Which Incubator to buy?

[TattooedMama]

All of mine are damaged, some are saddled, some are just loose. The three that are developing seem to be doing fine though. There is definitely hope! I just think that all my clears are probably more likely not developing due to shipping damage than fertility. I have read that if the developers make it to around day 14 that the growth of the veins and whatnot in the membrane will more or less seal the air cell in place. So if we can make it at least that long I think we will definitely have a decent chance of hatching some fuzzy butts!

At least 3 is better than none I guess, but I would be uber bummed too!! I didn't even really care for the Lavender Cuckoo Orp eggs until they weren't developing, lol. They just so happened to come in my BBS package deal. I figured if we got a hen and it was pretty maybe it could be my daughter's and we could start a mixed pen of pretty hens for eggs to eat. I did ask the breeder and they said their fertility had been fine but they said if I made a future purchase I could remind them and they would send 2 or 3 new Lavender Cuckoo eggs which was super nice of them. We are at 7 days today and I am very hopeful so far

 

[brandy00]

At least 3 is better than none I guess, but I would be uber bummed too!! I didn't even really care for the Lavender Cuckoo Orp eggs until they weren't developing, lol. They just so happened to come in my BBS package deal. I figured if we got a hen and it was pretty maybe it could be my daughter's and we could start a mixed pen of pretty hens for eggs to eat. I did ask the breeder and they said their fertility had been fine but they said if I made a future purchase I could remind them and they would send 2 or 3 new Lavender Cuckoo eggs which was super nice of them. We are at 7 days today and I am very hopeful so far :yiipchick

I know what you mean lol! Let me know how your eggs look next time you candle. I will probably look at mine sometime today. I have chicks coming out my ears from my current hatch in my LG! Out of the 36 that made it to lockdown 21 have hatched so far and I have at least 4 others pipped. Plus I have 21 guinea eggs, 12 BLRW, and 10 from my free range mix in another styrofoam incubator due to hatch on the 9th. It is probably a blessing that I won't get many chicks out of the shipped batch! It's just my luck that ordered the Brinsea to get better percentages and end up with duds for my first test run lol. My husband might have me committed if I start another hatch this year so it looks like it might be next spring before I really get to try it out

 

[TattooedMama]

I know what you mean lol! Let me know how your eggs look next time you candle. I will probably look at mine sometime today. I have chicks coming out my ears from my current hatch in my LG! Out of the 36 that made it to lockdown 21 have hatched so far and I have at least 4 others pipped. Plus I have 21 guinea eggs, 12 BLRW, and 10 from my free range mix in another styrofoam incubator due to hatch on the 9th. It is probably a blessing that I won't get many chicks out of the shipped batch! It's just my luck that ordered the Brinsea to get better percentages and end up with duds for my first test run lol. My husband might have me committed if I start another hatch this year so it looks like it might be next spring before I really get to try it out

You have to convince him to let you!! That's not fair at all; a brand new incubator you don't even get to try out!! LOL. I would be putting on my pouty face at my hubby. Sounds like you are/will be drowning in chicks though too

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I may look at my eggs tonight with my son. I have been waiting to show him until there was more that he could see inside; he is only 7. We begin day 9 tonight at 6:45 so I will get a peek. Been trying to decide if I have enough humidity in there so a candle will help me to decide where to keep the humidity range at too.

 

[brandy00]

 You have to convince him to let you!! That's not fair at all; a brand new incubator you don't even get to try out!! LOL. I would be putting on my pouty face at my hubby. Sounds like you are/will be drowning in chicks though too .

I may look at my eggs tonight with my son. I have been waiting to show him until there was more that he could see inside; he is only 7. We begin day 9 tonight at 6:45 so I will get a peek. Been trying to decide if I have enough humidity in there so a candle will help me to decide where to keep the humidity range at too. 

I ended up with 27 chicks from my hatch. I candled the eggs in the Brinsea again and there were definitely only 3 alive/developing. Most of the eggs I chunked were clear. So now the Brinsea is sitting there with those 3 little eggs lol. That's okay though, they should actually hatch right before my other big batch if they make it so I will probably move either the guinea eggs or the BLRW over into it at lockdown! My youngest is 7 and she loves looking at the eggs and watching the chicks hatch. My boys are older and they aren't nearly as interested lol. On humidity, this latest hatch I think I was pretty much spot on with the humidity. I did dry and it stayed around 30 something percent up to a little over 40 most of the time. I bumped it up to around 65% for lockdown and didn't let it get much over 70%. I tried my best to keep it between 65-70. It would get down to 60 some of the time. I did have a few that pipped and then rested forever and they got a little sticky at the end. There was so much gunk in there by then too. All the eggs that failed to hatch didn't internally pip, but none of them were shrink wrapped.

 

[TattooedMama]

I ended up with 27 chicks from my hatch. I candled the eggs in the Brinsea again and there were definitely only 3 alive/developing. Most of the eggs I chunked were clear. So now the Brinsea is sitting there with those 3 little eggs lol. That's okay though, they should actually hatch right before my other big batch if they make it so I will probably move either the guinea eggs or the BLRW over into it at lockdown! My youngest is 7 and she loves looking at the eggs and watching the chicks hatch. My boys are older and they aren't nearly as interested lol. On humidity, this latest hatch I think I was pretty much spot on with the humidity. I did dry and it stayed around 30 something percent up to a little over 40 most of the time. I bumped it up to around 65% for lockdown and didn't let it get much over 70%. I tried my best to keep it between 65-70. It would get down to 60 some of the time. I did have a few that pipped and then rested forever and they got a little sticky at the end. There was so much gunk in there by then too. All the eggs that failed to hatch didn't internally pip, but none of them were shrink wrapped.

So I'm pretty worried after candling last night. We threw away 4 clears. & more eggs have definite wriggling babies in them and one more was a bit difficult to see but there was definitely more veins than previously. BUT My air cells look horrid!! There are so many saddles and they seem to be so large already. I don't think doing a dry hatch is really going to work. I had kept the humidity between 20-30% but I think thats too low for these eggs. I have maybe 3 air cells that look ok but the rest look far too large for the stage of development we are at. I bumped up humidity last night to 40% and will have to check it more often because it seems to dry out in there rather quickly. I've read so many horror stories of people's chicks developing to the last day and not hatching because of the air cell being too small or too large so I am worried. Hopefully it all works out. I will know by the 5th I guess!! (the 4th is hatch day)

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
You might want to read the Hatching 101 article here on BYC about assisted hatches, just in case. I know several people that have saved shrink wrapped chicks when their incubator humidity was to low for a while. If the air sacs are already too big, you probably need to increase you humidity to 50-55% to slow down the water evaporation in the egg. If they're not due until the 4th, then you're only half way through incubation. You may still have time to correct the issue, but it will be very important to monitor frequently. Good luck.

 

[TattooedMama]

You might want to read the Hatching 101 article here on BYC about assisted hatches, just in case. I know several people that have saved shrink wrapped chicks when their incubator humidity was to low for a while. If the air sacs are already too big, you probably need to increase you humidity to 50-55% to slow down the water evaporation in the egg. If they're not due until the 4th, then you're only half way through incubation. You may still have time to correct the issue, but it will be very important to monitor frequently. Good luck.

I have read the article several times but thanks for the advice!! I was just looking at it last night in fact to check the image showing where air cells should be. I was also contemplating assisted hatching; I know many frown upon it as it is a survival of the fittest thing. Of course, you want to only breed the strongest birds but in my case I don't think I would hesitate to assist rather than lose them since this is regarding shipping damage more than a chick not being strong enough. I may increase it slightly more, I think another complaint with my Brinsea may be that the water dries up very quickly though it may just be because of our weather here. There are a few that look alright but I think its the saddles that throw me off maybe? Because the air cells don't go down thge way they are supposed to but instead dip further down the sides. Its weird

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Personally, I think it's a small miracle that any eggs hatch after shipping. Any chick that can develop after all that jostling and gyrating is one of the fittest. If its offspring also have problems, then that's different, as the issue is possibly genetic. But I don't think an easy assist should be withheld from a chick that is in a bind because of a shaken air sac and humidity issues in a new incubator. That has nothing to do with the chick's genetics.

 

[DCchicken]

Personally, I think it's a small miracle that any eggs hatch after shipping. Any chick that can develop after all that jostling and gyrating is one of the fittest. If its offspring also have problems, then that's different, as the issue is possibly genetic. But I don't think an easy assist should be withheld from a chick that is in a bind because of a shaken air sac and humidity issues in a new incubator. That has nothing to do with the chick's genetics.

Selection is not always about genetics in animals. There are also environmental conditions to consider. How a chick (or any animal for that matter) adapts to the environment is important. For example, if you want to breed chickens that lay eggs that are better at being handled rough, then you would not assist eggs that had been shipped. The chicks that developed would most likely come from eggs that were better adapted in their structure to handle rough conditions or low humidity. This is important to consider if you ever plan on selling eggs or chicks that will be mailed.

A good example is the Ayam Cemani. The eggs are notoriously bad at being shipped. I am talking one in a dozen will be develop (less than 10%). That's because breeders have opted to select for the blackest ones and not necessarily for the hardiness of the breed.

However, if you don't ever plan to sell or ship, or if the eggs were extremely expensive, you might ignore the survival of the fittest idea. I also say that every person needs to decide what their goals are for their breeds.

 

[TattooedMama]

Selection is not always about genetics in animals. There are also environmental conditions to consider. How a chick (or any animal for that matter) adapts to the environment is important. For example, if you want to breed chickens that lay eggs that are better at being handled rough, then you would not assist eggs that had been shipped. The chicks that developed would most likely come from eggs that were better adapted in their structure to handle rough conditions or low humidity. This is important to consider if you ever plan on selling eggs or chicks that will be mailed.

A good example is the Ayam Cemani. The eggs are notoriously bad at being shipped. I am talking one in a dozen will be develop (less than 10%). That's because breeders have opted to select for the blackest ones and not necessarily for the hardiness of the breed.

However, if you don't ever plan to sell or ship, or if the eggs were extremely expensive, you might ignore the survival of the fittest idea. I also say that every person needs to decide what their goals are for their breeds.

This is definitely something to consider. Obviously they seem to be doing just fine to date, despite my concerns- isn't that how it usually works?

We stress ourselves out, most the time for nothing. I am hoping they will hatch just fine. I raised humidity to 40% but those little chicks are wriggling around healthy and strong so far as I can tell. I'm not a huge fan of the fact that so many bird breeds have been bred for aesthetics versus utility; I think there could be a more happy medium between the two without outright sacrificing the looks of a bird.