What is your Incubator HATCH success rate?

goatgal35 · Post by **goatgal35** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 10:29 am

I hatch year round as well and late fall through winter bring down the percent for the hatch rate, but springtime makes up for it.

Post by **Killerbunny** » Mon May 02, 2016 7:56 am

Well so far this is the hatch from he**. 17/17 fertile, 15 made it to lock down. I did not notice for 2 days that my probe had gone wonky and I was adjusting temperature wrongly. 6 hatched and 1 of those died. I more zipped and died and the rest all look to have died about the time the probe went iffy. 5 very healthy, bouncing poults though. I get annoyed that I didn't notice earlier and likely killed them. Ugh. I think the 5 that made it were in a specific position in the incubator and/or super tough.

Post by **Home Grown Poultry** » Mon May 02, 2016 8:06 am

that sucks KB! congrats on the 5 healthy ones though!

Poultryprincess · Post by **Poultryprincess** » Mon May 02, 2016 8:21 am

Oh that it a

sandwich Killerbunny!!!!

Colleen Kinzie · Post by **Colleen Kinzie** » Mon May 02, 2016 9:20 am

Ok. I've been reading this subject and a few others about hatching
I read about the temp bobbing up and down
Do all incubators not do that?
My new incubator Foam little giant with fan and digital readouts does not hold the temp steady at 100 degrees???
Maybe this is why my first hatch was so spread out over 4 days.
Ideas anyone
I'm at day 10 on second hatch now. I upped temp to 100.3 on digital readout as I know it's not accurate
I gave up on buying thermometers. Tried the human thermometer and it was closest to digital in incubator

Post by **Killerbunny** » Mon May 02, 2016 3:47 pm

I use Little Giants and have had good success in the past. You may want to use clothes pins or similar to stabilise the sensor so it reads in the same place all the time. The turner can make it move all over. My problem was a probe that was failing but I trusted it and kept adjusting.
Anyway here they are, I think they'll be the toughest, baddest turkeys in the coop.

Bayvistafarm · Post by **Bayvistafarm** » Mon May 02, 2016 6:00 pm

My hovabator sucks. Either that or its me. One chick out of 12 eggs that were good, hatched two days early. WLLady suggested it was too hot, and it hatched early. But then one hatched two days late. So, I got out the thermometer, and it kept reading 94F. At the top of the eggs. I finally put the thing in the freezer as suggested, to bring it down to 32F. Well.... I put it in again, and it went to 95F ish. So.... I upped the thing to read 101.0F. Then the thermometer read nearer to 99F. I'm going to leave it there, and try another bunch. This damn house is so cold (I will NOT up the thermostat to make eggs hatch better, lol), it sits at 61F or so. So cold, that the hovabator wouldn't even START warming, I thought it was broken. And, only used it last summer, for Guinea's and had a

ty hatch then.

So, hoping upping the temp a degree helps. I guess I will keep killing things until I get it right.

My Brinsea's are pretty much plug and play. The only thing I changed to make my hatches better, is dry incubate. With the stone on the house staying cool (mostly), and hot summer days.... the humidity is always mid-50's in that room. North room.

I wished that I had gotten a 42 egger one, instead of another 24 egger one. But... by staggering the eggs I can get sometimes 30 in them. Currently got 26 in one, and 27 in the other. bigger eggs with some of these girls.

Colleen Kinzie · Post by **Colleen Kinzie** » Mon May 02, 2016 9:38 pm

Shirley
That's what I'm trying this time too. I upped the temp by .8. Not by 1. Lol
Hoping this gives a more uniform hatch
May 11 is d day. So we will see
I've also killed a lot
But. When you think of it they just would have been eaten anyway. Lol

Poultryprincess · Post by **Poultryprincess** » Mon May 02, 2016 10:42 pm

Do you have your bator in a cardboard box?
( or some kind of Draft shield? )

I had to put the Brower Top Hatch in a big box which is about 8 inches taller than the bator.
When I bought my Hovabator a month ago, I kept the box they shipped it in.
I put the Hova inside the box & there is about a 6 inch lip over the top.

I have also had to move the bators to a corner & hang a heavy curtain so the room does not get as many drafts.
My place was built in 1870 & it's Impossible to make it draft free.

Thankfully my Hova seems to hold the temp perfectly....the Brower Not so much.

kenya · Post by **kenya** » Wed May 04, 2016 7:38 pm

I borrowed my nephew's little Giant incubator, I don't think he got a hatch out of it, and I can see why. I guess I'm spoiled with my r-com I just plug it in, set the temperature and turner and that's it. This one I'm constantly having to check the temp. We'll see if I even hatch anything, frustrating.