[nuzuki]

Hi Pepsi, did you have much luck with the hatch? I have some hatching later today or tomorrow with any luck.

The humidity sounds too high, also I read your meant to turn them 3, 5 or 7 times a day so they do not sleep on the same side. This apparently means they develop more evenly. If it is past the 18th day then do not turn them and wait patiently till as late as day 24. I would not remove them at this stage for candling. I read its best to do that on day 10 and remove the dud eggs then. After that point I normally dont candle, I just wait for them to hatch. I think some people candle them again on day 17 or 18.

Anyhow best of luck with it and fingers crossed for Christmas eggs. This was my plan too, so I can show the relatives some chickaroos

[pepsi100]

When I looked this morning there was still nothing, no cracks, no peeps, nothing

The eggs do feel heavier though, from when they went in on day one

I turned them about 4-5 times a day, kept the humidity about 40-50% but it was up and down, but not by much

I did candle them, but about day 17-18, I stopped turning them and increased the humidity, it was about 60-70% (its hard trying to keep it higher, I put a sponge and kitchen paper in there to keep it that high)

After this, I think I will stop getting eggs and buy day old chicks, its got to be easier and with no disappointments

 (http://www.surbitonpoultryandhenhouses.co.uk/index.php/stock-list)

I used to be able to get day olds at the cattle market, but now cattle markets are few and far between (anyone know of any around the London area ?)

I used to have geese, turkey's (never for the pot though)

Oh, for the good old days 

Good luck with your eggs, post how many you got, please

[nuzuki]

I know there is a cattle market near thame or princes risborough but its not classed as london, more so high wycombe/aylesbury. Did you get your eggs from that place in Banbury via the post?

Islington and Smithfield used to have cattle markets, I dont know if their still going. There is one in Reading also.

To be honest I sometimes forget to do the odd turn of the eggs or I stop turning on day 17 instead of day 18. Day 1 is meant to be counted as day 0 which can often confuse things slightly. So I dont think youve done anything wrong. Id try opening the eggs on day 25 and see how far you got with it. I wouldnt give up on it though, its a nice experience hatching your own eggs and raising your flock from eggs. How many eggs can you fit in your incubator? It might be worth putting 2 or 3 different batches in at once.

I would recommend chiltern poultry (rhode island reds) for fertility or a guy called mikecbr600f (i think) on ebay who has some mixed variety hatching eggs for sale with good fertility. I bought alot of hatching eggs earlier in the year via ebay and this is how I intend to start my flock but wont be buying hatching eggs anymore as I intend to hatch my own eggs from now on.

[pepsi100]

I think thats where they came from

I didnt know there was a cattle market at Reading, thats just a 45 minute drive from me (I wonder if they do poulty?)

I dont think Islington and Smithfield have them any more

Day 0 for me is the day they arrive and they settle down, day 1 is the day they go in the incubator, I usually give them a bit of leeway, to take into account temperature variations, and like most babies they are late anyway

I would have had my own hens and cock raise chicks, but I got wiped out by a fox, I had some great birds

I could fit 12 eggs at a push in my incubator and still have a bit of room for water and a sponge

If I get nothing before the weekend, I'll open up 1 or 2 and se how far trhey got, but I wont know what stopped them hatching, somewhere I must have done something wrong, but I cant think of what

(IF you think I have tell me, its good to know where I cocked up, for the (maybe) next time)

[nuzuki]

The only error I have made in the past is lifting the lid checking the eggs constantly. Im now on my 7th hatch and things arent as exciting but I notice when I stop checking and do what I like to call "lazy hatching" then thats when I get better results. I have just checked my 5 eggs in my incubator and one is hatching. Normally in the past at this point I would lift the lid in excitement which is NOT the thing to do, so for all I know their are 5 eggs hatching but im happy that one is doing its thing which tells me the rest have a chance also. If the lid is lifted then thats when the egg dries out inside then the chick cant move around to peck the shell and then dies. Its exciting times as I feel things for me have come full circle. Im hatching eggs from hens I hatched earlier this year 

If you want to test some of our eggs out i'd be happy to pass some your way free of charge but wont get involved in posting them. Unfortunately as I only have 3 girls laying presently I cant give you many but hopefully 4-6. I am in the Bicester area if it helps.

Anyhow fingers crossed for your hatch, what date did you start yours? Mine was started November 28th.

[pepsi100]

mmm, cant remember the exact date now, but I bought them on a Friday, they sent em Monday I got them the following day, they 'rested' that dat, went down Wednesday evening

I had the incubator on over the wekend to let it settle down and check for variations

I only lift the lid to turn them, top up the water, I got a little window to see whats happening so I dont lift the lid (I have to give it a tap to clear any condensation)

I tried a Google for the cattle market in Reading, but it just came up with a Farmers Market (just stalls selling produce)

Thanks for the offer, but no car at the moment

You lucky lad, at least one is on the way  AND with more to follow by the sound of it

From your own flock (just have to keep an eye out for any inbreeding now 

[joyfull]

as several people have said you may have got the humidity levels a little too high I have found this for you to read:-


http://www.brinsea.com/customerservice/humidity.html

[splash101]

When i've hatched eggs in the incubator, i've had them hatch as early as 2 days before and as late as 7 days after the expected date so dont open the eggs yet. There has been times where it began to look like none would hatch but they did

my incubator holds 24 hens eggs but i have noticed that when it is full to capacity the hatch rate is lower. Dont know why, but this happens with hens eggs as well as quail eggs. I seem to get a much better hatch rate when it is partially full.

I dont always candle them either. The quails i definately dont because you cant always see through them anyway. With chickens, sometimes i do if patience is getting the better of me.

mine is fully automated so i dont have the turning or humidity to contend with . There has been the odd time when i have completly forgotten to stop the cradle turning and it still been turning the day before the hatch day. This didnt cause any problems though.

Is this the 1st time you have used this incubator? It maybe that you have a few minor set up adjustments to make to obtain a better hatch rate.

The other cause really could be down to the eggs and the time of year. I use my own quail eggs and whilst we are still getting some now, they havent been mating for some months now.
I get my fertile hens eggs from Melton Market. I dont usually pay much more that a couple of pounds for 6. Some of the more sought after breeds cost more obviously. I've always had fairly good hatch rates (except for the times when the incubator is full to capacity). I suppose it is less of a disappointment when they havent cost a lot
Now, Melton hasnt been selling hatching eggs for some weeks now due to the time of year but come the spring there will be 1000's of all sorts, chickens, goose, ducks, guinea fowl, turkeys, quail, they even have peacocks eggs for hatching 

[symonep]

If you can get to Kent there is a really lovely bloke called Ben from http://www.freewebs.com/bantams-for-the-garden/chickensforsale.htm
If you give him a call he may have some chicks you can buy, we buy all our hens from him and brought a day old chick from him a while back as company for our only cick that hatched.

[emotion-2003]

what brand incubator using for hatching?is it digital?
I am using Rcom 20 Juragon Digital

[nuzuki]

The 2 doing the business are not from related blood lines and im slowly but surely killing off the cockerals with the same blood line as and when I get hungry  so no inbreeding. The 5 eggs I have in the incubator are laid by a maran but fertilised by a light sussex which shold make for an interesting looking chicken.

If you can trace back the day you got them and count the days on a calendar you'll get a better idea as to whether they are duds or whether there is still hope for them. Mine were started on a wednesday also so hipefully its the same wednesday if not a week before or a week after. Basically if your unsure leave it for 7 more days from today.  :blink:

Good luck and merry chickmas 

[pepsi100]

what brand incubator using for hatching?is it digital?
I am using Rcom 20 Juragon Digital

I dont know the name or brand of my incubator, but its in 2 parts, the bottom is red, the top a opaque white, it contains the fan and hearing element, I use a reptile/vivarium hydrometer and a RS thermometer, it has a probe that goes in the top, it is digtal (F and C) I did have a mercury thermometer, but it wasnt acurate enough, the incubator is manual, I have to take off the top to turn the eggs and top up the water, its never opened for longer than 2 minutes

Thank you for the link, I still cant see that I have gone wrong, maybe the humidity is a bit high at the end, but I thought it would need to be higher to make the membrane softer to let the chicks out

Still nothing 

[symonep]

Can you see them moving about when candling them? I know people say not to open the incubator but I would see if you can see movement

[pepsi100]

Can you see them moving about when candling them? I know people say not to open the incubator but I would see if you can see movement

Nope, no movement, I looked  earlier when it got dark with my torch (its what I have used in the past to candle the eggs, it works well)

Its just very dense, not like when you have a 'clear' egg

[emotion-2003]

i really dont know what is the problem but i believe humidity was too high (%80)
i dont think candle them on 17-18 days.as i candle mine on day 19 even.i removed dead chicks.no problem.
but are you sure nobody switch off the incubator a while when havent seen.my daughter switch off my incubator on day 7 for a few hours.(she is 4 and didnt know:) )i was worried but nothing was bad i see that now