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Flowerbh said:
Papa, have you checked out the hatching 101 section in the learning forum here on BYC?

I agree with others. I incubate at 35% and lockdown around 55-60%. I've also read from some 'experts' to leave the air plugs in for the first 10 days and then remove them.
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I never put any plugs in or close any vents. The first thing I do on styro bators is throw away the vent caps. All vents on my cabinet are always completely open.
 
SilkieSensation said:
I know of 3 outbreaks in the past 7 years. Most recent was 2014. Like I said, I avoid them!
I hand turn & still skip days to go to swap meets & such. They are fine for a few days without turning.
Way too high! Below is a list of humidities for still air. Add 5-10% for bators with fans.
Type of Fowl. Incubation. Hatch.
Chicken. 30-45%. 40-55%
Duck, goose, turkey. 40-55%. 50-65%
Quail. 30-40%. 40-50%
Guinea, pheasant. 35-50%. 45-60%
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mine has a fan, so adding 10% to these numbers gets it to what my owners manual says.......
 
carcar80 said:
That's what hubby wants to do.. Chicken room. And as long as your humidity and temp will hold and you have good air exchange, you can get as creative as you want!
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thank you ma'am! this is why I wanted to ask you specifically because I know from personal experience your hatch rates are good. I did realize the need for airflow, was thinking a computer fan could move more than enough air in and out, but I'm seriously considering looking into a cabinet. I do know I've seen others talk about doing it this way with good success, I need to get involved in some dialogue with a few of those and talk to them.
Flowerbh said:
Papa, have you checked out the hatching 101 section in the learning forum here on BYC?

I agree with others. I incubate at 35% and lockdown around 55-60%. I've also read from some 'experts' to leave the air plugs in for the first 10 days and then remove them.
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I have been over there and tried to do some reading. As with a LOT of threads and discussions around here, I found it very disorganized and hard to follow - the layout in that thread is awful. Trying to get what I felt like was the information I was looking for felt very frustrating.

Kind of like some people say - 'get creative and try' while others will just say 'that will never work'
 
carcar80 said:
What's your bator again? I noticed at Elrod's yesterday they had Hovabator I think it was..
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it's a Farm Innovators. One from TSC that Kat had bought to use while hers was being repaired. She used it, then traded it to me for some chicks (to be hatched) I have it running in the kitchen now to watch for a couple days to make sure it maintains heat, while I'm saving up AM eggs. I'm going to start off with a dozen eggs, though I do know more eggs helps hold the temps better.

Haven't heard about the explosion yet, need to hit the shower and get ready for church so it will have to wait. Have fun with the keyboard, online lessons and just picking it up is how I've taught my self to play guitar :)
 
For everyone looking at incubating ... If you ask 5 different people you will get 5 different answers on almost any aspect of incubating. Take in as much info as you can and do your best to find what works for you. Of course nobody wants to lose potential chicks so you do want to get at least a strong base to work from but where 40% may work for one person with strong results, 25% may work equally well for another person. And "lock-down" takes on a different meaning with different incubators. Y'all know that I have a fairly constant incubating/hatching going on in my cabinet all season long and I am in and out of that thing a lot. With fertile, unshipped eggs I get 90+% all day every day. Shipped eggs do seem to need a little more specific attention presumably because of all they've been through, making them more fragile.


Where I need more work (and any input is appreciated) is in bringing turkey and geese up to maturity. I lose way too many of them and it is heartbreaking as well as frustrating. We use the higher protein for poults and lower (and unmedicated) for goslings. Try to get them on grass as soon and as much as possible. I may try penning up at least one of our geese with a nest this year and let her bring up the goslings in a protected environment. Dang predators wiped out all but 2 of our free-range goslings last year ... in one day/night.
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