Bought Hatching Eggs

If you put them all in a turner, how are you going to just stop the 18 day eggs? Although we have been known to hatch them while the turner was on...

I incubate at 60% or around there.. give or take.. and the last 3 days increase it to around 80% or more, give or take...

I don't think you would drown them with high humidity, but if it were constantly too high, the chicks get too big and can't hatch. Too low and you get sticky chicks.. which is hard to handle..

Good luck! I hope your hatch is a good one with plenty of bumbling babiez!

Oh how rude of me! I'm sorry!
Welcome to the poultry forum Landperson!

I intend to put them all in the turner so starting the new ones in the turner. Then I intend to candel again and see if I can determine anything on the ones I have by (or before) day eighteen. If they are for sure no good then that solves my dilemma. But if I can't tell, I will just take everything out of the turner and try to hatch. That means I will up the humidety for hatching, not open the incubator and not turn anything. Then wait and see.

Hey Rita, ZZ,Landperson, Cat, Annie and Porky,.... and to you too lurking persons.... I know you are out there!!! LOL!!!
The incu thing scares us all to death!! Then we remember that mama Bird has no thermometer, no Hygrometer,and no fan! She gets off the nest to drink and eat when we are not looking and she goes to poop once in a while! So we shouldnt worry if we open the incu to add water , or to hand turn. Just be sure not to shke rattle or roll eggies! Even though I have seen my broody girl use her beak to roll a runaway eggie back into the nest several times!

I guess I must be stubborn ha-ha. I just decided to start this way doing my own incubation. Honestly, I just didn't like the idea of the large number of hatchery chicks one had to get all at once. Plus I will have much more control over what I am able to have my way of hatching instead of chick buying. So even though I messed up this first time I can always just try again. And I will keep trying. I wish I lived out in the country, I would just keep hatching forever :-))

I`ve seen that to Landperson I had one that moved her eggs all the time becasue another silkie kept taking them and she would go and get them back and sometimes have to roll quit a ways and all hatched.

I'm a green chicken newbie and know enough to know... I don't know enough! I love reading all the chicken, chick, hatching stories and learn something from everyone. I don't know what the hatch ratio difference is when using an incubator vs mom chicken, but, it's all stuff I can't wait to read about.

Rita, please don't be so quick to decide your first batch of eggs are not developing properly. You might be very surprised, I sure hope you are!

Well Bless your Heart , I didnt think of it as being in Hypothesis form but You are very right Susan! An incubator is a very crude representation for a Mother Hen, and I daresay that one would agree that the approximation of that inner mechanism that hens have to know when and what to do to incubate is a mystery!
I just meant to say that we need not be so intent on everything being perfect with the incubation process. Opening the incu to add water and checking for viablity shouldnt scare us. The process time to do these little chores is minimal.
After raising Poultry for over 40 some odd years I found out that I was more concerned about Broody Hens taking breaks and getting off the nest and rolling their eggs than they were. LOL! Which leads me to believe that incubating eggs is not a strict process, it just isnt open to extreme temp or Humidity changes! Great-Grandmother's incubator was a bucket and a damp cloth behind the kerosene stove, after all.
Sorry didnt mean for this to sound Uppity y'all! Just keep it fun and exciting!

Annie- I am not knowing what I am doing. The more I try and figgure it out the worst it gets.

After I wrote that post about the stagged hatch and the no turning of the new eggs because of the no opening of the incubator for the new ones, I decided that none of it was going to work. So I just should go with one set or the other. But I am not willing to toss the first set of eggs. Like you said, I could be wrong and they could be good inside there. What do I know.

So I obseesed about it for about a half hour and then decided I was never going to be able to just contain myself by always waiting for the three weeks necessary for the incubator to be empty. I had seen a Y-Tube video were they incubated in the regular incubator and used a Broward Top Hatch incubator for the last three days as the hatcher. Since that is an all plastic incubator, easy to wash and sanatize between hatchings. Also means one can easily do stagged incubation dates in the other as the eggs just move out for hatching.

You better believe I am serious about all this. I ordered the Brower and it will be here either Friday or Monday. Usually I just order things on line but I had to make sure its here on time so I called and asked lots of questions and then ordered.

My first eggs go on lockdown (no more opening of the incubator and no turning) on Wednesday. So that gives me time to run the Brower and get it adjusted to hold the correct temps before egg transfer on Wendnesday night.

Bump

Rita, I've figured it out! You and I need a 'microwave' incubator, made special for us impatient people! Eggs that hatch in 5 days, think of the fun LOL

Ha, someone needs to invent it. Are you going to get an incubator?

My first 3 hatches were failures... it was very frustrating.. I've learned a lot since then, but I'm no expert.

The one thing I can say is.. Don't give up on those eggs until it's at least 2 days past the due date. I have had an egg sitting on the counter, that was in the "throw away" pile... start hatching on the counter!!!!!!!! That chick lived too.
You may never see anything in the Olive or Marans eggs... don't assume they are not developed though.. As a beginner, it's hard enough to see through white eggs, let alone dark eggs!

As far as opening the bator to add water and turn? That is okay if your lucky... LOL Doesn't work for me. I'd end up with a bator full of roos..

Well, I am home all the time anyway and never sleep thru the night without waking up (no alarm necessary) so I had thought it would be ok. But I had decided that a turner is better. So when I set the new eggs I will put them all (new ones and old ones) in the new turner. Its not like I will not look in the incubator constantly anyway.

I'm not going to say I'll never get an incubator.... but I don't see it in the near future. I don't want to deal with roos. I'll probably just order more sexed day old chicks. I'm thinking I want more Welsummers, or Jersey Giants, or Marans, or, or, or, or.... LOL

Annie, I think you want a little of everything :-))

So? Why not?

I hadnt heard about the incubator producing a mostly roo hatch before. Why would that be, you think? Temperature or what? Very interesting!
This Summer was my first time in using an incu, I am still trying to indentify which of the 8 babies are which! LOL. I know so far I have 2 Cockerals that came from the first batch . they were the first to hatch from 12eggs taken from the hen at 5days and put into incu because of 102 degree temps this summer. Only 5 chicks survived that clutch of eggs. the other 3 chicks , 4 weeks later, were from a 7 egg clutch taken at 4 days because of heat. So you might say I havent really had a full 21 day incu hatch yet. After all the many years of natural hatches I am using an incu for the first time. My first 21 day hatch will be (hopefully) October 18th with 11Frizzle Cochin bantams. Roosters will not be a problem there!

Oh no, I don't think incubators produce more roosters - I just don't want ANY roosters (we aren't supposed to have them here anyway). I get too attached to them and it's just too hard to part with them! Ordering day old sexed chicks isn't 100% but I like the odds better than using an incubator.

Yup, Rita, I want a couple of each breed of chicken! I'd love to have some Olive eggers but have never seen any listed as day old chicks. There are so many chickens on my 'must have' list... and not enough room for them all!

Today was a beautiful fall day - I sat in the lawn chair in the field with the chickens, sipping iced coffee and watching my puppy interact with them. Priceless.

Annie- I have the opposite problem as you. I could hatch forever and just sort thru them until I sort out the Roosters. But I don't have the room. I would love to sit in a chair and just watch some "free range" chickens me chickens. Well, I really want that to be my chickens.

The new hatching eggs are not here yet. The tracking updates only show them leaving the Ohio facilty and nothing further. I am sure all this really heavy rain, wind and bad weather doesn't help them get here quickly.

I DON`T LIKE THAT WAITING GAME,I FOUND OUT WHY THEY CALL IT SNAIL MAIL

I find myself just staring at the incu .... are we done yet.. are we done yet!

Annie , I do the same thing... love to just relax and watch my crazy sweet birds!

I started this year thinking Id stick with the plan... just have a couple of brown egg layers and a Roo for next spring hatches to keep the flock stocked. HAAA!!! First was the buffs, love em. then I wanted the cute little Seramas, Love 'em. Then some one gave me a pair of Cochin Bantams, too cute really love 'em. I Just had to go to an auction , won Cuckoo and BCMarans, oooh pretty dark brown eggs, Lo-ove 'em. FRIZZZLES on Ebay,OOOOOh gotta have em. Girlfriend just had to get rid of 6 tiny RIRs, of course I'll take 'em in, cause I just love 'em.......er do ya see a pattern here! 12 steps will not CURE me!!! oooooooooh my have you seen those cute modern Game Chickens yet.... Looove 'em!

Well, it's been our experience (me and Catscan) that shipped eggs produce a higher "roo to pullet" ratio. The pullets are less able to survive the shipping and then temp and humidity changes. That's why I mentioned if you're lucky..

I guess I had better learn quickly when I finially do get chicks to tell those girls from the (unwanted) boys.

My hatching eggs are somewhere local. The last update on the tracking number said they are in town. Probably on the truck but its not updated to say that yet. My mail is not here yet, not unusual for us. I hope they get here today.

They're here! My eggs arrived and I just unpacked them. An excellent packing job. I have them resting so will put them in the incubator tomorrow. I had bought an auction for 6 and they sent 8 so I am happy.

Tonight when its dark I will try candeling. Not that I figgure I will know much but just trying to educate myself to see what I can learn during different times of the development. I figgure that should start for the first time before they are set. Maybe I will be able to see air cells, don't know.

I do know I should be able to see incubation progress easily this time. I thought Orp eggs were brown but these are really not what I would call brown. More a light kaki or dark sand color.

I will take some pictures and post them later.

So, it's dark already so I tried out my candeling. This is not because there is really anything to see yet but just to make sure that I could easily see thru my new eggs. So that is very much a success, I can see nicely into and all thru these eggs. So I hope to be able to follow progress and see chick development this time around like I can not see on the dark Black Copper Marans and Olive Eggers from my first batch.

First batch is still sitting in my incubator and tomorrow I will add the new batch and they will all be in there together for a while.

Picture's, please!

I tried taking pictures but since its pouring rain outside had to do it inside. That didn't turn out well, what with the flash and all. So I am planning to take pictures tomorrow in the natural daylight before I put them in the incubator.

NYRita, Yep, Orp eggs are very light brown to a tan. I have 3 buffs and each one has a very different egg color, I can keep up with which hen is laying when that way!
Good luck on the new batch!!!!

These eggs are SOOOOO much lighter than what I expected. No fault of the seller. I did not ask any questions about what color the eggs are. I just thought they (Orps) were brown egg layers as in light brown like store bought eggs color. At least it makes it very easy to candel :-)) And I need experience with that.

I set the eggs in the incubator just afew minutes ago. Hopefully all will go well. I did take pictures outside in the natural daylight before I put them in the incubator and will post pictures later after I get a chance to download them.

Ok, here come the egg pictures.

Yesterday on the kitchen counter. Taken with flash and turned out better than expected.

Color compairison with brown store bought JUMBO eggs added at the end.

Today, outside in the sunlight before setting them in the incubator.

Very pretty eggs. I love my two Buff Orpingtons, they're so friendly & chatty, love to follow me and even sit next to or on me.

Good luck with your hatch!

And in the sun again with those jumbo store bought eggs today.

Annie- What color are your Orps eggs? I expected darker than this. Heck the store bought ones I added for compairison look great.

My BO's each lay a very different egg. Connie lays a medium golden brown and it's very glossy. Lois lays a weird color, and it has a flat, mat finish. I'll get a picture of their eggs tomorrow.