I use a 250 gal horse tank

 

[perchie.girl]

Bwhahahaha..... Yep remove them barriers......

"time for me to hide too because I want runners and have been using the NO water excuse too."

Hey Hi mohillbilly and a belated

. If I get my own Aquaponics system going I am going to add DuckPonics to the loop.... hee hee.

deb

 

[PeepsCA]

Bwhahahaha..... Yep remove them barriers......

"time for me to hide too because I want runners and have been using the NO water excuse too."

Hey Hi mohillbilly and a belated

. If I get my own Aquaponics system going I am going to add DuckPonics to the loop.... hee hee.

deb





LOL, that's actually a really good idea, Thanks! But the way I am with my Guineas... I'd end up breeding/hatchimg/keeping 100 ducks and need about 10 of those troughs in no time, LOL.
Dang eneablers, they're everywhere!