Incubation screw ups and miracles

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:22 am

Ontario Chick wrote:QR_BBPOST I can see lots of finished cutting boards in your future Tom
Before you stress out too much, attention to detail is needed for success in hatching, and you have been gifted with that gene.
Also keep in mind Jan hatches hers in a frying pan covered with a sweat shirt (or something similar to that

It's a pyrex cake dish, but I'm sure a frying pan would work just as well :D It was an invention born out of necessity--a raccoon had killed a broody duck and wrecked her nest of 14 eggs, only three eggs left and all three badly cracked with about a week of incubation to go. I remembered a time when I was a kid, when I finished incubating some abandoned eggs with a stainless mixing bowl and a desklamp... I put some scotch tape on the eggs, put them in my red-necked setup (no thermometer at all at the time, tried to judge correct heat by feel) and two of the three eggs made it all the way, and hatched two healthy ducklings! Bolstered by this success, I figured, how hard could it be? And promptly tried to hatch several batches of eggs start to finish without a thermometer. Didn't work out, I don't know how many dozens of eggs I killed. Threw a cheapie thermometer in there and started getting some hatches! I learned that the flame on the lamp had to be checked every two to four hours, night and day, for best success, and that I had to periodically shuffle eggs around to avoid any staying in hot/cold spots. I also learned I HAD TO, HAD TO wash my hands thoroughly before handling eggs to turn them or to candle them.
Right NOW, though, I am using a borrowed still air Little Giant P.O.S., which needs to be checked nearly as often. I've hatched two small batches out of it so far, and the hatch rate is about the same as the open flame method :D...but it fits hella more eggs than a cake pan! I think now that I'm getting more confident with it (batch three, I think I put 20 eggs in there, due May 1) I think next round I will fill it if the hens co-operate. I loathe giving money to hydro, so if I'm going to continue using the power-sucking p.o.s., I might as well make it worth my while. At any rate, almost any incubator (or flame heated cake pan lol) is going to come with a learning curve. I've been hatching eggs for, I think, 3 or 4 years now? And I'm still learning every time I set eggs. I've heard rumours of set-it-and-forget-it incubators, but I also hear you have to take out a second mortgage to buy one. Or, use a broody hen...but even they don't always get it right!!!

Post by **thegawd** » Mon May 02, 2016 6:58 am

I forgot to lock down this last batch... somehow! they were zipping in the egg trays... moved asap to hatcher. so far so good. man I hate waking up in a panic!

Post by **thegawd** » Mon May 02, 2016 7:18 am

the light brown leghorns are always first to pip, there must be ten pipped and one zipped half way... it could be shrink wrapped! hoping the increased humidity will un stick it.

Post by **Killerbunny** » Mon May 02, 2016 7:44 am

Way to go.

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Tue May 10, 2016 11:04 pm

Tom's hatching adventures reminded me of one of mine,
Hydro went out in the middle of a lockdown, some chicks just started to hatch and no warning...no hydro
By some planning fluke we are on a different circuit then our neighbors around the corner, packed up the incubator and hauled it over to their garage, where it sat on a stump presided over by a really big Husky. With some serious trepidations I left it there, assured by the neighbor that the dog wouldn't hurt a fly (flies wasn't what I was worried about) and 4 hours later hydro came back on went to get the incubator, most of the chicks were hatched already and when it was time to remove them to the brooder I realized there wasn't a drop of water in the tray. Must have splushed out during the drive over to neighbors or back home.
We did get a generator after that adventure.

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Sat May 21, 2016 2:56 pm

Let a mother hen out to get exercise while hatching, closed the pen, had a brain freeze and went to Ottawa totally forgetting what I did. Was getting ready for bed that night when it hit me as to what I did. If looks could kill I always remember the way the hen stared at me laying by the gate when I walked in as if to say "congratulations on being such an idiot". It was a cold late fall night and I was gone for over 13 hours. With only a week to go I left them with her and they all hatched plus they were either all hens or hens with one rooster.

G Williams · Post by **G Williams** » Wed May 25, 2016 10:58 am

I had a broody set behind a door with a piece of plywood blocking her in. 2 weeks in she flew over the plywood and by the time I found out the eggs were cold. 60% hatch.

Post by **WLLady** » Fri May 27, 2016 1:09 pm

i had a fortunate misfortune i guess it would class as....the last custom hatch i was doing...turns out it was a "best guess" on the part of the egg labellers as to what eggs i got. there were buff ducks and there were muscovies. i cannot tell those eggs apart (being the first time i'd seen duck eggs, let alone incubated them)-so i was very happy to see they were all labelled

so i get online, look everything up....into the bator they go. then day 25 i lock down the buff ducks, dutifully leaving the muscovies for another week in the incubator. things start pipping in the hatcher, and it's all great, i take a pile of ducklings to the brooder, come back up to empty the hatcher and i can still hear peeping...and all the eggs in the hatcher have already hatched! thinking one might have fallen into the bottom i am searching the hatcher...nothing....but i can hear it...real faint...peeep....
so i open up the incubator, and viola, 2 buff ducks sitting in the bottom of the incubator and a pile of pipped eggs! argh! so quick moved all the pipped eggs into the hatcher...hubby putting them in while i'm candling and practically shoving them at him....thinking "shrink wrap!" all the way....
fire up the hatcher again, water, and only lost 2....and ended up with more buff ducks than i started with buff duck eggs! LOL.
very funny.....and mad scramble....so glad my hubby was home! the extra pair of hands helping was fantastic.

argosgirl · Post by **argosgirl** » Sun May 29, 2016 9:20 am

My first ever hatch was this year and the ice storm hit with about a week left before the hatch date. I panicked immediately and almost brought the incubator out by the woodstove for heat, before I was reminded that we had a power inverter in the boat and a couple fully charged boat batteries in the basement. We cycled between the two batteries, charging them with the truck when needed and changing them when inverter beeped (or more like it shrieked - it's got a loud alarm for low battery and poor connection). As we were about to hit a third day without power, we gave in and bought a generator. No worries after that, except the confusion kept me from adding water to the incubator for a few days, so then I worried about humidity. No need to worry, those Brinsea incubators are pretty foolproof. Ended up with 5 of 6 hatching so I was happy.