Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Oh boy.... the results were dismal, but I learned a few things.
Bottom line first, out of the 20 eggs, none made it to hatch.
3 were well formed and about to hatch; 2 were well on their way. The rest were either just starting to form or were duds from the beginning. I do not think any of them drowned; I think they overheated.
Given the incubator I was using, this is what I have learned:

• Because the thermometer was on the same level as the eggs, the temperature should have been at about 100F, not 101-102. Heat rises.

• I think the 40-45% humidity was OK.

• The big error was blocking the vents, all but one, following the article on dry incubation (unless I completely read it wrong). That raised the temperature to about 103F where the thermometer was. Therefore, the temperature above the eggs was hotter.

• Had I left all the vents open, I think I could have had the 3 chicks I was expecting.

Next, I'm contemplating using one or two broody hens that both want to sit on the same eggs, in the same laying box.
And/or borrow a different incubator from a trusted friend who has found that using totally dry incubation in his forced air incubator is working best.

I'm sorry you didn't get any chicks out of your efforts @KimChick and I'm glad to hear you're going to try again. I strongly recommend using broodys if you've got them! I love hatching but I will NEVER be as good at it as a hen (or as cheap!)

Ive never used an incubator. It seems very technical. Lol. At least you have a plan for next hatch. Me....i think I'm gonna look for a couple silkie hens!

Keep going @KimChick ! My first hatch I had 2 out of 18 hatch. I had ordered eggs from Alberta. They both turned out to be roosters (: very expensive hatch. I did reorder from Alberta and out of 11 eggs all but 1 hatched! I might consider using the same incubator. You know how it works and can adjust accordingly. You've learned a lot, so next time should be much easier.

Anyway, good luck in whatever you decide on.

Happy hatching!

Cheers Karen

which incubator? what room of the house was it in? is there a sunny window?

baronrenfrew wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 29, 2018 7:34 pm

which incubator? what room of the house was it in? is there a sunny window?

It is an old, borrowed, still-air styrofoam incubator. It is in the living room, farthest from the woodstove, by a door with a window shade that was closed. Many here said that location sounded fine. The room RH was 50%, the temperature about 68F.
So everything in the room was constant, with no direct sunlight, even against the shade.

You will have problems if you let 2 hens together try and hatch out your eggs together. They will fight over the eggs and break them, or push some out of the nest letting them get cold. Separate them and let each hatch out their eggs alone. I know some people have been lucky using 2 hens but in my experience it never works.

I keep notes for every hatch. I have learned a lot by reviewing them after.

i've never had luck with 2 hens either...but several times i've had good hatches with one good dedicated broody. So looks like the temp is the issue....so i wouldn't lose hope. when you put the eggs in can you tape your thermometer to a piece of cardboard or something and lay it right on top of the eggs? that way you will know what the temp is at the top of the eggs. i have one of those thermometers that is attached to a clear tough sheet of plastic that i can put on top of the eggs. it's really handy. then calibrate the temp at the top of the eggs.
since you had a bunch give up really early then those likely quite in the first week, and might not have made it anyways..but the 3 that almost made it - were they in a particular spot in the incubator? if they were further away from the heater coil, or closer to the vents that could give you a clue.....if they were furthest from the heater they would have likely had a different temp than the ones closer to the heater....
if they were closest to the vents they might have had better air exchange....
did you check to see if they had managed to get their beaks into the air sacs? i remember that they didn't pip.....were they turned so their heads were under their wing? was the navel closed? all of those things will give clues to when they died in shell.

Just going to say that I just started up the incy although I said I wasn't going to and the humidity is hell ATM. I am running a humidifier next to it because it's so low in the room I normally use.