Wooo Hoooo! I'm incubating!

[SebrightLover]

I got a Little Giant still air incubator, auto turner with regular and quail racks, and 50 button quail eggs today (got a sweet deal from a person on a yahoogroup - $55 all SHIPPED!)

I have 49 Button Quail eggs currently incubating - after settling the eggs for 6 hours and prepping the incubator for temp and humidity. Humidity is sitting about 50% right now, and temp 99-100 degrees.

Woo Hoo! Maybe in 16+ days I'll be a BQ mommy!

Plus I will have 6+ serama eggs on the way tomorrow!

 

[Katy]

Your fun is just beginning! Good luck!!

 

[rachelchick]

Congrats i am a newbie with issues with my little giant bator, can you possibly help me out I can"t seem to get any one to talk to me, and im not very good at this bolgging stuff, how do i start new thread or post other than a reply??

 

[SebrightLover]

I'm new to the Little Giant, so I don't know if I can help.

I have another question. On day 13 or so (BQs hatch in 16 days) should I take the eggs out of the auto turner and place on the bottom of the incubator and remove the auto turner? I know I need to stop turning them, is just turning the auto turner enough, or do I need to remove it?

 

[rachelchick]

I would say yes making sure that the large end with the air cell is not at bottom laying eggs in their side or slightly tilted w air cell up should be ok I use cheese cloth in between aggs to prop them up til they rotate and hatch...my issue is that i am having a hard time getting my lil giant to get high enuf humidity, iv tried wet sponge, cheesecloth pans of water and even a vaporizer, i can't seem to get a read above 55% but there is alot of condensation in plexi windoes... temp avgs 99.9 to 101... one chik hatched w umbilical probs and wouldnt eat so it died 2 days later...im so frustrated....im now waitin on 3 more chicks RIR and leghorns...waitng patiently...worried they r dead...

 

[arlee453]

Sebright - what fun! Welcome to the incubation roller coaster! With chicken eggs, you stop the turner and then remove the eggs to place on their sides. I assume the same thing for the BQ eggs. If you leave them in the turner to hatch, you'll have a messy turner to have to deal with...

rachel,

welcome to the forum! If you go to the index page, there are various categories listed there. One of them is incubating.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/index.php

Click on the title of the category where you want to post your thread. In the upper right hand corner, just above the list of threads is a 'post new theads' link.

There is also a great search feature listed on the blue bar, just below the BYC name banner across the top of the page.

As much detail as you can add to your post would be helpful - what kind of bator, auto turner, type and day of eggs set (if you've set any yet), etc.

 

[SebrightLover]

My humidity right now is about 50%. I haven't had to try to increase it yet since it's Day 1. But I'm sooo excited!

 

[arlee453]

Rachel,

If you've got that much condensation on the windows, it is likely your problems isn't low humidity, it's a hygrometer gone bad.

That's just my 2c worth. I know that in order to get condensation on the inside of the windows in my bator, the humidity has to be over 70%, but I also don't have the same kind of bator as you.

 

[d_rooster]

Rachel, I agree with arlee. You probably have a bad hygrometer. However, the condensation may also be the result of very cool temps in the room where the incubator is located. Do you know what your room temperature is measuring? Are there any sources of drafts of cool air near the incubator like a door being opened to the outside?
If your room temps are at least 68 to 70 degrees F. then it must be a faulty hygrometer and you really have humidity higher than 50% in your incubator.