The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: piggy on October 21, 2008, 09:27:01 pm
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We have some chickens and thought it would be nice to try and hatch some eggs ourselves as we dont have a cockeral we sent away for some eggs,we
followed the instructions that came with the incubator turned them twice a day waited but none hatched so we send off a new lot of eggs and this time i have candled them at day 8 but on the pictures i have seen on the internet they are not going to hatch either my question is
Is this normal to take a few times to get some to hatch or do you think there could be a problem with the incubator
Any advice would be great
Many thanks
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Don't know anything about incubators but if you put chick eggs in it now and they hatch it is going to be a nightmare keeping them warm as we are going into winter - unless of course you are in sunny Spain ;)
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Hello piggy, wifey sent away for some unusual bantam eggs that were not cheap or should that be cheep, both batches were a complete failure this was following very careful instructions on incubater, some of the eggs came from ebay.I began to smell a rat so took a batch of eggs from our black rocks with cockerel and tried them out. we had pretty much 100% success not just 1 batch but all eggs from our own chickens. Im not saying all eggs are duff from mail order or ebay but we were very dissapointed. hope this is helpful..........................neil :chook: :chook: :chook: :chook: :chook: :chook: :chook: :chook:
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Thanks garden cottage for your quick reply
yes both the lots of eggs we had were from ebay but i did check and they both had a high hatch rate.
We did have a cockeral but had to send him back as he started crowing from 3am to which my border collies took a dislike to and would not stop barking,maybe ive just been unlucky but am starting to wonder is it worth it.
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My friend's experience using posted eggs has always been disappointing.
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I tried partridge and bantams from Ebay - no success with either, I gave 6 bantams eggs to my friend and she managed to hatch 2 but one was so small it only lived a short time. The other is still going I think.
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I know you say you followed the instructions to turn them twice a day, but I have always been told, and it is written in the insructions that came with my French incubator, that you turn the eggs 3 times / 5 times/ 7 times etc. It must be an odd number. I always do 3 times and it has always worked for me.
I agree though, it is far too cold try incubating eggs now - wait until the spring.
Kate :chook: :chook:
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I've not had much luck with posted eggs. Last two times I have followed instructions to the letter and had one chick from 10 each time.
I don't think this is a good time to try though - Spring should be better - when the sap is rising, so to speak.
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To be honest, we have an incubator, and haven't had a great success rate with it, even with our own eggs. I still find a broody hen the best for hatching eggs. We used to have a chicken that was the most fantastic mother, she lived until she was 12, and she would happily rear 3 or 4 broods a year. She would rear anything, we sometimes used to put Indian runner duck eggs under her- you should have seen her by the time they were 4 weeks old, she'd be perched over them spreading her wings out trying to cover them all! So funny, I still miss her though.
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You have to be really careful buying eggs off ebay. There are some good sellers and I have had 100% hatch off some. I have also been the victim of a scam >:( The thing is that it is that it is the end of the season and you would be better waiting until about March as fertility rates will be higher. If the eggs are clear when you candle them they are not fertile and it is nothing to do with your incubator. I have a very basic incubator, I turn my eggs on the whole 3 times a day but occassionally twice. Next time you want to buy or hatch eggs PM me. I will look at the eggs for sale and tell you what I think and also give you specific instructions about your incubator. Tell me the make of the one you have. :) :chook:
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I haven't tried eggs from e-bay, but we had a small incubator where we hatched quail eggs from our own quail with reasonable success. We did have problems initially though, don't know whether it was because it was a cheap and small incubator, but we had a thermometer in the incubator which showed a lot of variation in temperature through the day, (central heating coming on etc). The person who sold us the incubator recommended putting it in a room where the temperature was more regular, which meant the cellar. This sorted the problem out, but the chicks did squint a lot when they hatched as they weren't used to the light! They were very cute, like little bumble bees on legs! We were told to turn them twice a day, which we did, but some of them had not deformed, but "scrunched up" feet, I wondered if it was because they were in the same position for too long? :chook:
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Re ebay or any posted eggs, I wonder if it is the posting that damages them. I have had some success, my friend twice spent a fortune on bantam silkie eggs from ebay, no success. She used a manual incubator first time and an automatic second. Both incubators had been used to successfully hatch home laid eggs. Chicken lady would it be ok to ask you next time (spring) we buy eggs off Ebay?
Thanks HM
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we ave been told the xrays used to check the post up to here caused the roblem but it could be the bad handling in the post system.
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I have a very basic incubator. The temp is set for 37 degrees. I usually start eggs off in Feb/March. It is situated in the pantry where there is no central heating. It is a manual turn and I on the whole turn them 3 times a day. I sometimes forget and hence they get turned twice. I stop turning 3 days before hatching and put a small pot of water in to increase the humidity. I have bought many eggs off ebay and range from none hatching to 100% hatch. Postage can affect the eggs. Once eggs are over 1 week old the fertility is reduced. I will gladly look at sellers on ebay and PM with what I think - just ask. :) :chook: I leave the chicks in the hatcher for 24 hours and then move them under a brooder lamp. Chicks do sometimes have deformed feet initially and find it difficult to stand but they generally improve over the first 24-48 hours. :chook: