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Science Forum Index » Agriculture - Poultry Forum » Need advice on hatching baby chicks
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| Jack |
 Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:17 pm |
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Guest
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My wife bought an incubator from Attwoods and attempted to follow the
instructions for hatching some chicks. She put 20 eggs in it and the
results were as follows: one healthy chick. one chick with a
deformed foot. two chicks that died in the process of hatching.
After waiting 25 days the rest of the eggs were inspected. Most of
them had chicks that were dead in the shell.
The instructions were to set the temp to 100 degrees. The incubator
allowed for an adjustment for the temp but did not do it
automatically. On a couple of occassions, we found that the temp had
dropped to 90 degrees and readjusted it accordingly. The instructions
also said to turn the eggs 3 times a day which we did.
The eggs were collected from 4 hens over a period of 4-5 days and
stored at room temperature in a carton. We candled the eggs after
one week and there were chicks in all of them.
That's what we did. Why did we experience these poor results and what
should we have done? Thanks for any help. |
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| Jill |
| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:53 pm |
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Guest
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Jack wrote:
Quote: My wife bought an incubator from Attwoods and attempted to follow the
instructions for hatching some chicks. She put 20 eggs in it and the
results were as follows: one healthy chick. one chick with a
deformed foot. two chicks that died in the process of hatching.
After waiting 25 days the rest of the eggs were inspected. Most of
them had chicks that were dead in the shell.
The instructions were to set the temp to 100 degrees. The incubator
allowed for an adjustment for the temp but did not do it
automatically. On a couple of occassions, we found that the temp had
dropped to 90 degrees and readjusted it accordingly. The instructions
also said to turn the eggs 3 times a day which we did.
The eggs were collected from 4 hens over a period of 4-5 days and
stored at room temperature in a carton. We candled the eggs after
one week and there were chicks in all of them.
That's what we did. Why did we experience these poor results and what
should we have done? Thanks for any help.
The variation in temperature would have caused the results you had.
Its best to set up an incubator for at least a week before trying to hatch
so you can really see if all of the settings are working.
I would advise longer so you get a wider range of environmental influences
which allows you to really test a machines ability before putting eggs in to
it..
An incubator that does not keep the temperature stable is USELESS - totally
and utterly.
The placement of an incubator in the house can be one of many factors. For
example its very common for an incubator be put on a table that is
conveneint for all to see it -- that is somewhere that gets maximum traffic
and often near a window. Any shafts of light and heat coming in can cook the
thing, and the traffic back and forth causes constant distruptive
vibrations.
The good news is that your birds sound good and fertile.
I would suggest a really good book on hatching and incubation and talking to
the company you got the machine from, although if its faulty you should have
notified them the moment you were concerned about the non-regulation of
temperature -- not several weeks later.
--
regards
Jill Bowis
Domestic Poultry and Waterfowl Solutions
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine Nursery
Seasonal Farm Food
http://www.kintaline.co.uk |
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| Tracie |
| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:33 am |
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" Jill" <news@NOSPAMkintaline.co.uk> wrote in message
Quote:
An incubator that does not keep the temperature stable is USELESS -
totally and utterly.
--
regards
Jill Bowis
Domestic Poultry and Waterfowl Solutions
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine Nursery
Seasonal Farm Food
http://www.kintaline.co.uk
Jill, just out of interest, you mention about temperature fluctuations(sp?)
in incubators, but how does it compare to a broody sitting on a nest?
Surely the eggs would experience differing temperatures - not so much
getting hotter, but when the hen leaves the nest for food, drink etc they
must cool to a certain extent? I'm candling my Lt.Sussex eggs tonight after
7 days so fingers crossed!
Cheers
Tracie |
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| Jill |
| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:49 am |
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Tracie wrote:
Quote:
Jill, just out of interest, you mention about temperature
fluctuations(sp?) in incubators, but how does it compare to a broody
sitting on a nest? Surely the eggs would experience differing
temperatures - not so much getting hotter, but when the hen leaves
the nest for food, drink etc they must cool to a certain extent? I'm
candling my Lt.Sussex eggs tonight after 7 days so fingers crossed!
A decent broody will insulate her nest, and will come off it either for only
very short periods of time or only when its really warm.
She will normally cover the nest before she leaves it if its cooler.
Some overly effective broodies can cook their eggs by not coming off the
nest in the height of the summer.
A broody can be off her nest for only minutes a day sometimes.
Thats why I hate birds being forced to brood infertile eggs, the reduction
in food intake is so drastic.
--
regards
Jill Bowis
Domestic Poultry and Waterfowl Solutions
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine Nursery
Seasonal Farm Food
http://www.kintaline.co.uk |
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| Tracie |
| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:33 pm |
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Guest
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" Jill" <news@NOSPAMkintaline.co.uk> wrote in message
Quote: A decent broody will insulate her nest, and will come off it either for
only very short periods of time or only when its really warm.
She will normally cover the nest before she leaves it if its cooler.
Some overly effective broodies can cook their eggs by not coming off the
nest in the height of the summer.
A broody can be off her nest for only minutes a day sometimes.
Thats why I hate birds being forced to brood infertile eggs, the reduction
in food intake is so drastic.
--
regards
Jill Bowis
Domestic Poultry and Waterfowl Solutions
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine Nursery
Seasonal Farm Food
http://www.kintaline.co.uk
Thanks for that. Just candled and I'm 99% sure something is there but will
try again in a few days. I would never let my broodies sit for longer than
necessary - hence I candle after 7 days.
Cheers
Tracie |
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| The Nolalu Barn Owl |
| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:10 pm |
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Guest
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On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:17:26 +0000, Jack wrote:
Quote: My wife bought an incubator from Attwoods and attempted to follow the
instructions for hatching some chicks. She put 20 eggs in it and the
results were as follows: one healthy chick. one chick with a deformed
foot. two chicks that died in the process of hatching. After waiting 25
days the rest of the eggs were inspected. Most of them had chicks that
were dead in the shell.
The instructions were to set the temp to 100 degrees. The incubator
allowed for an adjustment for the temp but did not do it automatically.
On a couple of occassions, we found that the temp had dropped to 90
degrees and readjusted it accordingly. The instructions also said to
turn the eggs 3 times a day which we did.
The eggs were collected from 4 hens over a period of 4-5 days and stored
at room temperature in a carton. We candled the eggs after one week
and there were chicks in all of them.
That's what we did. Why did we experience these poor results and what
should we have done? Thanks for any help.
Was it a styrofoam incubator? Did you add humidity? Did you remove
rotten eggs from the incubator?
Personally, I don't like the styrofoam incubators. They are hard to keep
clean and they tend to smell. They also tend to retain excess humidity
that can cause problems with the hatch.
When you turn the eggs you should be able to smell rotten eggs. A couple
of times a week I smell each egg as I turn them. A hen smells the eggs
and rolls rotten ones out of the nest.
A rotten egg gives off poison gas (rotten egg gas) H2S that can kill
other embyos in the nest. This gas can accumulate to leathal levels
easily within the confines of an incubator. For this reason I like to
provide tiny vent holes to provide a small amount of fresh air on a
continuous basis to my incubators.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/362prw |
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| The Nolalu Barn Owl |
| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:14 pm |
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Guest
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On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:17:26 +0000, Jack wrote:
Quote: My wife bought an incubator from Attwoods and attempted to follow the
instructions for hatching some chicks. She put 20 eggs in it and the
results were as follows: one healthy chick. one chick with a deformed
foot. two chicks that died in the process of hatching. After waiting 25
days the rest of the eggs were inspected. Most of them had chicks that
were dead in the shell.
The instructions were to set the temp to 100 degrees. The incubator
allowed for an adjustment for the temp but did not do it automatically.
On a couple of occassions, we found that the temp had dropped to 90
degrees and readjusted it accordingly. The instructions also said to
turn the eggs 3 times a day which we did.
The eggs were collected from 4 hens over a period of 4-5 days and stored
at room temperature in a carton. We candled the eggs after one week
and there were chicks in all of them.
That's what we did. Why did we experience these poor results and what
should we have done? Thanks for any help.
Was it a styrofoam incubator? Did you add humidity? Did you remove
rotten eggs from the incubator?
Personally, I don't like the styrofoam incubators. They are hard to keep
clean and they tend to smell. They also tend to retain excess humidity
that can cause problems with the hatch.
When you turn the eggs you should be able to smell rotten eggs. A couple
of times a week I smell each egg as I turn them. A hen smells the eggs
and rolls rotten ones out of the nest. A rotten egg gives off poison gas
(rotten egg gas) H2S that can kill other embyos in the nest. This gas can
accumulate to leathal levels easily within the confines of an incubator.
For this reason I like to provide tiny vent holes to provide a small
amount of fresh air on a continuous basis to my incubators.
http://my.tbaytel.net/nitesky/poultry/incubator.htm |
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