Washingtonians

[JennS]

Make sure they have fresh air though !

The LG has a lot of small holes in the bottom and top for air flow, so hopefully that will be enough! Humidity has reached 60% already.

Jennifer

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: That is good! I had my humidity up a little higher that what Tamara likes and I left the plug in during lockdown. It did help keep the humidity up while they were all pipping and zipping!

 

[Chickielady]

The LG has a lot of small holes in the bottom and top for air flow, so hopefully that will be enough! Humidity has reached 60% already.

Jennifer

Try not to go too high, or babies can drown.
Of course that varies from bator to bator.
I try not to go over 60-65% at lockdown in mine.
Hatch at 45-47%, lockdown at 60-65%.
But like I said, everyone's incubator can be different.

 

[Chickielady]

So a frantic neighbor has e-mailed, she just got eggs from SF, and has a cruddy incubator, so wants me to hatch for her...............

I just unplugged it last week....Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
But of well, gotta go plug it back in & set up the water tank again............

It really is no work at all once set up, pretty well I can go away for 2 weeks and it takes care of itself.
Love the auto waterer, with 5 gallon bucket !!!!!!!!!!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
x2!!! That's fantastic. I'd have been sick over that beauty! The day we lost our current kitty's brother to a coyote pack, I was devastated

On another HAPPY NOTE!!! Willow laid her first egg for us here!!! I almost laughed at her over it though, she's been laying for many many months, takes a break when she moved homes, and her first egg was a brilliant blue fart egg! The most gorgeous egg I've ever seen, the shell is extremely rough like sandpaper (how'd that feel comin' out?! eek!), and it doesn't even move my egg scale into the peewee range!

I'm sure the next one will be better, I"m just so thrilled she finally started laying 2.5 weeks after arriving here.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Are there any waterer heaters that don't require electricity?

 

[JennS]

Try not to go too high, or babies can drown.
Of course that varies from bator to bator.
I try not to go over 60-65% at lockdown in mine.
Hatch at 45-47%, lockdown at 60-65%.
But like I said, everyone's incubator can be different.

I don't think mine is going to get over 60%. It seems to have stalled there. But the lavender Orpington egg is getting more cracks now!

Can the first chick stay in past 48 hours?

Jennifer

 

[hallerlake]

Quote: I have that plugged into heat lamps in my little greenhouse.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote: I've had good luck with Brinseas.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:
I have the Brinsea Eco and I follow the instructions - filling both channels when I go into lockdown. THEN I sit on my hands for the next three days. After the first chick hatches, I just watch her longingly through the cover and leave her there for the next 48 hours or so until I'm pretty certain everyone who is going to hatch is out. Interestingly, the chick who hatches first and I typically "bond" a little more since we have our alone time before everyone else comes out to play. Sounds weird, right? But I swear it's true. At least in my little fantasy world it is...

It's what has worked for me in my home and the 3 or 4 people who have borrowed my Brinsea have followed the same instructions with some pretty successful hatches. I haven't used a hygrometer yet even though I have one because I never got around to calibrating it. But I know others have good luck using their hygrometers to gauge the humidity in their incubators.

It is nerve wracking sometimes - the whole hatching business. I have had a chick get shrink wrapped once and was very sad to see it. During my last hatch of Silkies and Seramas, one of the Silkies tried hard to break out of it's shell for almost 24 hours and finally got tired and died. I regret not trying to help it hatch, but was resisting because I felt it really needed to come out on it's own. I've been second guessing myself since then.

Hatching is definitely a learning process. But I can't wait to do it again!
I don't feel the need to leave the chicks in too long. The little Brinseas regain heat and humidity really fast.