Hi there!
I am new here and also new to chickens!
We bought a farm for our horses, but we rent the house out to some people who keep poultry.
We let them keep them, but they have said that I could take the eggs if i want. The chicken eggs are fertile.
Today they went on holidays for 1 week. And while they are gone we can have the eggs.
I collected nine today, whilst feeding the horses.
I have decided that I might try to hatch a few, to give to a frend who is trying to collect chickens for her farm. She looks after them very well as i have already given her 2 chicks from another friend, and she did all the right things by keeping them inside till they are older, giving them starter etc.
I decided to put 2 in the incubator and see how i go. (my parents don't want to get involved so i cant do much better)
Its a homemade incubator and im not sure if i am doing it right!
It is a large-ish, cozy cardboard box, lined all over with foil. With a 15cm x 15cm hole cut out of the top. A large lamp inside and a foil dishy thing that i bought at a supermarket, i was told to do all this and the foil dish is a "reflector?".
I put a damp facewasher inside as well, to keep the humidity up. We are going to check the temp regularly, and turn them 4x daily (as it is the holidays, so i have time!)
But I have been told to keep the big fat part of the egg, faced upwards! How do i turn them?
ANY information and help would be great! I am just trying to do something for the eggs, as they usually get thrown out as they dont want anymore!
thanks again
kizza
New to chickens!
Hey, i think i worked out the rotation!
Do you leave the big side up and just twist the egg 90 degrees around with the big side still up. Like, twist it horizontally, leaving the egg vertical? because i thought that you leave the egg vertical and then move it 90 degrees so that it is horizontal and so on!
Any help is MUCH appreciated!
Just putting this in to keep your post near the top for a while. :)
Thank you very muchly! :)
I really need help!! I have NOOO idea! :P
Even though i got 1st for agriculture this year and last year :P
lol.
Oh well, if it works, it works, if it doesnt, it doesnt!
I just tried to get a thermometer, but WE DONT HAVE ONE!! :O
so i have to wait until tomorrow... :(
is there any way to tell the average temp?
I want to check before tomorrow!
Moving this on up. :)
.
Someone will eventually answer this post. :)
I have plenty of time people. :P
Where are all of the Chicken people?
Having a hard time believing no one is going to help us here.
kizza07, try this;
http://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-hatch.html
Home-made incubators can be tough to regulate, so you'll have to watch very carefully. This site also has a forum you can join, and you'll get some really good advice on specific problems.
I'm not familiar with any requirements to keep the big end up, but I haven't hatched in a while. I always just kind of pushed them "over", keeping the horizontal axis level with the hatching surface. I marked the oppostie sides of the eggs with A and B, and kept those "up" when I turned. Don't know if that makes any sense, but the website should be clearer:)
Good Luck
Another thing to keep in mind is use a pencil if you mark on them. Marker etc can bleed into the egg since it is pourous. To incubate an egg you have to keep it at an exact temperature. I believe it is 99.9 degrees...but not entirely sure. When I have turned them I just turned them. When a hen is sitting she cant keep a fat end up, so they just roll whichever directions she moves them. I would keep track of the days you start, and candle them every 3-4 days to watch any progress. It may also be good to start with more eggs since homemade incubators are probably much less likly to have a great success rate. 21 days should be all it takes for them to come out if all goes well. Good luck.
thank you! I am going to feed the horses in a minute and if i see any in the nest, they are going into the incubator! and im going to try to get a thermometer!
Thank you for all the info, i will have alook at the website now!
whoa! that website was GREAT!
hey, another question they're in with a 60 watt globe. Is this too big?
Not sure on the size. It is going to depend more then anything on the temperature inside. I would normally run it for a few days and monitor the temp before putting the eggs in as a slight difference could cause them to not develope. I just found out that my new colt who is only two months old has to be put down tomorrow. He was born with deformed legs and we have done everything possible. Casts were the last resort, and they just came off...and no luck. since you have horses maybe you can understand my pain. say a prayer for my baby, and I will say one that all your eggs hatch.
Melissa
ok, thank you for the info, that is terrible news about your colt. I do know what you are going through. Im very sorry to hear that. will be praying.
mcamden wrote;"I just found out that my new colt who is only two months old has to be put down tomorrow. He was born with deformed legs and we have done everything possible. Casts were the last resort, and they just came off...and no luck."
I am so very, very sorry. I can only begin to imagine how you must feel. I am in tears just reading this. He just isn't ready for life yet. He will go back to wherever it is babies go, to heal and rest. Safe Journey, Little One. You will be missed.
{{{{{{{{{{furry hugs}}}}}}}}}}}
yes, i agree. He is way to young to have this all happen. Pooooor little fella. It would be terrible for mcamden.
Catmad - I signed up for that site! It has helped alot!
Good, glad it helped. I must confess you've got me looking into incubators :).Please let us know how it goes.....
I didn't want to get into this, but for the sake of the hatching eggs, just a light bulb and a damp cloth and turning them isn't the invironment for hatching eggs. The temperature and humidity are critical even for the most avid and successful hatcher and egg incubator. You would be better off putting the eggs in your bra with a covering. It would provide moisture, heat and movement, All things necessary for a successful hatch. The CONSISTANCY of heat and humidity are the essentials. I would start with a proper incubator and look up all you can on the subject. Good luck
Carol
ceeadsalaskazone3, who needs an incubator?
I much prefer that other setup you mentioned. :)))
Carol wrote;"I didn't want to get into this, but for the sake of the hatching eggs, just a light bulb and a damp cloth and turning them isn't the invironment for hatching eggs."
Oh, I completely agree, but since it was already started, though I'd provide what info I could. I think it's tough enough to succeed with all the right equipment, and with all the correct parameters met. Probably why I've ordered chicks, rather than trying to hatch any (though I did used to send out eggs for hatching by others :). I'm pretty sure I'll become so intimidated by the whole thing that I'll be back to M McM in the spring.....
Got a question, if anyone knows about hatchery hens. I was told by a chicken breeder that it wasn't likely that any of my hatchery chicks would ever hatch set and hatch her own eggs. He was right, but was it just becuase they were battery hatched?
Your method of incubation has served me well with orphaned kittens :)
Margo
My girls are nearly 12 weeks old. I feed them Starter/Grower. In about 4 to 6 weeks I plan on switching them over to a layer ration. I have been treating my girls with oats I get from one of my local feed stores. They love the oats. I also threw in a piece of alfalfa bale which they pick at and have scattered over a portion of their run. Also I grow lettuce. Every once in awhile I throw a head in and they devour it. I feed them vegetable scraps except raw potato peels. They all seem fine. I recently purchased some scratch. I have been reading in some different forums about chick scratch which appears to be just regular scratch that is more finely ground. Do they need grit and are they old enough for grit? I have a 500ft net that I use to net off an area they can range in that connects to their run. I have a gate that I can close in the run. This is all movable including the coop which I do about every three weeks.
Catmad, any chick from battery hatching doesn't have any memory of the method. The requirement for getting a chick to grow up to be a broody hen is to choose the right breed for the purpose. Their characteristics in that department are clearly defined in the description of the breed and even then, among those, your hens are individuals when it comes to that, also. For instance, most banties are considered broodies, especially the flufffy cochins and silkies, but you will find ones that are and ones that aren't. Good luck.
Carol
None of mine were, not even the Silkies. Okay, guess I just got (as usual) misfits in the Broody Dept....No big deal. Thanks:)
excuse me... This is currently working, I signed up for the site that someone suggested and they said that i was doing everything right... I candled them and there was veins...
Cool! Kizza! Never stop trying. The thermometer is the thing.... good luck.
Carol
Oh yeah, I've got the thermometer now! lol sorry i think i must've forgot to tell you! Its reading the correct temp! 38 degrees celsius which is 100 degrees fahrenheit!
So thats going great!
cat mad ~ you had good luck with putting kittens in a damp washcloth under a light and turning them twice a day? lol~ I can picture you dutifully turning those kittens.
I think the thing about hatchery hens is that in general, it makes sense that they would be less broody, through "natural" selection. The hens that are kept and who lay the most eggs would be the ones that don't go broody and who hatch out the highest number of chicks. It doesn't make any economic sense to keep the broodys. Plus, the broody ones aren't laying as much so you have more of a chance of getting a less broody chicken's egg.
Now, this is all pure speculation. However, my broodiest hens, now that you mention it, have all been silkies, etc that did not come from a hatchery.
catmad ~ depending on how many chickens you have, one will eventually go that route, I bet. My big dual purpose girls never do, though. Silkies, a cochin frizzle and a bantam silver laced wyandotte and a bantam gold brahma that I have. Those big girls have just gotten it bread right out of them, I think!
BackyardHens wrote;"cat mad ~ you had good luck with putting kittens in a damp washcloth under a light and turning them twice a day? lol~ I can picture you dutifully turning those kittens."
I've done stranger things than that trying to save bitsy ones*G*. But, I was referring to Carol's "incubator" instructions...
"You would be better off putting the eggs in your bra with a covering. It would provide moisture, heat and movement, All things necessary for a successful hatch."
Okay, not the hatching, but they did stay warm...
BackyardHens again;"depending on how many chickens you have, one will eventually go that route, I bet. My big dual purpose girls never do, though. Silkies, a cochin frizzle and a bantam silver laced wyandotte and a bantam gold brahma that I have. Those big girls have just gotten it bread right out of them, I think!"
None of mine, 23 hens, over 7 years, ever did. Include Silkies, Mille Fleurs, Turkens, Lakenvelders, Hamburgs, and Frizzles, and a few others. I'll start again in spring, and hope for the best. Isn't important, really, and tiny chicks would just be something else to worry about:)
Hi Kizza07,
Sorry it's taken so long to chime in......just got back from vacation.
I built my own incubator and had great success. I made it out of plywood then glued styrofoam insulation on the outside walls. The top was made out of glass and I just laid a piece of styrofoam on top for easy removal for viewing. The bottom was where I put the water tray. Above that I built a false floor with wire mesh to hold the eggs.
The incubator was heated with two 60W lights in ceramic fixtures. I used a hotwater heater thermostat to controll the temp. I purchased a digital thermometer that also gave humidity readings. I did a run in for about a week and kept a log. When the lights went on I would note the time/temp/humidity. I did the same when the lights turned off.
I have to admit this thing ran great. I put 2 dozen eggs in 2 egg cartons, tops removed and just rotated the cartons 3 times per day. I tilted the cartons and leaned them on the sides of the incubator at a 45 degree angle. I do think the pointy end was up though. I was able to obtain a 80% hatch rate which equalled that of comercial hatcheries.
Ok enough of me patting myself on the back. I do believe the most important thing I had was the digital thermometer that also gave humidity readings. This was really inexpensive ( under $10 US ) and small enough to put at the same level the eggs where at.
JB
Hey JB, great work on the incubator! I built mine using an Omaha Steaks foam shipping container. It is 4 inch thick foam all the way around. I also cut out a section of the top and installed a viewing window which consisted of the glass out of a 5 x 7 photo frame. I also bought the digital thermometor, and put wire mesh in the bottom. I tried a 40 watt appliance buld, but it was too hot. I then installed adjustable air vents...but coudl still not get the temp low enough. I tried an aqauriam light...and that seemed to do the trick!
Now I have found that it is a little difficult watching the temp. How hard was it to install the thermostat? Do you think I could just buy a digital house thermostat and install that inline with the power cord to the lightbulb?
I wish I would have saw your post before last when I built egg holders and turners. The egg carton idea would have saved me loads of time! Hahaha...good thinking! Amazing how sometimes the simplest idea is the right one.
Hey Kizza,
I just wanted to move this up again and check with your progress. You're only about 5 days away from hearing PeePs!
Hope all is well.
JB
OoooOoo....I am excited for you! How are the chickadees doing?
Kizza,
Did your eggs hatch? They should of come out this past weekend! I am so curious!
No, thank you for following, but they didnt hatch. I am throwing them out this afternoon as it is day 25 today. I give up. I cannot get any more eggs, so that is it i guess.
Thank you everyone VERY much for listening to me and replying!
kizza
So sorry to hear they did not hatch. We were all very excited for you. Maybe you can find someone around who has chickens and a rooster and get some more this spring to incubate?
If you are getting rid of the eggs anyway you may want to open them up and see how far they had developed. It may be good to know if they were fertilized at all...or stopped growing at a certain stage. Just a thought.
I'd be interested in the progress also... :) Im trying for the first time and if it doesn't work this time I'll try again it's just tooooo exciting... This time around Im using a banty but next try will be a home made batar...