[Stereo]

Cheers, bracing myself for another disaster though. I think there are probably a few empties in there but the main thing is get anything viable to hatch. Keep thinking it shouldn't be this difficult. I seem to have got worse at it with more experience! Still, we'll see.

[Stereo]

One black copper out and shouting. Pretty much exactly 21 days to the hour. Others pipping. Hopefully some more in the morning.

[Stereo]

6 out so far. More pipping.

[Clansman]

I seem to have got worse at it with more experience! Still, we'll see.

I honestly think we are suffering from a combination of poor quality materials and feeling the need to over complicate the process nowadays.

When I first started incubating, you set the temperature with a proper mercury thermometer (not a cheap digital Chinese one) filled the water channels, opened a ventilation hole and turned the eggs twice a day.

Stopped turning them with 3 days to go and dropped the temperature slightly.

Hatches were almost always very good, we never used the 'lockdown' procedure everyone now swears by, we were often adding more eggs to the incubator as chicks hatched 

Before humidity meters were available we never checked for it, now we're adding and removing water, opening and shutting vent holes, turning the temperature up and down trying to keep the humidity reading within a certain level.

Do we need to throw the humidity meters away and go back to the old ways?

I've spoken to three people in the last two weeks who have had very poor hatches caused by low quality digital thermometers, some of them in branded incubators.

When checked against a proper quality thermometer these digital ones are reading considerably lower than the display is showing. 1-6C lower

30 years ago you couldn't buy a poor quality thermometer, you either bought a good one or you didn't have one.

Maybe I'm just turning into a nostalgic, grumpy old man 

But there might be some truth in it...

[Stereo]

You have a point. A guy I know has one of those old cabinet jobs and he just bungs them all in, muck and all and fires it up. Always get excellent hatches. I think the octagon incubators are good with the turning and stuff but I wonder if they are the best for hatching. With 20 eggs in there it's a bit tight and you often get early hatchers rolling eggs over or you get a half shell pushed over a pipping egg or whatever. So I'm thinking I need a separate hatcher for the last 3 days which is much bigger, say a cheap 48 incubator. Candle my 24 eggs at 18 days and pop any viables in there to hatch with plenty of water. I also thought about a barrier or slope so the hatched chicks at some point topple over it and can't get back at the pipping eggs. You could even put some food on the deck and water in there so you could leave them longer without worry.

PS: 7 now out and 2 more (that I can see) almost fully unzipped. Must go and get some work done!

[Stereo]

Anyone used a Brinsea Polyhatch? Don't fancy one of those cheap ebay jobs as we bought one back along and it nearly set on fire. A few Polyhatches on second hand though. Thinking I could put 20 odd eggs one side at 18 days, leave a centre divider in and the chicks would probably at some point fall over it and not be able to get back.

[Clansman]

PS: 7 now out and 2 more (that I can see) almost fully unzipped. Must go and get some work done!

I spend hours sitting looking at eggs incubators! 

[HesterF]

Latest update? Did you have 20 in there?

I hatched in a different incubator to the one I incubated in last year but both Octagons. Mainly because it meant I could have eggs at different stages in the big incubator and then transfer them over for three days of hatching - meant it was more efficient. Oh, and easier to clean just one.

I need to get my act together this year - somebody turned off the incubator with my first batch of chicken eggs in which were stone cold by the time I found them and no idea how long it had been off so that's knocked me back. I think some are still OK but in a way that's worse - I've got to hatch just a few rather than a full on batch and now need to do a second decent batch as well as setting the ducks and geese.

[Stereo]

Had 24. Took 13 chicks out this morning all healthy. 3 more copper marans have unzipped but look to have dried out but I've put in a damp cloth and will leave them until this evening and then assist if required. I know marans shells are notoriously thick....One marans intact but moving. A good few sussex and leghorns not pipped but they may be empty. I was doubtful about them when I put them in. At least one sussex looks to have pipped and died but the rest are intact. I'm not fussed if they are empty, I just want to be able to hatch most of what is viable.

We always seem to get this shrink wrapping issue with the octagon. It hasn't been opened since day 18 until this morning and there is still water in both channels but I've got dried out chicks. I sometimes wonder if the fan is drying them out or if it's lack of space due to the hatched chicks taking up all the room. I think I'm going to try and get a second hand poly hatch 42 and use that as a hatcher.

Anyway, 16 out of 24 so far assuming the unzipped ones make it is better than I did all last year. The key will be how many grown chicks didn't hatch but I won't know that until I candle or open them, probably tomorrow unless it's still going.

[lord flynn]

is it a 20 or 40, your Brinsea? I swapped my 20 for a 40 and this is the first hatch with it-its not very full so they should have plenty of room. I don't think the fan does them any favours and its a shame you can't disable it for hatching. My last incy had a fan that was much closer to the hatching chicks and it was even worse.
16/24 ain't bad 

[Clansman]

Not got an Octagon but there must be a way in to the fan wiring.

I opened up a cheap incubator last year and just unplugged the fan from the circuit board.

I actually did it because I was trying to hatch Rhea eggs (which weren't fertile) so that any potential Rhea chick standing up wouldn't get scalped 

Could even be wired via a small switch and be operated from outside I suppose.

[Q]

That's not a bad hatching rate at all - be interesting to see how many that were fertile in the first place got there.

I followed your progress with a hatch of Light Sussex.   I set 10 eggs and 3 were infertile.  6 hatched & healthy but when I cracked the final egg I had a fully formed but tiny chick.  I havent seen this before.

I conclude your dry run theory is correct.

I wonder though whether this is relative to ambient humidity at this time of the year and might be different in the drier summer.

I used a covatutto 16 incubator which is manual & no fan. 

[Stereo]

We've got the octagon 20 but it will take 24 medium chicken eggs. Problem if you don't fill it is they tend to wobble about as it turns. I'm pretty sure the fan just plugs into the board like a PC one so should be easy to disable for hatch. Would there be enough fresh air though? Only has a tiny vent. What sort of vents do still air ones have?

[Q]

The vents on my incubator are 4 x small (2mm) permanently open holes at the top which surround the central bulb holder. No drawing of air from anywhere else.

Obviously as I turn the eggs 3 x daily the heat and humidity is lost and the air will get changed.

Its interesting how different this hatching set up is to an auto turner with fan and yet still successful.

Although mine is a 16 egg - could only fit 10 hens eggs in.

[Victorian Farmer]

Great post firstley my dad is 80 and he used the parafin incubaters Avarage 70 percent never a bad hatch . Iv used all these incubaters first thing a good record of stock strong chicks next fertile not some but all . I never hatch in the incubater I hatch in a  hova bater this will help .Next the fans get cloged up you then  dont get the even tempriture. iv been hatching since christmas i use a marselice incubater and at the moment its 60 percent. One hatch 80 chicks 50 cock birds .The next thing im going to do is hatch some copper tops as im getting fed up putting all this work in ,for nothink .Wood for the stove 3 ton feed gages and fuel to the sale .