Finally!!

 So after so much trial and error we finally have hatching chickees. I did so much research before starting the incubating process but I guess it is a trial and error process.

One thing I can't emphasize enough is do your research. I had many fails because of simple errors on my behalf. One of my biggest duh moments was counting my days. (I count day one as the day I put them in the incubator, when day one is a full 24 hours in the incubator.)

Humidity is very important, don't let it dip to extremes. I found that having one hole plugged and all the bottom water trays filled kept the humidity between 40-55%. If it got a little high I would remove the other plug until it stabilized.

Another thing I hadn't thought a lot about but makes a big difference it you hen/rooster combination. I had banty roosters breeding with my standards hens which is not impossible but can prove very difficult. I received some eggs that are for a friend's farm and they are doing GREAT, even hatching 2 days early.

Happy hatching!

Eggs Gone Bad

 So today I moved my one viable living egg/chick to the hatching incubator. The excitement was very thick in my house, both kids were super excited even a friend little girl is counting down the days til its HATCHING DAY. After making sure that egg was settled, I went to candle my other eggs and I could smell a hint and something funky. I have tried to google this and even sniffed every single egg in there and the smell was coming from one egg. I am pretty sure the egg has gone bad and it was 11 days along. Here is a picture of the progress that is made day by day.

I have decided I will candle my eggs on day 5, day 11, and day 18 so I can keep track of the progress and get rid of any eggs that have gone bad or were not viable.

Here is a picture of an egg with the ring of blood, which means the embryo died and the blood has pooled. 

UPDATE

I took the suspected bad egg out of the incubator and put it in a ziplock baggy. I took my kiddos outside with the egg and cracked it open (thankful we didn't have to smell it) we saw the embryo had died, the yolk had broke and the shell was very thin and weak.

Just a few more days

 So I have done so much more research on the whole incubating eggs subject. Because of this new research I decided to buy a second still air incubator for the hatching stage.

Here are some of the reasons I decided to do this and I am going to also touch on a different method of incubating eggs called "dry incubating."


Ok to start off you want the temperature a stable 99.5* of the hatching incubator. I laid paper towels down on the wired bottom for easy clean up, but left the edges of the wire exposed. It will reach the humidity levels that are best for the hatching stage (it is advised the roll up paper towels and put them in the channels that are under the wires then fill them with water). It might take a couple of days but the humidity level should stabilize I leave one of the red plugs on top of the incubator out, just to keep the humidity from getting too high . While the chicks are hatching it will produce a bit more humidity but the levels should be in the range that you don't have to worry about the chicks drowning. You will want the paper towel moist (not soaked). During the next 3 days DO NOT OPEN the incubators lid. The reason for the incubator being a still air incubator during the hatching stage is sometimes a forced air incubator can dry out a chicken to quickly or even cause the chick the stick to the egg shell during hatching and as a result kill it.

Dry Incubating

 The reason many use this method of hatching eggs is the air pocket on the top of the egg can end up with too much water in it and drown the chick during hatching. For this method humidity levels should remain low for the first 18 day (until you move the chick to the hatching incubator) the humidity levels should not go below 20%, 25% is where you want it. I have found the easiest way to keep the levels low are adding just a bit of water daily (a teaspoon or two) through the red plug holes and keep both plugs open.

Something you will want to keep an eye on is the size of the air pocket at the top of the egg. If it is too larger or growing too fast, you need a little bit of humidity, if it is smaller (no bigger then when you started) you want to decrease the humidity.

On day 18 is when you will be bumping up the humidity levels. You want to to be at about 65% you can achieve this but the directions above.

HAPPY HATCHING

If you have any question feel free to ask.