Gonna get a hatch this time!

Third try, and i think i got it going good. Need to go back and check the temp, but the humidity is looking much better with a small salsa jar of water with a washrag in it..

I set 20 eggs from my Black Australorp hens with the Jersey Giant roo.

Well, some hens liked to sneak out, so there could be other roos involved, but lets hope not... either way we will be happy.

Hope to add the Jersey Giant eggs on Friday. Only have two hens [borrowed], so i need more eggs LOL, and I figured the best way to tell the chickies apart would be to have them not hatch the same day...

does that sound like far enough apart? i want them to grow up together, but need to keep track of generations of the crosses as compared to the full bloods...

Keep your fingers crossed for me. It was really hard not getting any hatches, but i think on top of the humidity problem there could have been a fertility problem. That won't be a problem with this roo LOL

tf

TF, I hope you get your hatches this time. My knees are getting callouses on them from praying for people to get good luck with their hatches. But, it's worth it. I might be asking the same when I set mine.

I hope you have a great hatch, too! When did you set the australorp
hen's eggs? The only concern I would have, is if the first
setting hatches days before the others, and if you don't have
time to disinfect the bator, the bacteria and egg debris from the
first hatch might be a problem. My quail hatched Sunday, leaving the
hen eggs to hatch today. I was worried about the need to
raise the humidity for the quail, and it being too soon and too
humid for the hen eggs. So far, 3 hen's eggs have
hatched, and I don't yet see any problems.
My palms are pressed together for you and your babies to be!:o)

may princess tammy have a wonderful week.

Hello all!

I was wondering what is the humidity level you would recommend? I am staying 57-65 is this to much variation? I have 2 sponges that i have to re wet every 2 days or so. Also if the temp gets to high for only a couple of hours the first time you close it will that kill the eggs? I had it set for 3 days and i guess when i was loading the eggs it got bumped and i had 105 2 hours later when i checked it, i had an alarm on the temp but the buzzer was off. OOPS:-( well its been 4 days when do think i should candle them? Little Giant with turner

Varying humidity early in the setting is not too critical for the
eggs. It becomes more important to keep the RH at 60%
the longer they've been incubating. The bigger the chicks
get in the shell, they create a little of their own humidity with
the evapo/transpiration thing going on. If too high later in
the process they can suffocate. It should then go to 70%
three days before hatch, and stay that way as much as possible
til they all hatch. This helps them slip out of the shells, and keeps
the lining in the egg from getting dry and sticky, which can
inhibit hatching.:o)
I have a digital therm/hygrom that shows the min/max temps
for a given time, and mine showed that it got to 105* in my
bator for a time, I don't know how long, and my chicks are
hatching out ok. Again, this was early in the process, which
I think has less of an impact on them, so I wouldn't worry.
I candled my eggs at 5 and 10 days, and saw vessels then
movement.

may princess tammy's thermo read right.

thx truest, i printed that out to keep by the incubator, good info!

granny, your knees and that floor are as blessed as you!

if i can pull off this hatch, ten i can order eggs instead of day olds, reducing my costs a bit...

well, i got the humidity up to 40%, and put the twenty eggs in. then after i got the temp back up, i added more baby food jars of water till i got it to 50%, then added the same number hoping to get it to 60%. so hopefully now i will know what to add to get it to 70 when the time comes.

i will add more eggs if the humidity gets up enough. if i can still keep it up to 60, i will put in the rest. so i have three scheduled hatch dates, March 11th, March 15th, and March 22nd...

thanks for the info truest! i have been drooling over the Meyer Hatchery catalog i got in the mail today. but now will focus on my own hatches. i just drool to dream so to speak ;-)

tf

TF, I'm gonna have to get a cushion for the knees. But, here's hoping and praying you get the hatch right this time.

granny

thx!

You're very welcome.

Your welcome, Tamara. I am concerned about you having 3 sets
of hatch dates. What will happen with this setup is the last
to hatch will have their RH too high for too long, near the end.
Am I correct all these are in one bator? If so, The Rh is going
to be at 70% for 11 days near the end of incubation for the
last group which could suffocate them. By the time the last
group hatches, there is going to be a ton of bacteria in there
that has been cooking in the damp for a long time, so the last
chicks that arrive have a much lower rate of avoiding getting ill.
When they hatch late with an extended time at high RH, their
belly buttons may not be completely closed and are a prime
entry point for bacteria. I set my quail with the hens eggs, and
the quail were due 3 days before the hen's. This meant I
raised the RH for the quail hatch 3 days prior to their hatching,
and I was pushing it to almost 6 days of raised RH before the
hen's would hatch. By the time the last chick hatched last
night, the bator was getting smelly with all the bacteria in
there. And, her belly button was very wet and is still not
completely closed, cept for applying 'New Skin' to seal it.
So, with a hatch dragged out like that, you run a high risk for the
last to hatch not doing well at all. The most I would do is 2
very close together, and ideally, it would be just one group
at a time between bator cleanings. I hope this helps in
planning?

yes, thanks. i have your fav book on my list LOL.

still only getting the rh up to 50% with only 20 eggs in there. will add more baby food jars of water today [there is plenty of room].

i will likely set the other eggs tomorrow. then perhaps purchase an incubator to use fo rthe other hatch. the one i have is on loan from a friend. she will want it back someday LOL.

i don't want any hatches in April, too many other things going on. i am making two hatcher order to arrive [i hope] about the same time as my hatches. then in May i will try another of my own, about when i order ducks, geese and guineas from the hatchery.

anyone have a recommendation on incubators? i will likely be buying one from a local farm store. i think i will rule out the styrofoam, from what truest once said.

think small, and cheap LOL

I cleaned mine today. I put it in the bathtub and gave it a good
scrub with detergent and bleach. The top I will have to do carefully
by hand, with the electrical stuff. It's drying in the sun, and then I'll
spray it with the disinfectant and not use it for at least a week
or two. I'm hoping this will cut back on the bacteria in a big way,
as I learned about the styrofoam after I bought this one, of
course. So, I don't want to give up on getting good hatches.
I haven't figured the numbers yet, how many birds I would
need to hatch to make up the difference in shipping chicks. It
almost pays for one shipment of 30 chicks, and I've hatched out
9 birds so far, so I need a couple more hatches out of it for sure!:o)
Have you looked at your store's bators yet? What kind are
you leaning toward, or have you got that far yet?

i found a complete hatching kit [one incubator and one hatcher] on ovabid for aobu t200 bucks. more than i want to spend, but maybe next year.

looking on eggbid now...

well, that ocmplete set was on eggbid. nothing i want on ovabid... but i kno wnothing about incubators...

will check back here later for suggestions. gotta run a few errands..

tf

wished i'd of know u were looking for one. about 2 weeks ago i got a sportsman cabinet. i had 2 hova still airs and 2 little giants along with 2 different turners with cmplete set and extras for one. plus 1 bator i sent with installed pc fan and an extra. i sold everything on ebay in 3 day auctions all listed same day. check byc forum alot of times on the buy sell trade they have bators up for sale also and eggbid.

thanks. i hunted around, and planned on shopping in Amarillo this weekend. then a friend who wants me to hatch for her mentioned she has two incubators [they are square styrofoam and she doesn't recall the brand name] loaned out to someone else. she want me to hatch for her, so whe will bring the incubators.

so, with humidity over 60% now, i will go turn the 20 eggs. tomorrow evening i will add the others. i just have to decide if i want to hatch the same breed or a different this time. JUST IN CASE this friend doesn't come through...

looking at eggs for sale at eggbid and ovabid. drool. i could spend a lotodough!

tf

i just now read all the posts above. yes if u are doing a speratic hatch u should do a hatcher. 3 batches are fine at a time as long as they are set to hatch 4 days apart and u have a hatcher. u don't have to clean it with all that and wait 2 week to reuse. if u hatch them all in the same bator alot could die but if u keep it at 65% humidity during hatch u could do a borderline dry hatch in same bator at same time. if u do that set up a cardboard divider or something so they can't nock around or contaminate the other eggs and put a paper towel down so faster to clean just pull everything up. once each set hatches do another divider and towel. take out babies and towel as fast as ya can to get it closed quick or do it through the window u loose less heat and humidity.

if the hatches are 4 days apart that allows 3 days to finish hatch and 1 day to clean it if using the hatcher. take the bottom set it in ur bath tub run lots of hot water on it inside the bottom and pour about a cup of bleach in it so it's all over the inside. leave it sit for an hour come back and wash it with a soft cloth and rinse really good. dry it with a papertowel and put it back together and be turned on for about 3 hours with no water it will pull the rest of the water out of it. it will be ready to go again. u can sun dry also or blowdry it. u don't have to clean the top because they don't touch it but u can use lysol spray to do that part if u don't get anything on the electrical componants. most things have to harsh chemicals in them they will eat the foam, fumes absorb into the pores of the foam or they leave a film that could hurt the eggs.

humidity for first 18 days is 50-65% and 70-75% last 3 days. temp is 99.9-102 degrees not over 103 in both bator or hatcher. that is the gqf and usda table reading on my instructions for chicken eggs. i have never had to add that much water in my still airs i'm not sure what kind of bator u are useing but pieces of wet new sponges should be plenty to bring the humidity levels up. u just have to cut them into pieces and wash off with hot water and wring a few times. then when u add use warm water on them and add some at a time till it is where u want it. even if u have to take out dry and add 3 times a day more wet ones opening it will not harm it if u are quick about it.

i candle on day 7 or 10 and take out any under developed or clears and not again till day 18 when moved to the hatcher. i don't leave babies in for 24 hours like most do once i have a few on their feet walking good i take them out straight to the brooder. if they are not fully fluffed i hold them under the heat lamp and rub them dry takes about a min or 2 then they can run around in the brooder under the light after i dip the beaks. unfortunately tomarrow when my silkies and seramas hatch i won't get to see them hatch like i did with all the foam bators. this is our first hatches in the new sportsmans. so i have no windows i have to leave them in and not check till hatch is over, ugg it's gonna kill me,lol. there is 80+ eggs in the one with 5 of them being seramas in the hatcher in bottom and the other is empty with about 10 silkies in it's hatcher.


hope some of this info may help ya,
silkie

Silkie, you talk about a "hatcher". What is that? Since this is my first time using an incubator, (at least it will be when I do use it) I didn't know there was anything other than an incubator and a brooder.

Thanks,
granny

I believe it's just another incubator set up to do the hatching
part, keeps the hatching eggs away from those still incubating.
I wish I had another when my quail hatched 3 days ahead of
the hen's. They drag their cracked eggs all over the place, and
bump and knock the others making a mess and spreading
that nasty bacteria. It would be nice to have if you have a turner
in place, you can leave it in with the inc. eggs, and just move
them to the wire floor one when it's time.

thanks everyone!

the set iam STILL looking at on egg bid is under 200 with shipping. it is two, one for just hatching, comes with turner & book. but i won't be setting ny more eggs for two months,so i might wait on it. it is a GQF from DoubleRDiscount

i will follow silkies instructions for what i have going, but use a new borrowed bator next week. i just got some SQ Rosecomb eggs tp hatch for area kids. they need something to do this summer in our small town. so those will take up one bator, & mine the other

DH better get busy!

Have you tried looking at the GQF site? I looked at Double R,
and while their prices were good, I found a better deal
directly when I compared prices from the manufacturer. I
found they were a few dollars cheaper. Sorry no link, but
their addy is gqfmfg.com.

Thanks truest, I bought my Hovabater from Kemp's Koop on eBay. I got a good deal but since is it a GQF, that address is going to be useful to me.

i checked it out. what i would get from eggbid isn't on GQF, so maybe it was discontinured? it is still a better price, believe it or not, unless they make up for it in shipping... saving that web site, and strombergschickend.com too.

They have downloadable instructions for all their bators
at their website. While I was waiting for mine to come, I
had to get my fix, and read all about how they work, etc.
They have a simple no nonense website, and pretty good
prices on lots of supplies.

a hatcher depends mine are different since i have cabinate bators. with foam bators it is another foam bator. when i used those i used 2 for incubation so i could do stagard hatches and 2 where set up for just hatching. the hatchers were set up about day 16 so they had time to regulate. they had the temp set and extra water in them and on day 18 eggs move from the turner bators to the empty hatcher that just had the thermometer and a hygrometer in it and that's where they hatched. after day 18 turning stops so they can get into position the only thing ya haave to do is keep the temp and humidity in range and add water as needed to kep it.

my ones now have hatchers in the bottom. they are a metal wire tray with a screen lid. we put down cloth on the bottom to keep the eggs from rolling so much and to keep it cleaner. the cabinat bator is set at humidity 65 since eggs are still incubating. the last 3 days they are put on the very bottom in the hatcher. they are to be misted 2 times a day with warm water for the last 3 days to make up for the humidity difference. the top part of the bators are shelf trays held in a turner each shelf holds 2 plastic racks. total they hold for bantam eggs is 354 eggs in 6 total plastic racks in 3 trays.

yes the manufactor sites should all have printable instuctions or u can call and ask for them to send a copy.

OK, thank you SO MUCH, everyone, for the advice. currently i am able to keep the old Brower humidity at nearly 60%. i have eggs set in their for 3-11 asnd 3-15. one the way are two bators which are newer, i believe hovabators. they have turners, etc, but the old style thermostat [which i am getting pretty good at LOL]

so once i have them cleaned, i will use one to set the next batch of eggs, and the other for a hatcher to prevent contamination in the Brower.

So we currently have 20 Black Australorp chicks, 10 days old. 20 BA/Jersey Giant eggs in the bator, and then added BA/JG eggs, pure JG eggs, and Buckeyes. I put in a few Leghorns to see if they may be fertile...

and, while i was at it, i bought some eggs at eggbid and ovabid. couldn't help myself. my leghorn eggs aren't currently fertile anyhow, so i fgure i can make room for some bantam eggs...

Black Rosecomb, Blud Splash Rosecomb, B/W Mottled OEG, and Self Blue OEG. All SQ.

So we are gonna raise some chicks for neighborhood kids and encourage them to join the local bantam club. if they can't make a place for them at home, we oculd come up with some more pens, or small chciken tractors so they can keep their birds here.

hey, the more the merrier, right? maybe i need to work a deal with the Local feed store for Bird Lover's Blend by the truckload LOL

gratefully!
tf