**UPDATE*** Hatching!!!! Candling pictures! Day 6!

[silkhope]

Cute babies!! Awesome pics too (though the hand kind of creeped me out for some reason LOL!)

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
I use a surefire 6p with a LED upgrade.

 

[ChrystalGail]

Awe!!! Congrats! They are so cute! I get to stop turning my eggs on Wednesday and wait for hatching on Saturday! Yay!!!! I'm so excited.

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

Silkie,
Awseom pics!!! Where is the best place to look to gain information on incubating and candleing. I'm seriously considering incubating myself in the spring... and I would really like to know what I am doing before I start. not to mention need plans for making incubator...

The chicks are so cute!!!
Tes

 

[ChrystalGail]

Windy,

I made my incubator using this post:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8510

I got my styro foam cooler from walmart as one of their worm boxes for free. I've been using the water wriggler with a human digital thermometer in the middle of it and it has been working great. That way all I had to buy was the hygrometer and wriggler. I think I spent all of about $15 on the whole thing. I hope this helps...

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

Yes that does help... thanks... any chance you have any pics you can share so that I can show DH?

Thanks again...
Tes

 

[silkiechicken]

Medical or industrial thermometers are the way to go for sure. They need to adhere to standards for the sake of human health or workplace safety unlike thoes cheap wall thermometers you can find in the garden isle.

As for information for incubation and hatching, just use google and search from there. Lots of sites come up. It's pretty easy really, just keep constant temperature and not worry about humidity.

I've never checked the humidity and just watch the air cell growth.

So far out of 18 eggs, I have 16 of them hatched out and one more pip still working it's way out. 88% hatch rate so far, minus two infertiles at the beginning. All 4 silkie eggs hatched and that makes it the 4th time with 100% of them hatching out! From every hatch, I've moved the eggs on day 19 from the incubator to the hatcher, which was a 30- 60 minute travel time near the end of incubation. I also haven't raised the humidity at the end and found the chicks dried out much faster. Maybe it's just luck.

 

[skeeter9]

Congrats, Silkie!!!! What adorable babies.

Lori

 

[ChrystalGail]

Windy,

Here are the pictures of mine. It's not beautiful, but it's functional!


Open view (taken quickly!)

Viewing thru Window showing fan (I haven't screened it off yet).

Viewing thru window showing water wriggler & thermometer.

Viewing thru window showing light fixture.

Outside View with holes for ventilation.

Good Luck! I hope this helps and if you have anymore questions, please let us know!

 

[DoctorGoose]

*must raise more chicks* *Must Get more chickens, to raise more chicks!* *MUST BUILD BIGGER COOP!*

*sigh* One can never have too many silkie chicks...