What is the best way to hatch shipped eggs????

[RubyNala97]

My lil banty eggs are like that sometimes, especially the ones out of my blackest..polish eggs are really white too..which I think also contributes to them always handling shipped badly.. it's only D4 for my Polish, my app is saying D11 for ones I set with yours but think I set later that day and it doesn't turn over days until the exact minute

It never gets old seeing them inside the egg, I hope it never does! What app are you using? I've tried hatch app or something like that and it was always a day behind too. I'd get my candling reminders the next day and it would already be done. So it wasn't that useful to me. But you have A LOT going on in your incubators so it probably helps keep track of everything!!

 

[CrzyChknLady81]

It never gets old seeing them inside the egg, I hope it never does! What app are you using? I've tried hatch app or something like that and it was always a day behind too. I'd get my candling reminders the next day and it would already be done. So it wasn't that useful to me. But you have A LOT going on in your incubators so it probably helps keep track of everything!!

I use an app called Hatchabatch. . It starts Day1 as soon as you set, and I like to count D1 at the 24 hour mark.. so it definitely threw me off at first..but it is amazing at keeping track, I can add notes like clears, etc.. and it's FREE..lol..I have it on my S5 and then I have the iHatch app on my iPhone (waste of a dollar), but it does have neat lil candling pics and drawings that show/tell every days progress..

 

[CrzyChknLady81]

The Hatchabatch app does have some odd candling reminders..like 2 in 2 days at days 14 and 15..and it has only 2 or 3 other species along with the chickens so when I do duck or quail, I get no reminders bc they're not auto set..

 

[FridayYet]

I downloaded hatchabatch too, but i'm on BYC everyday so I don't really need the reminders. The day counting thing threw me off a bit, too.

Lockdown for me today! Will candle early this afternoon and try to get some pics. It's my first hatch, shipped eggs and live at 5000 ft. Got so sure the other day that nothing would hatch that I ordered 6 chicks so I would have something. Or if I only get one of my own, it wouldn't be lonely.

 

[gmpayne]

Back from vacation! Stopped by and picked up 6 Ameraucana chicks. They were freshly hatched, so they are dwarfed compared to my 1 week old. she pecked at the newbys until she figured out what they were. I placed her on top of the quanset hut and now she hops up there all the time! The woman I bought the chicks from insists my problem is the Little Giant incubator. So let me take a poll. How many of you use a cheapy like the LG successfully, and how many think I should get a more expensive incubator?

And thanks for all the kind words.

 

[shouts]

I've had it with my "cheap" $120 Farm Innovators one. Get about a 95 percent failure every time. Closely watch heat and humidity with calibrated third party device - same results so far. Think it's time for a bigger brinsea. Wish RCOM was a little cheaper.

 

[ValedasLascas]

I hatch eggs professionally and would vote for using the best incubator you can possibly afford. My incubators cost over 800 pounds sterling each including the humidifier unit but they are worth every penny.

 

[RubyNala97]

Back from vacation! Stopped by and picked up 6 Ameraucana chicks.  They were freshly hatched, so they are dwarfed compared to my 1 week old.  she pecked at the newbys until she figured out what they were.  I placed her on top of the quanset hut and now she hops up there all the time!  The woman I bought the chicks from insists my problem is the Little Giant incubator.  So let me take a poll.  How many of you use a cheapy like the  LG successfully, and how many think I should get a more expensive incubator?

And thanks for all the kind words. 

I love my Brinsea!! I had one Brinsea mini, then I bought a little giant and I hated it. (Some others have very successful hatches in it), but I could not get it stabilized. I returned it and bought another Brinsea mini. If you are able to hand turn (I'm a stay at home mom, so I can) the Brinsea has an Eco model that is a lot cheaper then the auto-turning models. Yet, you still get all the quality. I bet you would get successful hatches in the Brinsea! Also, they hold their value. So if you ever wanted to sell it you would get your money back no problem. I looked for a month for a used one and I only found one that was only $20 dollars cheaper then brand new. So I went with the new one for the 3 year warranty.

 

[RubyNala97]

Back from vacation! Stopped by and picked up 6 Ameraucana chicks.  They were freshly hatched, so they are dwarfed compared to my 1 week old.  she pecked at the newbys until she figured out what they were.  I placed her on top of the quanset hut and now she hops up there all the time!  The woman I bought the chicks from insists my problem is the Little Giant incubator.  So let me take a poll.  How many of you use a cheapy like the  LG successfully, and how many think I should get a more expensive incubator?

And thanks for all the kind words. 

Also, did you keep track of humidity & temps daily? Here's the daily chart I use:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/attachments/363

 

[FridayYet]

Back from vacation! Stopped by and picked up 6 Ameraucana chicks. They were freshly hatched, so they are dwarfed compared to my 1 week old. she pecked at the newbys until she figured out what they were. I placed her on top of the quanset hut and now she hops up there all the time! The woman I bought the chicks from insists my problem is the Little Giant incubator. So let me take a poll. How many of you use a cheapy like the LG successfully, and how many think I should get a more expensive incubator?

And thanks for all the kind words.

What kind of Ameraucana did you get? I has 3 Wheaten/Blue Wheaten hatch and they are the cutest yellow fuzzballs!

While doing research I had also heard to buy the best incubator you can afford, so I bought the Brinsea Advance 20 with the humidity pump. (I had a high-paying but high-stress job at the time.) I've only used it once, but it held both temperature and humidity with little variation no matter the room temp or ambient humidity. It recovers really quickly too if you open it for any reason. It was a great choice for me.

The only downside is that there is not a lot of room in there, especially if you use the humidity pad. In the future I may get a Hovabator Genesis and use it as a hatcher. My friend does that, and she is happy with her set-up.