Multi breeder hatching thread.... Hatch-Along

[Derrick]

Hello all.  It has been a long time since I have been on this forum.  I have not hatched any eggs for about 3 years or more.  My 3 year old has never had the experienc of doing this and I decided to let him in on the fun of doing this.  The hens I hatched last time are still doing well and laying strong after 3 years.
 
I decided to order a lot of eggs and just have at it.  I got ordered three types of chickens.  Wheaton/Blue Wheaton Ameraucanas(a couple of olive eggs thrown in), Welsummers, and BLRW.  I got them from three different breeders right here on this forum. 
 
The last time I got them from Buddy Henry for my Marans and BLRW, Whitemore farms for my Welsummer and Blue/Black Americaunas, and Kat "Pea chick"  for my Blue Wheaton Americaunas.  I was unable to repeat the same so I looked here and found some really nice birds.
 
Here is the first two of 6 orders.  I should be getting 2 tomorrow and will set them up Friday AM at the same time.
 
My 6 y/o's second go around and my 3 y/o's first time.
 
 

 
 

 
 

I am going to document this hatch for anybody who wants to join in on this.  I did have to dust off my incubators and set them up.  I just hope that I remember all the little details from my prior hatches....

 

[luvinbluechickens]

Woo Hoo! Lookin good!!

 

[Derrick]

Thanks Emily!!! Your eggs came in looking great.

Here is my final batch of eggs from Brenda in MD. They are Wheaton/Blue Wheaton ameracaunas, BLRW, and a few mystery eggs that are smaller then the rest.

 

[Sazbaby]

Can I hatch along too??? lol I'm prepping my bator today and will be setting the eggs Friday as well! Will probably be Friday afternoon, as I'm hoping to get another egg or two in there if possible... This is my first attempt at incubating eggs and I'm already stressing out over the fact that I have 4 or 5 different thermometers and none of them read the same temperature inside the incubator!!! Anyhow, I've got a Hovabator 1588 (without the digital control center/display) that I got nearly new off of ebay and will be using an automatic turner... Sooooo we'll be looking at a hatch date of April 18, am I right?? I've got a bunch of mutt eggs: 13 (maybe more after tomorrow's are collected) from our Red Sex Link layers and our roo who is a Salmon Faverolle cross, and 2 from a friend with a Salmon Faverolle roo and 2 hens... one is a Speckled sussex and the other is a barred rock I think... she told me a few days ago and now I've forgotten... lol

We have chicks coming in May as well as some in the brooder now, I do a few silkies for fun and for broodies, and we're going to raise a small flock of Buff Orpingtons, Columbian Wyandottes, and Sillver Gray Dorkings for dual-purpose production, in addition to our existing laying ladies (most of whom are Faverolle crosses from our same neighbor mentioned above).

This will be exciting and I will try my best to behave and not intervene... I'm so bad about peeking under the broodies all the time, hopefully I can keep my hands off of the incubator!!!

 

[Derrick]

Sazbaby,

Of course you can joint in. Sounds like a nice variety of eggs. My thermometers are not all the same either. By I have two that read almost the same and I'll just shoot for a number between them. They are usually only 3 degrees off eathother though. I try not to open the bator unless I have to. I even have a fish hose in the hovabator that I use to get water in the trough. That way I don't have to open it to add water. I'm setting the eggs this morning. I'll post a pic of the set up.

 

[Sazbaby]

Cool!! I'm so excited... I'm going to try to get a little bit of tubing to do the same sort of thing for the water before I set my eggs, been meaning to find some for a few days now... I'll probably be setting later today but will try to post a picture too if I can figure out how to do it! I think I'm going to tie my hands and just let the bator work at the factory settings this go round and see how the hatch goes, like the manufacturer recommends... but it will be difficult to not mess with it! lol Fingers crossed!!

 

[Derrick]

Set the eggs this morning. Now to get the system to level off with the right temp. The other thing is the larger incubator's water reserve is kind of shallow and drys out in about 48 hrs. That means that I have to add water to the bator every day to make sure it does not dry out. The humidity is about 46% or so. I may have to add a small sponge....

Here are some pics.

 

[Sazbaby]

Pictures not coming up??

 

[Sazbaby]

Just set my eggs and closed up the bator... fingers crossed! Ended up with 17 eggs, we'll see what we get. 3 of them are very likely not fertile, as the roo seems to chase and torment the hen, but guess you never know... Filled the inner trough with water and put a little piece of IV tubing in so I can refill as needed without opening. Also left 2 of the weather station thermometers in there as well as the meat thermometer which ended up looking fairly accurate. It's pretty messy in there with all the wires! Couldn't figure out how to best go about setting the thermometers in there while the eggs are in the turner, I assume they're going to shift around as the eggs turn, and fully expect something to fall off and get lodged in the turner or something... good grief, always something to stress over! I think if all goes well until my first candling day, I'll take out all but one, or maybe all of them, give me one less thing to stress over!!! 21 days and counting!!! Longest 21 days EVER!!!

 

[Derrick]

Fixed the pics. I'm sure yours will go well.

I came home and found the temp at 100.9 to 101!!!.. lowered it down to get a stable 99.4-99.6 or so. I will keep an eye on it the whole weekend and make minor adjustments till I get is just right. I ended up with 64 eggs in there.... I have another at least 24 coming next week and room for only 4 more eggs in the bator. I'm planning on candeling the eggs after 7-8 days and throwing out the ones that did not start. I think that should be at least 20-30 of the ones in the bator. I just hope I can tell what is what after only 7 days.......