You Can Read Too Much
You know, I think my biggest problem is that I researched
too much. As I mentioned before, there is so much conflicting information out there, and by the time I had absorbed it all, I was so confused that I didn't know what was right or wrong anymore. I began to doubt and second-guess everything -- which is why when hatch day approached I started asking all these questions about things I had read -- and even things I hadn't even heard of until they happened to me.
Hatch Day
As hatch day approached, school started back up, and I ended up enrolling in two extra classes that I needed for my degree. Those two classes each required a 6 page research paper, due the first and second week. I spent every waking moment working on homework, rather than refreshing my mind on what I was supposed to do when. That is why I still had my eggs in the turner on day 19 -- which may well have contributed to some of the problems I experienced. But in my mind, I wasn't supposed to take them out until day 19 or 20. I was so sure that I didn't take the time to double-check. It was only when everyone started going crazy on here that I decided I needed to go back and check. Sure enough, right there in the 'bator operating manual, it says 1 - 2 days before hatch. So my recollections were correct. However, the source of the information may not have been. I checked in the book,
Living With Chickens, and it says take them out on day 18.
Don't Trust The Manufacturer?
I suppose I made a mistake by following the Hovabator manual. I figured they had been making 'bators for decades, as well as running a huge, successful quail hatchery... so they must know what they're talking about, right? I bought the Genesis 1588, which is electronically controlled. Every single review I've read, here and elsewhere, raves about that model. I thought I had made a well-thought-out choice.
Environment
As for the environment, I followed all the sound advice to the letter. I placed the incubator in our large pantry, safely out of harms way. The pantry is rarely disturbed, and, being in the center of the house, in the basement, with no windows nor HVAC ducts, it stays a very constant 70 - 72 degrees. We enter the pantry an average of about 5 times per day, and we left the door ajar throughout the process to allow for plenty of fresh air circulation. My brooding pen is in there as well. It is clean, everything is new. I have lined the bottom with hardware cloth, followed by a layer of fresh pine shavings. The hardware cloth serves to keep the shavings from shifting, and gives them sure footing. I have moved the first two healthy birds out to the brooder and they are cheeping quietly and contentedly. Although this is my first time hatching, it is not my first time raising chicks into chickens. The only chicken I've ever had die on me was one that I got from Ideal last year. It was half dead when it got here, and it had bum legs, so it was immobile. I tried all the methods I got from members of another list, including pipe cleaners on the feet, to putting in a dixie cup to force it to use its legs. It just didn't have the strength or the will to survive, and after a week or so, it gave up.
So you see, I've done everything I know to do right. I don't know everything -- far from it. I have learned some profound lessons with my first experience. Next time I hatch (and I will hatch again), I will not make the same mistakes.
My Incubator
Now, about my incubator... The only thermometer it has is the one that came with it. The manual says straight out, don't trust it, it may not be accurate. Instead, it says, trust the factory settings, and
only adjust temps based on the outcome of your hatches. They advocate the trial and error method. I don't want to have bad hatches. I was doing research trying to find out which digital hygrometer/thermometer would be best to use so that I could be absolutely sure. However, in reading reviews, I discovered that none of the ones I found had proven to be accurate. Many reviewers had placed different models side by side, as well as the salt-solution test, and there are always disparities between each model, and sometimes even between two of the same model. So what can you trust? Do we have to buy a $300 hygrometer/thermometer to know for sure? Which brand/model(s) do you use? Others? I had wanted to buy one for this hatch, but based on the information I had available, I wasn't able to find one in time that I felt I could trust. So I abandoned the idea and decided to trust my Genesis. I didn't keep notes on the temps, because every time I peeked (several times a day) the thermometer read exactly 100 degrees. I thought that was good enough.
Eggs
The eggs I am hatching were shipped, via express mail, from Tennessee (I think?). It took them two days to get here. I got a total of 14. They were packed somewhat poorly, IMHO, but none were cracked. However, 3 were infertile, and 5 were scrambled. Considering that only six arrived in viable condition, and all six developed, I feel blessed -- even if the last two don't hatch.
Finally, I know you weren't being harsh. Thank you for your concern.
Blaine
