What batch did you stop to worry?

[TMBear]

Hi chicken-obsessed fellows,

I believe most of us watched their first hatches with a lot of worry (a lot of postings here!), I'm not an exception. But I just wonder - does it happen every hatch or I will be able to sleep peacefully after Nth batch?

I'm going through my first hatch and all sort of worries going through my mind:
- What incubator should I get? For every single one there're at least a few bad reviews on amazon, are all of them bad? Why I can't find reviews for hen-cubator to compare with?
- Did my neighbor give me infertile eggs? He said they should be fertile but he can't be sure. He refused money, but it still looks like a scam, though I can't find the catch.
- Is the humidity ok for the first 18ish days, is my incubator good in holding temp (I know Brinsea Mini Advance is a fool-proof, but the manual says I shouldn't use it if the ambient temp goes below 63F, but it does go down to 60F)
- Are blurry spots I saw when candling on day 7 really chicks because they don't look so. If they are - why none waived me hello?
- Why can't I see much at all when candling on day 15? If they're ok inside - why no hello again?
- Am I preparing for lockdown correctly? Remove turner, put paper towel, add water... I saw countless threads about lockdown, it shouldn't be that simple - I'm missing something.
- ****, I dropped one egg during preparation for lockdown and it cracked badly. I murdered my chick! Arrrggghhh! Should I put it back or do a proper funeral?
- Why lockdown takes so long? Display says "0 days" and no one have pipped yet.
- One pipped, have the other died already? Should I open the incubator and help the one?
- Two pipped, have the other died already? Should I open the incubator and help the two?
- Why one decided to pip on the side I can't see cleary? I know pipping on pointy side is wrong, is pipping on blunt side but on the bottom where no one can see is wrong as well? Should I open the incubator and turn it?
- Why no progress at all since they first pipped? Not at all, not a single egg. Have they died? Should I open..? Yey, I hear they peeping, are they asking for help, should I open...? Now I don't hear them peeping for quite awhile - should I open and help?
- The membrane in the pipping hole is white and looks dry, should I open and add water / sprinkle the egg?
- Did my clock broke down - I've been staring at the eggs for at least 36hrs already (about the time I need to open and help), and the clock shows 3 hrs only?
- Why the first one decided to zip and hatch when I dozed off for 5 mins? It doesn't look healthy - she's wet, sticky, ugly and clearly having problem standing and moving - while most of the pictures on this site show fluffy healthy adorable chicks. Should I open and help?
- Why the second one decided to hatch when I dozed off for... well, the broken clock says 5 hrs but I swear it was 5 mins only.
- Help! I know it's almost impossible to move inside Brinsea Mini due to no space at all, but my two hatched chicks somehow managed to run around, kicking, turning and otherwise harassing the other eggs. Should I open and remove them? The vent holes are too small to let any oxygen in, should I open and let them breathe?
- Now I have to go to the office, how do they going to survive without me? Next time I should do more planning so hatching started on a weekend. Are they going to die inside the crammed incubator while I'm away without oxygen, food and most of all, my attention?


The funny/sad thing is that for almost every worry there's at least one thread that turned out badly, so more food for the worries.

PS. ****, I'm a grown male, I didn't worry that much even when my kids were born.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Funny write up.
I've used a couple LGs and finally decided to build a large (read that as too large) cabinet incubator. I always incubate in the cellar so the temperature remains fairly constant. The home programmable thermostats radically change house temp.
Having them in the cellar makes them inconvenient to watch and out of sight out of mind.
I do keep a hatch clock at the computer desk so when I'm computing I can check how many days and hours are left.

 

[WalnutHill]

My incubator (also a too large compared to my needs) homebuilt cabinet is six feet from my work-at-home desk. I peek in the window every hour or so to check thermometers, and just plant myself in front during hatching. It's way better than TV.

I've run about 50 hatches, and while I've gotten a little better at not opening during lockdown (well...okay, but only sometimes!) it never gets easier.

I may be out of town during my next chicken hatch. But I will have a webcam going to watch!

 

[scflock]

Hi chicken-obsessed fellows,

I believe most of us watched their first hatches with a lot of worry (a lot of postings here!), I'm not an exception. But I just wonder - does it happen every hatch or I will be able to sleep peacefully after Nth batch?

I'm going through my first hatch and all sort of worries going through my mind:
- What incubator should I get? For every single one there're at least a few bad reviews on amazon, are all of them bad? Why I can't find reviews for hen-cubator to compare with?
- Did my neighbor give me infertile eggs? He said they should be fertile but he can't be sure. He refused money, but it still looks like a scam, though I can't find the catch.
- Is the humidity ok for the first 18ish days, is my incubator good in holding temp (I know Brinsea Mini Advance is a fool-proof, but the manual says I shouldn't use it if the ambient temp goes below 63F, but it does go down to 60F)
- Are blurry spots I saw when candling on day 7 really chicks because they don't look so. If they are - why none waived me hello?
- Why can't I see much at all when candling on day 15? If they're ok inside - why no hello again?
- Am I preparing for lockdown correctly? Remove turner, put paper towel, add water... I saw countless threads about lockdown, it shouldn't be that simple - I'm missing something.
- ****, I dropped one egg during preparation for lockdown and it cracked badly. I murdered my chick! Arrrggghhh! Should I put it back or do a proper funeral?
- Why lockdown takes so long? Display says "0 days" and no one have pipped yet.
- One pipped, have the other died already? Should I open the incubator and help the one?
- Two pipped, have the other died already? Should I open the incubator and help the two?
- Why one decided to pip on the side I can't see cleary? I know pipping on pointy side is wrong, is pipping on blunt side but on the bottom where no one can see is wrong as well? Should I open the incubator and turn it?
- Why no progress at all since they first pipped? Not at all, not a single egg. Have they died? Should I open..? Yey, I hear they peeping, are they asking for help, should I open...? Now I don't hear them peeping for quite awhile - should I open and help?
- The membrane in the pipping hole is white and looks dry, should I open and add water / sprinkle the egg?
- Did my clock broke down - I've been staring at the eggs for at least 36hrs already (about the time I need to open and help), and the clock shows 3 hrs only?
- Why the first one decided to zip and hatch when I dozed off for 5 mins? It doesn't look healthy - she's wet, sticky, ugly and clearly having problem standing and moving - while most of the pictures on this site show fluffy healthy adorable chicks. Should I open and help?
- Why the second one decided to hatch when I dozed off for... well, the broken clock says 5 hrs but I swear it was 5 mins only.
- Help! I know it's almost impossible to move inside Brinsea Mini due to no space at all, but my two hatched chicks somehow managed to run around, kicking, turning and otherwise harassing the other eggs. Should I open and remove them? The vent holes are too small to let any oxygen in, should I open and let them breathe?
- Now I have to go to the office, how do they going to survive without me? Next time I should do more planning so hatching started on a weekend. Are they going to die inside the crammed incubator while I'm away without oxygen, food and most of all, my attention?


The funny/sad thing is that for almost every worry there's at least one thread that turned out badly, so more food for the worries.

PS. ****, I'm a grown male, I didn't worry that much even when my kids were born.

Very funny, and I can relate. I'm a very grown male. I hatched my first batch in January and went through all of that. To answer your original question, I quit worrying on batch 4. I have a Brinsea, and I figured out my proper humidity and temps. Now I just load it, turn it on, add water, lockdown at day 18, then take them out when it looks like a fluffy carpet.

 

[TMBear]

Thanks guys for cheering me up!

Yes, I think I'm a 100% typical first-time chicken owner. There should be some magic in those first eggs that make you emotionally attached to the ordinary soulless cookery items that maybe have a chance to turn into something more alive.
My hatch hasn't completed yet, but I'd consider it a success since I progressed that far. There're more worries ahead even if the chicks survive (two as of a couple hours ago) - brooder, feeding, coop is not finished yet, but I'm really happy I got into it.
As for the incubator - I'm not planning to go with a bigger and better one yet - this one seems quite adequate (though it's a way overpriced to my opinion). Spring is coming, so the next batch I probably not be worrying the room temperature dropping too low. I will try to avoid my mistakes (the biggest one is dropping one egg while preparing for lockdown) and progress toward the 4th batch where I can stop worrying

 

[scflock]

Thanks guys for cheering me up!

Yes, I think I'm a 100% typical first-time chicken owner. There should be some magic in those first eggs that make you emotionally attached to the ordinary soulless cookery items that maybe have a chance to turn into something more alive.
My hatch hasn't completed yet, but I'd consider it a success since I progressed that far. There're more worries ahead even if the chicks survive (two as of a couple hours ago) - brooder, feeding, coop is not finished yet, but I'm really happy I got into it.
As for the incubator - I'm not planning to go with a bigger and better one yet - this one seems quite adequate (though it's a way overpriced to my opinion). Spring is coming, so the next batch I probably not be worrying the room temperature dropping too low. I will try to avoid my mistakes (the biggest one is dropping one egg while preparing for lockdown) and progress toward the 4th batch where I can stop worrying

Another thing you and I have in common: I'm not planning to go with a bigger and better one yet...

You've been bitten. Chicken math will kick in, and I would bet money that you will be shopping for a bigger incubator by June. I bought my Octagon 20 in December. I, too, thought it was overpriced, but I needed something that was idiot proof that would run without constant attention. I will have another one by June, myself. They are expensive, but worth it

 

[lazy gardener]

TMBear, you deserve some sort of literary award for that original post! Absolutely brilliant!

 

[TMBear]

Thanks guys,

A bit of update - all 7 eggs hatched successfuly! Including the one I dropped and cracked all over, it looks like a miracle to me! One of the chick lacks some feathers (or whatever it is on fluffy chicks) on the back, I think it's the one I dropped. But it's active, started to eat and drink and looks pretty much ok.
I had to open the incubator 3 times to let the guys out - the first chick spent there ~10 hrs, the last one hatched about 24 hrs after the first. When I came home on Friday the incubator was a complete mess - a good mix of chicks and eggs compressed inside (5 chicks were out).
I already started my next batch, hopefully more joy to come!

 

[lazy gardener]

Can't wait to read your literary masterpiece on the next batch!