Tips for incubation

[donteatbees]

Govee WiFi Hygrometer Thermometer... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BVLP9C5?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Amazon

Thank you!

 

[donteatbees]

Wishing you good luck with your hatching!
I tested the round egg theory when I incubated turkey eggs. Put in three “turkey trainer” chicken eggs.
I chose the roundest three eggs our hens hatched. It’s been a while, but I believe they were RIR and SLW cross. Two out of three were roosters.
They were great turkey trainers, though.

Thank you!
What's a turkey trainer?

 

[donteatbees]

Also, do you have a plan in place in case you lose power? This is super important to figure out Before you begin incubating eggs.

We have a generator in case the power goes out. Also, my house is quite warm because I have a hedgehog and they need to stay at 23°C (73.4°F) or they could attempt hibernation, which if not stopped in an hour, will likely kill them. He's an African Pygmy hedgehog, which are evolving out of the ability to hibernate, which is why they die. So if the power goes off (which rarley happens once winter ends) while we're not at home and the generator doesn't start, we'd most likely be home before too long. I've heard of eggs going several hours without power and making it as long as the lid stays on. But we also have at least one whole box of little heat packs for gloves that warm up when you open the package and shake them. So if the power goes out AND the generator runs out, we have that and I'd cover them and put them in the downstairs bathroom which is always super hot because the door is always shut and the bathroom isn't used bc it's our guest bathroom. And I'd light a few unscented candles under a plant pot since the bathroom is small enough to be heated up by that method. But our power rarely goes out this time of year, and when it does it's typically under an hour other than once or twice in the three years I've lived here! But if you have any other advice or criticism, let me know! Thank you!

 

[BoundlessLove]

Thank you!
What's a turkey trainer?

Chicks that help teach/train turkey poults how to eat and drink after they hatch.
Sounds like you have a good back up plan. Which incubator did you purchase?

 

[donteatbees]

Chicks that help teach/train turkey poults how to eat and drink after they hatch.
Sounds like you have a good back up plan. Which incubator did you purchase?

Ooooh, okay, that's cool! And good to know if I ever get turkeys!
Thabk you!
I can't remember the exact model. My mum got it for me as a gift yesterday. I attached a screenshot of the one I think it is. It looks the same from the breif few seconds I saw it when she showed me.
https://a.co/d/6XRXdAv < link to the incubator in the screenshot. I'll ask her to text me the link when she's off work!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on using an incubator.

Collect all the eggs you want to hatch and start them at the same time so they should hatch about the same time.

Only set relatively clean eggs. Light smears are OK but any clump of dirt or poop on them is bad. Do not wash the eggs so you do not disturb the protective coating on them. Eat the dirty ones, do not try to hatch them. Wash your hands before handling the eggs. Especially get any oil off.

Incubate them pointy end down. If you can't tell with your rounder eggs which is the pointy side, candle them and put the air cell up.

When you get your incubator read the instructions. I cannot find the manual online.

Use separate instruments to calibrate your incubator for temperature and humidity. Even the really expensive ones often come with wrong factory presets so make sure it is working correctly.

That is a forced air (it had a fan) so you can take temperature and humidity anywhere in there. If it were a still air it would be more complicated.

Before you put any eggs in it, run it for a while to get a good feel for how it handles temperature and humidity. I don't know how that incubator handles humidity but stabilize it on your incubating humidity and then stabilize it on your lockdown humidity so you know how to do that.

I don't know how you go into lockdown with that incubator. That's when you stop turning the eggs and raise the humidity for hatch. I'd want to know how to set it up for hatch before you start just so you are ready.

With that incubator you should not have to open it at all except at lockdown. There is nothing you can do that will improve your hatch rate if you open it. With mine I have to open it to add water. That does not mean to not candle the eggs. As long as you don't drop an egg and crack it you can safely open it and candle. I candle my eggs at Day 7 and again at Day 18 when I go into lockdown. It does not help them hatch but on Day 18 I remove any that I know will not hatch so it is less confusing to me when I watch them hatch.

Before they hatch a healthy chick absorbs the yolk. They can live off of that yolk for over 72 hours without eating or drinking so you do not need to remove any before that 72 hour period is up unless you see an emergency. If I have an emergency I will open the incubator, but opening it does not help any during a normal hatch and can do some harm.

I've heard that one old wives tale about lower temps = more hens (though lower hatch rate bc the roos just don't hatch). I'm wondering, if anyone has tried this and been successful, what "formula" for temps and time you used?

I'm going to be testing the round vs. pointy egg thing too, which isn't much of a test as most of my eggs are rounder anyway.

Nothing wrong with having fun with it. If either worked I think it would be pretty common practice in the hatcheries so maybe don't expect a lot but it will still be fun to try.

Good luck and welcome to the adventure.

 

[donteatbees]

Collect all the eggs you want to hatch and start them at the same time so they should hatch about the same time.

Only set relatively clean eggs. Light smears are OK but any clump of dirt or poop on them is bad. Do not wash the eggs so you do not disturb the protective coating on them. Eat the dirty ones, do not try to hatch them. Wash your hands before handling the eggs. Especially get any oil off.

Incubate them pointy end down. If you can't tell with your rounder eggs which is the pointy side, candle them and put the air cell up.

When you get your incubator read the instructions. I cannot find the manual online.

Use separate instruments to calibrate your incubator for temperature and humidity. Even the really expensive ones often come with wrong factory presets so make sure it is working correctly.

That is a forced air (it had a fan) so you can take temperature and humidity anywhere in there. If it were a still air it would be more complicated.

Before you put any eggs in it, run it for a while to get a good feel for how it handles temperature and humidity. I don't know how that incubator handles humidity but stabilize it on your incubating humidity and then stabilize it on your lockdown humidity so you know how to do that.

I don't know how you go into lockdown with that incubator. That's when you stop turning the eggs and raise the humidity for hatch. I'd want to know how to set it up for hatch before you start just so you are ready.

With that incubator you should not have to open it at all except at lockdown. There is nothing you can do that will improve your hatch rate if you open it. With mine I have to open it to add water. That does not mean to not candle the eggs. As long as you don't drop an egg and crack it you can safely open it and candle. I candle my eggs at Day 7 and again at Day 18 when I go into lockdown. It does not help them hatch but on Day 18 I remove any that I know will not hatch so it is less confusing to me when I watch them hatch.

Before they hatch a healthy chick absorbs the yolk. They can live off of that yolk for over 72 hours without eating or drinking so you do not need to remove any before that 72 hour period is up unless you see an emergency. If I have an emergency I will open the incubator, but opening it does not help any during a normal hatch and can do some harm.


Nothing wrong with having fun with it. If either worked I think it would be pretty common practice in the hatcheries so maybe don't expect a lot but it will still be fun to try.

Good luck and welcome to the adventure.

I've hatched with a hen before, so I thankfully knew about the first bit! And I always store eggs pointy end down (though most of mine are quite round so it sometimes takes a good look haha). Though washing my hands first is new information, I'll make sure to do that now, thank you!

I'll candle them regardless to make sure there's no little cracks. And I'll read those instructions like my life depends on it! I've also got a wifi connected hydrometer (or whatever the humidity and temperature one is called) so that if anything goes wrong at work I'll get notifications on my phone and text anyone at home to see what's wrong, or just leave and fix it myself. I'm also going to get buying some gauges for humidity and temperature that (as far as I know) aren't battery powered that are made for reptiles from my local chicken supply store. I'm buying two different ones. So in todal I'll have three different devices to check the incubators temperature and humidity.

And I'll make sure to run it for a day and play around with it to get a good feel for it. Then after that only open it to candle them. I lile to candle on day 4 for lighter eggs because then I can see the beginning of development. Then again on day 7, 10, 14 and then I'll do day 18 too before lockdown. I just don't want rotten eggs exploding in my incubator.

I'm also writing the egg weight in grams on each egg to make sure they lose enough weight (I read and article on here saying they should lose 11%-13% of the weight by the time they hatch). I also write numbers on eggs and an "x" and an "o" so I can see if my rotator stops rotating them.

I don't have high expectations for the whole experiments. But even if they work, I'm guessing hatcheries don't bother because it's probably easier to sell them as straight-run or "accidentally" give a male to someone who ordered all female chicks. That and it lowers hatch rates, which could impact sales because they're wasting space that could be filled. I'm sure they're waiting for a accurate more scientific way. I hear some people in Germany are working on making a device that sexes eggs before they're hatched. I hope they get that done soon because it would be great for hatcheries (though probably too expensive for hobby farmers).

Thank you so much for all the tips! Let me know if anything in my reply sounds like a bad idea or if I'm missing something in that plan. I'll definitely be coming back to look at your comment before I put the eggs in!