Hello, just a Yankee from Alabama!

[Airyaman]

Day 14 of my first hatch attempt using Chinese incubators: 2 of 6 Sparkled Sussex eggs are developing. 2 Appeared to not start, 2 others may have started but early quit.

My very first attempt at hatching using Ebay shipped eggs. If these 2 hatch, I'll call that a "success".

 

[Airyaman]

Phew. Went to check incubation today and smelled something off. Sure enough, had an egg starting to go bad. Pulled obviously but just a reminder to be on the "lookout" for off smells when incubating.

 

[Debbie292d]

Phew. Went to check incubation today and smelled something off. Sure enough, had an egg starting to go bad. Pulled obviously but just a reminder to be on the "lookout" for off smells when incubating.

I've never had a chicken egg go bad, but I sure know what a duck egg that goes bad smells like. Our whole house stunk until I figured it out. Wow those are nasty!

 

[Debbie292d]

Day 14 of my first hatch attempt using Chinese incubators: 2 of 6 Sparkled Sussex eggs are developing. 2 Appeared to not start, 2 others may have started but early quit.

My very first attempt at hatching using Ebay shipped eggs. If these 2 hatch, I'll call that a "success".

Years ago, eBay was the only place I got hatching eggs from. I'd stick them under a broody hen or I'd incubate, and used to get about 70% hatch rate. This year, no matter where I buy hatching eggs from, I got about 1/3 of them to hatch. It's the USPS, not the seller in most cases.

 

[Airyaman]

Years ago, eBay was the only place I got hatching eggs from. I'd stick them under a broody hen or I'd incubate, and used to get about 70% hatch rate. This year, no matter where I buy hatching eggs from, I got about 1/3 of them to hatch. It's the USPS, not the seller in most cases.

It's day 21 and no pipping yet. Hopefully soon! Temp has been fairly constant 99.5F. Cross fingers!

 

[Airyaman]

I have an incubator that is a pain in the rear because it will alarm if the humidity goes below 40% and there is no way to disable it or change the setting. Anyway, because I decided to go with the dry hatch method, it obviously alarms all the time (you can turn it off temporarily). To try to combat the situation, I put a humidifier in the room to bring it up to at least 40% in the humidifier. Anywho, I monitor humidity and temps remotely with some Govees.

In my lockdowned incubator, I notice the humidity shot up to 85% while the others were hovering in the mid 30s. I was like "what in the world?".

The first chick has emerged! S/he just came from the shell and obviously is very weak, but otherwise appears to be doing OK!

 

[Debbie292d]

I have an incubator that is a pain in the rear because it will alarm if the humidity goes below 40% and there is no way to disable it or change the setting. Anyway, because I decided to go with the dry hatch method, it obviously alarms all the time (you can turn it off temporarily). To try to combat the situation, I put a humidifier in the room to bring it up to at least 40% in the humidifier. Anywho, I monitor humidity and temps remotely with some Govees.

In my lockdowned incubator, I notice the humidity shot up to 85% while the others were hovering in the mid 30s. I was like "what in the world?".

The first chick has emerged! S/he just came from the shell and obviously is very weak, but otherwise appears to be doing OK!

If I had an incubator I couldn't shut the alarms off for under 40%, I'd just go with the flow and keep it at 45% but you've got it covered it sounds like.

Our incubators literally sweat when they start hatching, and yep, 85%. I sometimes crack the incubator on one side about 1/2" for just a few seconds, wait, then do it again on the other side. When others are pipped, I'd rather just let it rain in there if it comes to that, as I've dealt with shrink-wrapped chicks in the past and do not like having to.

 

[Airyaman]

If I had an incubator I couldn't shut the alarms off for under 40%, I'd just go with the flow and keep it at 45% but you've got it covered it sounds like.

Our incubators literally sweat when they start hatching, and yep, 85%. I sometimes crack the incubator on one side about 1/2" for just a few seconds, wait, then do it again on the other side. When others are pipped, I'd rather just let it rain in there if it comes to that, as I've dealt with shrink-wrapped chicks in the past and do not like having to.

Yeah, I went crazy and bought several incubators because I also went crazy with buying hatching eggs! I will probably end up with way too many chicks in the end, but I've already got potential homes lined up for what I don't want.

When this is all said and done, I will not be using that one incubator in the future. It's the Apdoe 18 egg incubator, and beyond the humidity it also appears to be the most inaccurate as to temperature. I reached out to the seller and they confirmed that there was no way to permanently disable the alarm or adjust the threshold.

 

[Debbie292d]

Yeah, I went crazy and bought several incubators because I also went crazy with buying hatching eggs! I will probably end up with way too many chicks in the end, but I've already got potential homes lined up for what I don't want.

When this is all said and done, I will not be using that one incubator in the future. It's the Apdoe 18 egg incubator, and beyond the humidity it also appears to be the most inaccurate as to temperature. I reached out to the seller and they confirmed that there was no way to permanently disable the alarm or adjust the threshold.

Sure does sound like a strange incubator. If it's got automatic humidity, then no big deal to just keep it up there around 45%, but if they're forcing you to do that or deal with their alarm, that's pretty shady. If you've got an independent thermometer/hygrometer, and you're going to be hatching this many again, you could use it for a lockdown incubator, so only have to deal with it for three to four days.

 

[Airyaman]

So my one chick has been out of its shell for 19 hours. I see or hear no signs of pipping out of the only other egg in the incubator but I didn't see or hear anything from either a few hours before #1 was born.

If the other does not hatch, this chick is going to be alone for a few days at least as I have some more due to hatch this weekend (Sat and Sun).

Will the chick be OK if I do things like give it a mirror or little stuffed toy and visit it to let it know it's not alone, or should I try to pick up a few chicks from Tractor Supply? Don't really like the latter option as I'll be swimming in other chicks before long.

I'm going to leave the chick in the incubator for a few more hours and hope the other egg hatches but not looking good. I'll then move it to the brooder, but again, it will be all alone.