Congrats, PeggieK! You're a new mama! I'm in awe of you pulling this off on your own: good work.
Pictures! Pictures!
A homemade egg incubator........maybe.
Thanks all. I'd love to post some pictures of it. You all would laugh to see such a goofy looking contraption. I don't have a way to get them onto computer tho. Didn't get that digital camera for Christmas that I wanted after all. Maybe my daughter will come to see us and take some pics. for me soon.
hope she does!
My DH wants to hatch out some chicks, he was given an old Hova-bator incubator. I told him how excited you were when yours hatched and now he's more determined to get his going. We have 11 hens and 1 rooster. How can you tell if the eggs are fertile? We are thinking about buying some eggs instead of using are own, we have 5 Rhode Island Reds and White Leghorns, and a couple of mixed. How often do you turn the eggs during the day? Sorry so many questions!! The only thing is, DH will probably get hooked on raising chicks, and I think we have enough already. We give eggs away all the time. I forget what kind of rooster we have, I have to ask DH when he gets home. He's grey stripped. He's beautiful, we were hoping for 1 or 2 hens when he bought 3 Barred Rocks, I think that's what he is, but they were all roosters, 2 went into the freezer this past fall. We cooked one in a crock pot and he was pretty tasty. A neighbor is raising Barred Rocks and he's supposed to give us a hen or 2. I'll let you all know when he starts.
Hi cbrandenburgh, thanks for your interest.
The only way I could tell that my eggs were fertile was after 5 to 7 days, you should be able to see a little black spot with little veins running from it, when you candle the eggs. I candle mine over a flashlight in a darkened room, (couldn't see a thing in daytime.) But it will look almost like a little spider. If after 5 to 7 days, you can still see what just looks like the egg yolk, it usually isn't fetrile. Those should be removed from the incubator. I usually cracked them onto a plate to examine contents (curiousity) not that I could do anything about it if they were at that point. lol. After a few more days, (when candled) the egg will become darkened on one side (like a shadow) and you can no longer see the veins or embryo. At this point, you candle every few days to make sure the air sac on larger end is not getting too big. If it is, you need more humidity.
I turned mine each time I checked the temp. and humidity. I put the incubator in dining room, so that I walked past it several times a day.
I always glance at temp, and look inside. Some days I turned them half dozen times (or more) some days maybe just three. Once when I first get up, then again before I leave the house, then again before bedtime. They say that they can get by with only twice a day, but I don't know. I think the automatic turners turn them at set times like every 4 hours, but a hen will shift her position and move them around whenever she moves. I think the main concern is to not let them stay on one side more than 10 hours.
It is lots of fun and worth trying. Maybe if you have too many, someone else might like to have some of them. Maybe your neighbors ?
I still have 4 more in mine now, due to hatch first of March. One day I looked and the thermometer said 103, and the humidity had dropped to 35 %. I sure hope they are ok. I don't know how long it was like that, but maybe a couple hours. I guess we'll see come hatching time. :-))
Well, the verdict is in. Out of the 4 eggs I still had in incubator, I got 3 more baby chicks. I would have gotten all 4, but did something really stupid. I tried to "help" one of the little guys out of his shell. He was doing fine, managing on his own, but I got anxious and pulled the shell away, tearing his little navel. He then bled and died. I learned something.....................I can't "help", he's gotta do it himself.
Nature has already got it all under control, without any help from me.
All in all, i think it's pretty good to get 5 chicks out of 6 eggs set. Most people I've heard of , say you hardly ever get 100%,........ but I would have
if I'd have left well enough alone.
Got 12 new eggs that I ordered from Ebay, will set them today. Wonder how they will do after going thru the mail. I will keep ya posted.
They are the Buff Brahamas Bantams.
oh, cool! i am so excited for you! Congratualtions MA-MA ;-)
yes, we shouldn't fool with mother nature... ;-(
Congratualtions on your new babys!! Thanks for all the information. We decided to try our own eggs first, before DH buys any online. This weekend he will collect the eggs early and see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for letting us know not to help them out of there shell, who knew it would hurt them.
im thinking about useing a waterbed heater for my incubator.wonder if it will work ,can anyone tell me what the tempeture of the eggs in a incubator are suppose to be.
digging_dirt
I would think that a waterbed heater would work. If you can keep the temp right at 100 degrees inside a styrofoam box, it should work fine. All you need is one of the incubator wafer sensors and a digital thermometer and some sponges, and you're good to go. Be sure to have plenty of ventilation in styrofoam box though. The eggs do breathe. Put your holes thru the box where they will pull warm air from heat source to holes. The cool air creates a slight vacuum that will pull the warm air to it, thus creating a slight circulation of air. You'll have to experiment to find the right combination of ventilation and humidity. If humidity drops below 45% very fast, you may have too much ventilation. You can either add more water, or close off some of the ventilation holes with tape. If humidity is above 60% without dropping, uncover some of the air holes. A couple days experimentation to get it all regulated, and you're ready. It's really not all that hard............if I can do it, anyone can.
Thanks PeggieK
i have a large styropoam cooler that would work fine.
Must get my son to help it would be a great project for scool for him.
digging_dirt
maybe i should go back to SCHOOL with hom and brush up on my spelling
digging_dirt
Yes, I thought it would make a great science project.
If you use a cooler, cut a square hole in lid and put a piece of glass in so you can see inside. I used duct tape to cover the edges of glass and just taped it over the square hole. An old picture frame that has glass can be taken apart and salvage the glass for this.
Thanks PeggieK
I'M going to try that, my son want us to do it.
I will let you know how it works out.
Robert
Have fun.
DH started on his journey with his egg incubater. He put 6 RIR eggs and 6 Leghorns, half on Saturday and the other half on Sunday. He candled them this evening and we can see 10 with veins so far, 2 of the brown eggs we didn't see any veins yet, but it might be to early. I can't believe how exciting this is. We turn them 4 times a day, DH said we are like 2 school kids working on a school project.
I started to look around on ebay and decided to bid on some silkies, I think they are so pretty. I really don't need that many chickens, just me and DH now at home, but I guess I'll just have to start giving more away. We did start bartering eggs for honey, love that deal. If I can find others to barter with I would'nt mind having 30 chickens, LOL.
Peggy how many chickens do you have?
How many do I have ? Too Many !!! LOL I started out with 4 hens and a rooster. Then incubated 5 more, then DH saw 5 cute baby chicks he couldn't resist at the feed store...................mmmmmm, then I bought a rooster and 7 adolescent chicks at the poultry auction................and I have 12 of the Buff Brahama Banty eggs in incubator now that I ordered on Ebay. If 6 out of that 12 hatch, I'll have 29 in all.
The fun of it is, that we live near an Amish community and there's a poultry auction once a month. Looks like I may have something to contribute to it soon. Maybe get some of my feed money back. I'll probably cull out those that I don't want and keep the prettiest and most productive ones. Anyway, I'm having fun. Good hobby.
Spent all day yesterday building more pen space, and a chicken tractor.
Good luck with your incubator. It is so much fun. Yep, DH and I were just like a couple of kids waiting for Christmas. We were so excited when they got close to hatching. Keep us posted on how yours are coming along.
I bought 6+ silkie eggs on Ebay for $7.00 plus shipping. I think they are so cute. I was bidding on a lot of 12+ but the price went up to $20 and I don't think DH wants to spend that much money on chicken eggs. Next spring I will ship you some eggs if you want any silkies, that is if I get a rooster with them and of course if they do well for us in the incubator, LOL. I think we will make a new pen for the silkies. The first year we had chickens we lost 4 through the winter, this year they all did fine, it was much milder this winter. I don't see any frostbite on there combs.
I do agree chickens are a wonderful hobby, after all the eggs are great and the poo is wonderful.
I'll take pictures when are babys arrive into the world.
We candled the eggs again this morning, 6 are now 7 days old, they are growing so nice. Out of 12 so far we can see 11 with life, one brown we can't see anything in yet, but the shell is real dark and hard to look through. We are going to be in the same boat as you Peggy, to many chickens. Oh well, there are fun to have.
I have 11 hens, 1 rooster, 12 in the incubator, 6 eggs on there way, will be fun this spring.
When we were young, my dad would buy us peeps that were dyed, we had so much fun with them, don't remember what my parents did with them after Easter, I'll have to ask my mom.
Out of the 12 eggs only 1 has shown no life. Last night we could see them moving inside the shell, they are on there way. I have some silkie eggs coming in tomorrows mail, eggcited!!
Hehe, more eggs.................they're addictive.
I remember the colorful Easter chickens. You could buy them at the TG&Y store in Okla City. when I was a kid. They were so pretty. They were like 10 cents each. Oops, that may date me a little. :-D I think they finally decided that it was not humane and made them stop selling them that way.
hey, ir emember TG&Y, and i am a young lil chick LOL. probably the inhumane part was sending them home with folks who didn't know how to keep them alive. i am having a otugh time with the chick i lost last night. it was my fault. he was doing so much better, that i put more chicks in his box. i think they just ran him down till he was too weak to want to live. i held him in my hand over the heater after feeding and giving him water. so before he died he was warm and dry with a full tummy, and got a good nap. i still think he should have lived, but i don't know what injuries inside he may have been suffering from...
tf
bumped up for hunterboy...
tf
I have one of those styrofoam incubators like the ones from TSC. It was given to me. I has a turner and has worked well for 4 years. My complaint is the small viewing window. I was always going to buy a new top with a bigger window. Last winter I stored it above a rabbit cage and noticed the stupid rabbit gnawed it all winter. She didn't poke through but made it ugly.
With the success of some of your homemade systems I was thinking of making a small plywood box with a glass front and "slipping" all my incubator materials in, even keep the small plastic windos to keep the top windows and also adding a light for viewing.
I teach preschool and it has been hard for all the kids at once to view the hatch. This spring I took out two eggs that were almost open and put them in the brooder (a large aquarium) so all the kids could watch that final moment. You should have heard them cheer him on and then yell when he made it. The kids are 19 mos. to 4 1/2 years old. They just love this event.
This might work but I am not sure what I will use to hold the water in the bottom of the incubator? Right now the styrofoam bottom has little tracks in it for water. I am also going to buy a new thermonator as this years hatch was poor and I think my temp. was off.
I too learned the hard way this spring never, never to assist a chick. Poor little guy was not coming out at 10:pm from 8am and three days past pip start. I think the humidity was poor. He lived with a bent neck for 5 days and then died. I felt so bad.
Diane/Mid-Michigan
Hey ya'll :)
Here's plans for 2 homemade incubators.
http://www.cyberquail.com/incubators.html
Hope it helps
Eric
I'm right now incubating my eggs and wondering when their going to hatch. I have a few sets of eggs that came in at different days. The first set is on it's 22nd day. So I heard it was suppose to hatch on the 21st. Now the 2nd set is do to hatch today. But for some odd reason I can't see through the egg when candeling them. I read in the manual, ( I the manual from the incubator when bought) and it said to get a shoe box or something else, and on the cap shoe box make a diameter the size of a quarter. place the egg there but before placing the egg you put a powerful light source in the box. Then close the box, and then the egg should illuminate. So basically I really need help on what I'm doing wrong. Plus I got the eggs ( which are now chicken laying the eggs for the incubator) from TSC. PLEASE HELP.
Eric,
What is the temp in the "bator"? If its below 99 degrees or so, you could have a late hatch. Also, do you know what your humidity is in the "bator"? As far as candling, are you shining the light on the small pointed end or the bigger rounded end and are you doing this in a darkened room? I'm in the process of incubating 108 quail eggs, due to hatch in about 2 more weeks or so (if I did everything right...lol).
Eric
I was able to candle mine with just a strong flashlight in a darkened room.
An egg that is filled with baby chick will appear all dark on the inside rather than to illuminate.
My first "candler" was a large tin can that I cut a hole in the bottom of and would take a lampshade off and put that on top of the shade holder,hold the egg next to the hole(in a dark room)
Crude....but it worked
warning
It does get HOT
Yep, it does. I did that exact same thing but got so frustrated with it being so hot. I was afraid I would cook the egg, lol. That's when I discovered that I could do it just as well with a flashlight in a dark room. It really does have to be dark though, so I did all my flashlight candling at night. I just cupped one hand around the light part and put the egg up to the hole between my thumb and fingers. Since it dosen't get as hot, it gives you more time to take a longer look too. I never was able to see thru the dark brown eggs this way though.
Bump
Peggie ~
THANK YOU so much for bumping this thread! It couldn't have come along at a better time for me! :-) I have just finished building my chicken coop this weekend, chicks are ordered and on the way (should be here Friday) and now I'm checking into building my own incubator and hatching my own chicks! I am SOOOO excited about it! I know without a doubt, I'm hooked and my chicks aren't even here yet.
Can any of you experienced chick moms or dads help me with incubator tips, temperature tips, do's/don'ts, and what is the best method of candle-ing? (sp?) I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone and thanks a bunch for the help! I'll post pics of the new coop (built out of recyled lumber and tin), only costing me the price of a roll of chicken wire. Frugal, I am! :-)
Belinda
Texas we made a incubator the heat comes from a light bulb you have a termostat which controls the light bulb when it reaches the right temp it kicks off we made it out of a cooler. Have been using it for a year works well have to keep a small container of water for humidty. Watch out for this have way too many guineas, chickens, turkeys, quail, lol I also answered your question about the feed when you were in the middle of building your coop. Put my 50cents worth in lol I don't bother candling let it just go I have 80% hatch rate if not more, If you can get your hands on a small fan and wire that in is way better than still air maybe a fan from a old computer? mark eggs with pencil so you know the date turn once a day no more every time you open the lid you loose humidty have to have that. If you open and close all the time humidty goes low chicks can;t get out of the shell there stuck and die and no helping them out either if they can't get out there weak and will die anyway. And maybe there not ready yet and you think your helping and they bleed to death trust me been there done that good luck with it by the way my name is Dana if I can help you with something let me know. One more thing stop turning eggs 3 days before there due so they can get in position for hatching
Peggy how many chicks have you hatched since the first time if your like me way to many . Hard to remember that those cute little chicks are going to grow up to be full fledge chickens
Dana ~
I really appreciate your tips and helpful information. As much of an animal lover as I am, I'm sure that I too will end up with WAY too many little chicks. :-) I'm about to make a trip to town to purchase all of my necessary supplies for the new incubator. DH thinks I have lost it! LOL Can't wait to see if I can hatch little ones - - - maybe they will grow up and work on my grasshopper population! Thanks again for helping me get started!
Belinda
p.s. Peggy, do let us know how your chick business is going! :-)
Texas what you need are guineas I have quite a few but no bugs they are the best bug eaters out there they don't mess with the plants but the chickens do. Chickens do damadge scratch them right out of the ground makes me mad. Guineas are great little watch dogs too.
I have read that about chicken literally digging up plants...............and yes, that would irritate me a bit for sure. I have their little world fenced off to where all they can get to is their 1/4 acre area. Hopefully, that will eliminate them destroying my plants. Now, about these guineas. Can you incubate their eggs just like chicken eggs? Sorry to ask such silly questions, but all of this is new to me and I'm only beginning to learn! :-) Thanks for your help Dana!
ttfn,
Belinda
texas you can hatch any kind of egg some just take a longer period of time but I ordered all mine from ebay. I was going to post a trade for plumeria for eggs. I have chickens different kinds and turkeys and guineas. The guineas don't start laying till may Dana