The Elevator (As Billy calls it) is sitting on my plant table in the living room, most of the what nots that were there are packet away...
We were gifted a Little Giant and plugged it in to get it set.. Today we found 3 duck eggs and got 2 chicken eggs from our girls that I thought we would put in together...
OK questions
I see that chickens take 21 days and ducks take 28 days, both at temps of 99.5. Can I add both of them together in there?
(Answer )
I have found that to be a no. Ducks need far more humidity than chickens to hatch. Without it they stick in the shell. The chickens drown.
I wouldn't try that with a still air incubator. I have done it with my RCom20 but I have a backup incubator for use as a hatcher. I run the 'bator at 55% humidity for 18 days, I switch the chicken eggs at 18 days into the backup incubator for hatching in 3 days. G is right that ducks need way more humidity for hatching. The problem is that you need to increase humidity at 21 days for chicken hatch which is not right for the duck eggs
I was reading somewhere that Sharpies are non toxic, can I use them to mark the eggs with?
The duck eggs I found today, 2 are dirty and one is clean, do I have to clean them? How do I know if they are ok? It says to candle them after the first week, will that do?
How do you attach the temperature thing? LOL it is an indoor outdoor one and I am thinking the little wire handle looking thing attaches to the window sill, so would I attach it to the side of the bator?
I am getting better at regulating the temps, I am moving the knob ever so slightly and am sitting at 98.5 temp. If I can get it to 99.5 before I go to bed, and it holds until I get home tomorrow I will put eggs in there. Now I have the eggs sitting in a carton next to it, do I need to turn them in the morning? I know better than to put them in the fridge.
Ok that it for now, I am sure there will be more...
This message was edited Feb 21, 2010 9:29 PM
Incubating eggs for the first time... ALOT of questions
I have used sharpies for marking eggs, but I prefer to use a pencil if I can find one!
Dirty eggs: really poopy dirty eggs, I use a damp paper towel to clean gently. Sometimes they hatch fine, sometimes not. I'm not sure if it's related to the cleaning. Use warm water, not cold.
Candle after about 6-7 days with a very bright light (small flashlight works great). I take mine into a closet that is totally dark, so there is no other light. The darker the shell colour, the harder to see what's going on inside the egg. You should be able to see spidery veins in the developing ones after a week.
With the thermo-hygro-meter, I just set it sideways in a couple of empty egg holders, with the long side down, and it just tilts back and forth as the egg turner moves. I position it so that when it's tilted the right way, I can read it through the "window" in the top. I think I have also done it with it placed right in the center, between the two center bars of the turner, flat on the mesh stuff. The whole thing should be inside the 'bator.
I'd wait till I had all the eggs I'm gonna hatch.. put them in together. First hatch is too hard to do a staggered till you have a hatcher set up.
yes, turn the eggs daily while they are in a cool place waiting to go in the bator.
No need to attach the thermometer, just set it inside where you can see it through the window.
The temp is going to fluctuate, so don't worry unless it goes too high or too low.. I wouldn't put anything in till you are absolutely sure it's stable. You don't want to do any more adjusting when they go in..
I can't help with Duck eggs. I had some that were dirty, I washed, none hatched...
I used a rolling writer type pen.. I think I've seen them marked with just about everything.. LOL
Oh I just put the end wire in there, and set it so I could see it LOL no wonder the humidity never went up... LOLOL
Hi ZZ!
I wouldn't use a Sharpie--there are solvents in it that are pretty powerful, the egg shell is very porous and the embryo tiny and sensitive--saying that, I have won auction eggs that were marked with a Sharpie and some, at least, hatched. The usual advice is to use a soft pencil...you don't want to use a sharp pen or pencil in case you accidentally puncture the shell. If you are marking eggs to go under a broody though, pencils won't work, the broody's body and feathers wear it off....but you could use the type of pen ZZ is talking about.
If you just moved the eggs, they shouldn't need to be turned tomorrow until they are in the incubator. If you have to wait a day or two for the 'bator to equilibrate, just tilt the carton they are in up on a small block or something a once or twice a day in different directions or, if they are in a bowl or something, roll them individually 180 degrees. You just don't want the yolk to float over to one side and damage the embryo.
Hi Catsy!
MsJ what kind of thermometer do you have? Can you post a pic?
I will be waiting until Thursday afternoon to put them in, that way hopefully I will have 10 chicken eggs to try.
About the thermometer I can take a picture of it tomorrow but it is a dual one, and after I was told to put the whole thing in the bator, then the humidity went up and the temps did too...It is angled so I can see it and read it easy...LOL This sure is going to be intresting.... I want to thank you all in advance....
One thing, MissJestr:
There may be a degree or two difference when you actually put the eggs in and put the thermometer on them. The eggs raise the thermometer closer to the heat element and into a higher heat zone...I frequently find with my styro incubators that the temp spikes a bit with eggs compared to without. Just don't panic and try to adjust the temp too radically--just barely move the control so that the light just goes out and then watch it for a bit.
The temperature may fluctuate between say 99 and 103...if it is still air you want it at 102 on average. With a forced air, 99.5. Really try not to let it spike above, say, 103 with forced air and 105 with still air. You don't want high temps like that...but if it does spike it doesn't mean the eggs will not hatch. But you may get more roos...the pullets are more sensitive to temp fluctuations.
ZZ and I used to freak out over temperature spikes, but from our experience and those shared by other DGers, the average temperature is what you are concerned with, not the temporary fluctuations. I have had excellent hatches after the temperature went as high as 110 over several hours....which is suppose to be lethal.
OH thanks Catsy, you just ruined my day. I have used a sharpie on every egg I placed in the incubator, and now you tell me I'm not supposed to. How am I supposed to explain my mistake to all those seramas and others I have hatched? The probably will never accept my apology...lol. From no on I will only use a pencil, but only if you promise not to punish me for my mistake. Catsy your the best. Hay.
Miss J did you and billy see billy boy, if so what do you think of him?
Well, Hay...you have been very naughty.
Sharpies are not for eggs, they are for drawing a face on your hand and making it talk.
on the hand it will be darling. Catsy what does the rump of your silkie seramas look like, Mine all seen to favor the silkie, in other words the tail of the seramas are no where to be found at least as of yet. Hay
My little Silkie Serama may not actually have any Silkie genes, Hay...other than the one for unbarbed feathers. That is were the disputation comes in. Silkie feathering just shows up in some Serama lines.
Some people insist that this indicates that at some point a Silkie was used in the creation of Seramas...others that the Silkie gene in Serama is the result of an independent mutation.
I just took a couple pictures to show his tail...but I can't load them tonight. His tail is not bad--I don't know what it will look like when he is mature. It says in the Serama standard that Silkie Seramas are acceptable but should otherwise demonstrate excellent Serama type. On Feathersite they say this is actually difficult to achieve.
Here is an older picture of my guy....he has developed some since.
Got up this am and the temp was 94. Somehow our home heater went out last night, and it was really cold here with snow at 5 am. so I turned a few notches up and will check when I get home today.
I am using a still air Little Giant model number 9200....
So help me it seems every time one gets ready to hatch, all hell breaks loose. Wouldn't you just know it. Well miss Jester be sure you candle them day 6 or 7 so you don't have to guess for 21 days...Hay.
Ok I have something interesting I need answers on...
I have a McGyver type Computer Hardware guy I work with and we were looking over the instruction manual here at work when he walked by. He said that I could take one of the computer fans out of the boneyard and he could wire it in for me if I wanted to have a fan in there...
SO here is the question, Is still air better or should I put the fan in???
Thanks in advance as usual...
He even found directions and found a fan and said it is the same as a computer fan...
https://www.gqfmfg.com/pdf/2364%20turbofan%20kit.pdf
Forced air is better! If you can swing it.. I would. The fan kits that you can buy are basically just a computer fan. I didn't advise that yet, cause I wasn't sure how crafty you were at things like that. Catsy has had the same results, but my forced air worked much better than when it was still air. No more temp spikes for me.. sat at 99.5 without fail.
{{{Hi ZZ again! I think I disagree with you on this one--although not in the homemade incubators we used as hatchers....there the fan really did unstratify the air.}}}
Hi MissJestr--just to confuse you further!
Yes, you can do that. I did it for my homemade incubator and it worked perfectly. I bought the fan at RadioShack and installed it myself.
The question is, does it help?
I've read studies that suggest that with small, styrofoam incubators you really get as good, or better, a hatch rate without the fan. A fan is really necessary to distribute the hot air evenly in larger cabinet incubators, where it would otherwise stratify and overheat some eggs and leave other layers too cool. But the LG and Hoverbators only have one layer of eggs and the heat distribution may be closer without a fan to that under a hen than with the air blowing around.
When I sold my old styros, I sold the ones with the fans and kept the one without. And I would say the hatch rate has been as good or better in it, than in the forced air.
So you can definitely do it. And it will work as well (probably better) than the one you have to buy from LG to install....but with my own experience, I wouldn't bother.
This message was edited Feb 22, 2010 4:44 PM
I sure agree on that one Catsy! I still have a fan kit I think... just didn't install it cause it was so hard.
I did, however, get the LG stable by installing a fan.. remember how many failed hatches I had? I loved it after I put the fan in..
so I think it just depends on the situation..
If the temp doesn't stay stable, it's easier to disconnect the fan than to install it!!
The guys said it wont cost a cent, they have a good working one, and they will wire it for me. I found a site that talks about the diff between the two, and I was reading it. It said Forced Air helps with Humidity and since I live in a dry area, that might be to my advantage.
The only reason I had one that was still air is because the $50 fan I bought and installed from LG was defective and I lost the receipt to return it.
But it really did work fine without it. Chicks did take longer to dry off though.
Your sponges will dry out faster.. I had an old turkey baster and room temp water.. I'd just put a quick squirt on the sponges daily.. if needed
{{{Oh! We didn't tell her about the necessity of supplementing the water in the tray with wet sponges!}}}
MissJestr, the directions will tell you to fill the water trays in the bottom of the incubator in a certain order through the progress of the incubation.
It probably won't be enough. We are fairly dry here, but not as dry as you. Both ZZ and I found it necessary to put clean, new sponges, soaked in water, up between the wall of the incubator and the egg turner. Or just flat on the egg turner if you have space so it won't touch eggs.
In a forced air incubator, I had to resoak the sponges everyday and the water would drip out of the bottom of the incubator (don't put in on good wood furniture). I used hot water, ZZ used room temp--either way, don't use cold water because it will cause the incubator temp to drop and take too long to recover.
I know Claire was mentioning something to that effect to Grey on Facebook, something about sponges and I figured when I got to that time I would worry about it. But if I read this right, I need to start off with sponges not wait till the 18th day? I did not see directions on when to fill them up...HUMMM back to the reading table..
I think Claire told her on FB about sponges.
Dollar Store is best..
edited to add
I'd add them now, and learn how to increase/decrease the rh... it's better to experiment now, rather than when the eggs are in there.
This message was edited Feb 22, 2010 3:01 PM
So I can cut them in strips and lay in the middle? or blocks and put them on the sides??
Our girls gifted us with 3 eggs today, for a total of 5 eggs and 3 more days to go... Maybe we will have 10 by the time its ready to load...
You can just put the whole sponge (smaller size, maybe 3" x 5") on the egg turner if there is room. Or set them upright between the edge of the incubator and the egg turner. It won't interfere with the turner--but make sure you have the top of the incubator down and the sponges aren't holding it ajar.
You will get a feel for how many you need and how wet they need to be. It isn't the end of the world if the RH dips a few times during the incubation. But you do need the humidity to be very high (70%) during the hatch or the chicks will become trapped in the inner membrane and unable to hatch.
I see you turn off the turner at 18 day, is that when you increase the humidity? or do you keep it humid all the time? Taking the top in to get the fan installed today and then back to getting it ready...
I'm not sure.
I usually try to raise it the last three days, but others just do it the day of the hatch and it works well. Sometimes, though, chicks, especially bantams, will hatch as early as day 19...
Ok fan is installed and its a quiet one so I keep checking to see if it is still going... Since it is a computer fan, it will be quiet. Getting it ready for Thursday, that is loading day...
Question here, I put the whole thermometer inside and on the in side (box) it says 99.9 and the outside (Wire) says 98.9. I have it (the box control) up the egg holders to the side on the right side and the wire (outside) is laying on the rack on the left side. Which one do I go off of?
Sorry MissJ but i am not totally confused as to where your thermometer is at.... not that I would have been any help to begin with.. :) just poking my nose it for a bit.
No problem, Claire answered on facebook so I am going to post her reply...
Oh, you know, I would split the difference. That just shows you that the temp can be different closer to the walls of the 'bator than the center, and also the thermo is closer to the heating element because it's higher up than the wire. Either way you are fine at that temp
SO if that is the case, and the temp stays consistent tonight we are loading eggs tomorrow...WHOOO HOOOOO
lol ok.. now i understand where you've got it placed at. :)
Ok still holding the temp readings that it did a few hours ago, I am so eggcited... The eggs we collect tomorrow we will put in tomorrow night, Billy will help and he will be so happy that there are eggs in the elevator...
Just want to let you all know this is DRIVING me Crazy.. First off not knowing if they are even fertile, then stressing over the temp which I check I swear 10 times a day... Then I got eggs in the duck and geese yard that I am not even going to touch, but check on them every day...Goose eggs buried in hole, duck eggs not... ohhh ohhhh and Billy does not help matters, "Nanny do we have chicks yet?" got a big aquarium ready just in case, wont set it up until I hear the peeps, but then we can have chicken TV...WHOOO HOOOO will candle them Thursday and go from there...
It's so awesome to go through that initial excitement all over again, living vicariously through you MissJ! Love it!
After hearing all the tales of incubator-trauma, I have decided NEVER to hatch my own!
Good luck Miss J.
I agree... if I wanted to fuss with something this much, I'da taken up make-up. Yerks!
That's right!
Artificial incubation is only for adrenalin junkies....those of us willing to walk on the knife-edge of the perfect RH...addicted to the mind-blowing high of the PIP!
I don't need any more addictions!