The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: whitby_sam on January 17, 2010, 11:29:28 am
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We've been thinking about getting an incubator for a while now but there are just so many to choose from we don't know where to start. We're also a bit confused by whether to get one that's fully automatic with all the bells and whistles or to just settle for a cheap £25 one and turn the eggs ourselves.
Can anyone recommend a particular make/model or tell me if more money equals a higher success rate?
We want to hatch our own fertile Maran eggs as well as ducks and possibly geese.
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If you get one that does turn the eggs automatically it will make it so much easier, but it depends on your time available and budget. We have a Brinsea Octagon 20 advance, but not sure if they still make that model. We also bought it in late summer, which meant that we managed to get the price reduced by a bit, as it was out of season. It works very well, and doesn't need any maintenance other than cleaning.
Quite often game dealers have quite a good selection, and also refurbished ones for sale, from customers (pheasant rearers) that have up-graded.
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Hi i just got a Brinsea Eco 20 which has an attached cradle, i have just hatched 11 khaki campbells and it was my first go, i did make a mistake at the beginning and added to much water, but still got 11 out of the 15 fertile eggs i had....
It is so much fun watching them hatch and how quickly they are up and about. I'm really have no experience but it has been a great result. The cradle does all the turning for you so the only thing i really had to do was candle and wait, wait , wait..
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get an auto with humidity control. it will pay for itself with better hatch rates.
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Can you please expand on the best place to get one? I don't mind travelling (I'm in North Yorks) for the right one but buying new seems so expensive! Ideally I'd like to spend no more that £100 (although the missus probably thinks that's too much) which should leave me with about the same for materials to make a brooder box and to buy feeder, drinker, heat lamp, chick crumbs, eggs etc...
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dont get a cheapy..... lots of good ones about, brinsea auto cradle, get and auto you will soon get fed up with turning eggs 2 times a day... watch ebay prices they can be dearer than new, look on ebay for new then phone the brinsea dealer for a price match.
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Unless you're happy to commit to turning eggs 3x plus a day, at least get an one that turns itself. I started with a Brinsea micro advance and it's brilliant but only does 7 eggs on auto (10 if you manually turn). I then 'upgraded' to a Brinsea 20, but eco model (might have upgraded, but skint). It hasn't performed any worse, but needs more user input, the worst being remembering to turn the eggs and needing to organise your day to do so! If I was starting again would probably go for the eco 20 with turning cradle. The big downfall of the mini was that I was hatching eggs from ebay and there is too much potential for getting only 1 or 2 hatched from a batch if only 6 set, for my own eggs its fine as I usually get a good hatch rate.
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I have a Brinsea Hatchmaker(master??!) still air incubator bought from a car-boot sale five years ago for five pounds.It holds 24 hen eggs easily.
When I first got it I switched it on and twiddled the thermostat until the temperature felt like the under-wing of a broody hen, put in 12 Indian Game eggs and sprayed them lightly with water from a spray-bottle.
I turned them 3-4 times a day, spraying lightly each time until about the 15th day when instinct said, spray a lot more. I stopped turning on the 19th day, but still sprayed and on the 20th day, before expected, hatched 10 chicks.
I have also hatched quail, guinea fowl and geese with much success even though I have often forgotten to turn or spray the eggs in the evening but have always sprayed well or even put a little pot of water in towards the end of incubation.!
I am saving for an all singing all dancing make a cup of tea etc. incubator but will it be as much fun?!!
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I do think we fuss too much sometimes, the last lot I set I inadvertantly started at the wrong temperature then dropped the tray half way through (obviously not breaking any eggs though) and still hatched 12 out of 13. I'm sure eggs are not quite as sensitive as one is given to believe!
Incidentally I set the temperature 1 degree too low for a week and achieved a full set of little boys. Normally previous hatchings from the same chickens have given me a ratio of one boy to four girls (approx). Anyone know if the difference would be related to temperature?
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Right,
We've decided to stretch the budget a little and I *think* we've settled on an RCOM Suro (easier to look after than the Brinsea Octagon)
Can anyone offer some advice on where to start? We want to hatch our Maran eggs, we also want some Khaki Campbell ducks and hopefully a couple of geese... I guess we'd be better starting with our Marans except that we're only getting 3 eggs per day between them (at the moment) and they're bloody tasty! What are the success rates like from "hatching eggs" that have been through the postal system?
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very veried. ive had 75% and 0%. a lot depends on how they were handled. the time of year has a lot to do with it too. if your doung your own just store them point down in a coolish room when you have enough put them in. luck has a lot to do with it as well. also some breeds seem easier to hatch than others.
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Is there any disadvantage to hatching 6 eggs in a 20 egg incubator? I think it may be a week 'til we've got 20 Maran eggs to hatch as opposed to 2 days for 6. If I put 6 in will I have to alter anything? Also, can I hatch chicken and duck eggs together or do they have different incubation requirements?
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Well, I did it and it was fine! Your eggs will keep for a week if you want to save up and do 20. I keep mine in the box in the kitchen as we generally eat them, and if I want to incubate I just take some out. However, the recommended method is sharp end down in a cool place and turn from side to side once or twice a day - I wouldn't follow my method for more than a couple of days - I'm not really recommending it, just illustrating that there is some margin for error! Don't know about duck eggs off the top of my head (exept they take a week longer), my understanding is you can use the same incubator, just not do them both together. Your incubator should come with relevant instructions, I know Brinsea were very good - also you can get incubating instruction info off their web site.
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Just had some delicious scrambled eggs on toast! So...
Tomorrow, I'll start saving my Maran eggs for a week (or as long as I can last before excitement gets the better of me) and attempt to hatch as close to 20 beautiful Marans as possible!
Wish me luck
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i would do diffrent birds at diffrent times i did turkeys and chucks together the chickens did ok but only 3 ut of 12 turkeys. don't ducks need higher humidity than chucks.
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Well the incubator arrived today. I've just spent the best part of an hour reading the instructions and putting it together and I've fired it up for a dummy run so I can get the pump speed right etc.
The Marans have upped their laying to 4 today and as far as I can tell the ones who are laying are the ones who are being serviced by the cockerills.
On another note, is it usual for hens not getting regular attention from a cockerill to stop laying (as I think this is what's happened) and if so, how do I get them laying again? Otherwise, why are only some of my girls laying?
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How can you tell which ones are laying? I can't. I would really like to know how.
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I spend the majority of my day out in the field doing something or other so I see who gets serviced :chook: and I see who nips off to the shed to lay an egg... :farmer:
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mmm with chucks its a bit more complicated i think its 2 weeks that the hen is fertile after mating. best way to tell the next time your frying one see if you can see the germ cell on the yolk its a very small circle dot if you see it its fertile. if you have one cock to 6 or so hens expect them to be fertile.
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Well we've got 2 cockerills to 7 hens but i only ever see the same 4 getting "attention", they seem to favour 2 each and the other 3 neither lay or get laid (excuse the pun)
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how old are the other 3.
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Cockerills and 4 of the girls (the ones who get the attention) will be a year old in May and the other 3 were supposedly POL in August so only a few months older (although the people we got them from are notorious rip-off merchants so this might be wrong)
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I would wait for a month or so, not only will the hens lay more eggs, they will also be better quality (mine have not so great shells during winter time for example). Or you could start them off by putting on a light in or near their shed for a couple of hours either end of the day.
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Our eggs are the same quality now as they were in summer. The shells are very strong and they're really really tasty!
We couldn't wait any longer and have put the 11 eggs we've managed to gather so far into the incubator for our first go...
Wish us luck
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.........good luck :D
wish i'd read this thread sooner i have a suro to sell only used once to a successful hatch last year ::)
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How much? If its the right price I'd be tempted to buy a second as I'm itching to hatch some ducks too!
I went out this morning to another 3 Maran eggs so (as there was only a 16 hour difference) I popped them in with the others. I won't be adding any more now and I was very careful to be quick and not let the temp or humidity drop too much. 14 eggs, even if I only get a 50% success rate that's a result!
I'm now thinking about selectively breeding my brown hens. 2 or 3 of them lay HUGE (bigger that supermarket "Jumbo") eggs and I'd like to separate them briefly and get them in with the larger of my 2 Maran boys. I hope then that I'll be rewarded with large fertile eggs and eventually some fantastic layers. Is it that simple? Or am I missing something here?
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Sounds OK to me, Sam. If you know your boys both work, it should be a go-er! Good luck! Are your eggs large or double or triple yolkers? That might be even more interesting - to hatch a triple yolker in an incubator. ::)
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Never had a double or triple yolker (ever, either from bought eggs or from our own) but they're massive! I have a supermarket Jumbo egg box and it won't close with 6 of the largest eggs in it. I'm getting 2, sometimes 3 per day of these monster eggs so there must be more than one hen laying them.
Is it possible for a hen to lay more than 1 egg per day? If so, I often get 2 very similar in size, shape and colour so these may be from the same hen... I intend to buy some leg rings and then spend a day watching who lays what so I can decide which girls to put in mith Dave my biggest boy... Exciting!
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please dont get a incubator that costs a lot all the £100 £200 etc they are made from hamster cages etc brinsea over easy drinks cooler ..iv done the lot and there is onley 1 that you will be ok with hova bater £ 60 pound use this for 3 yeres then get a top model . a cheap incubator for me is £1000 plus iffy the eggs are worth £20 30 pound you dont wont to fail . i use a skin incubator dead on with HOV bater turners 5 draws 50 to 100 eggs in each no computer to go wrong like the over easy seperate turner etc
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Wow. Any chance of getting that in English? :)
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This week has really dragged. Seems like I put the eggs in the incubator about a year ago! Still, only 13 more long days to go!
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Took the eggs off the "Egg Van" today and upped the humidity to 65. We're on day 18 now, when should we be able to hear little cheeps?
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have you candled them. depending on the chicks from 19-21days don't give up on them for at least 4 days longer than the 21days. some come early and some late and sadly some never do. don't rush to help them.
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Candled them but couldn't really see a great deal. Our egg shells are very dark, don't think our candling device is up to the job. Will invest in a high lume candler for the next hatch.
2 of the eggs have cracked and another 9 are moving... Can't wait!
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me neither! this is more tense than a movie.. good luck!! ;D
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try to not touch for the first day. and like any new born things wash your hands. if you do need to help any don't pull them out. open it very very slowly and only small bits at at time. if there is any blood stop and wait an hour and try again. when you have the egg half open put it back in the incubator. don't take the chick out of the shell.
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4 eggs cracked now... Still no sign of chicks but I'm off to the pub later so no doubt they'll all be hatched by the time I get home. Sods Law!
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Don't you just love the waiting game...
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Ok so I went to the pub, had a lovely Steak with wild mushroom and pepper sauce, shared a few pints with my best childhood mates (who I haven't seen for months) and then headed home to...
Our first chick!
Another one (one we hadn't noticed had pipped) is on its way out...
What an amazing feeling!
All in all a bloody good night!
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and i'm still online to read the news! Congratulations!
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Woke up to 4 chicks and another 5 definitely on their way. :chook:
;D
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5 now...
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6 and another pipped making 11
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7 now and another 5 on the way out...
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Congrats! ;D ;D
Do we get to see pics of them?
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I'm working on it...
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I've got 7 dry and fluffy chicks, one of them aproaching 24 hours old. Now I know they take in the yolk sack and have enough food for 48 hours but I feel they probably need a drink... Should I transfer the 7 that have hatched to my brooder thus giving the remaining eggs some space? Or should I put a shallow bowl of water in the incubator? Or should I wait another 24 hours?
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I have done both things before. I think removing them to the heat lamp gives the other eggs peace and allows the wee ones a chance to eat and drink.
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yes do that.
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And then there were 8...
We're going to wait til the little one's gone to bed and then transfer whoever has hatched into the brooder for some food and drink... We've got the temp stable between 90 and 95F which is a little cooler than the incubator... Will this be ok?
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Remember if they are cold they will sit right under the builb and likewise if they are too warm they will move away from it. The heat is critical so keep an eye on them for the first while. My builb is a ceramic type one (if thats the right way to say), which is perfect for water fowl as it won't crack if water is splashed on it.
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Maybe I'll keep them in the incubator a little longer... I know they're fragile I don't want to lose any so probably best not to move them until I really have to...
There are another 4 eggs pipped and showing signs of life too!
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just get them out at 24 hours and they will be fine. don't leave it to long they will make a right mess in tour incubator.
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10 now...
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12 in the brooder, eating, drinking and running around... 1 still hatching and 2 with no sign of life.
13 out of 15 can't be bad for a first attempt!
All we need to do now is work out which are girls and which are boys.
Are cockerills worth much? They're from very good show quality stock...
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Fantastic thats great for a first attempt, hope you have lots of girls!!
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Me too! Unfortunately its hard to tell with Marans until they're a bit older.
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Pictures Here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149894&id=666177832&l=488af1d98d (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149894&id=666177832&l=488af1d98d)
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I now have less than 4 weeks to build the Duck House, build a new shed for all my existing chooks to live, Swap my cockerills and make a pond... Not too bad except I only have 1 day a week to myself LOL! The joys of fatherhood! I would like to think my 3 year old would be of huge help to me and make my long list of jobs so much easier... ::)