Hi Folks! I promised to blog about incubating eggs didn't I? We fired up the incubator on Sunday, but didn't get it up to temp until Tuesday, so we loaded it then.
My incubator is ancient. I've probably had it for 10 years or more. One of the windows has a hole in it and it doesn't fit as tightly around the windows and the edges as it once did, but I can still make it work. Eggs will incubate at temps between 99.5 and 102. It takes approximately 21 days, so we should start hearing chirps on the 7th or the 8th of May.
This is a still air incubator. You can actually hatch with anything you can keep at the required temp. I've heard of people hatching eggs in their gas stove with the pilot light on, in cardboard boxes, etc. This is basically just a styrofoam box with a heating coil and a couple of wells on the bottom for water.
To get a good hatch, you need a fairly humid environment. At least 50% is recommended for the first 18 days with 70-90% humidity for the last 3 days. This keeps the eggs from drying out and the chicks from sticking to the shells. We have a thermometer that also reads the humidity.
Little chicks will also stick to the shells if the eggs aren't turned enough. We started out hatching without an automatic egg turner, but this is so much easier! I actually have 4 eggs at the back that aren't in the turner. We turn them as often as we think about it, but at least 3 times a day. We will take the egg turner out on day 18 and turn them by hand from then on. Wouldn't want the little darlings getting all tangled up in that thing!
The dark brown eggs are Cuckoo Marans and the blue eggs are Araucanas.
We have the thermometer placed so we can see both the humidity level and the temp without lifting the lid.
Later these windows will let us see the chicks as they hatch. Next week sometime we will candle them to see how many are fertile and are developing a chick. We will pitch any that don't show a chick in them. I'll try to post some pictures of that process.
God Bless You All!
~Grama Sue
