[Gardening Mark]

Hi there thanks for looking and I hope you can help....   I have some eggs in an incubator, they will be ready on Sun/Mon which is only a few days away.. When I pick up the eggs in there to turn them they feel nice and warm, infact very warm... But I candle them and they all look fine and are moving inside the eggs.  I also have 2 bantams sitting on eggs. When I feel the eggs under the chickens they dont feel at all as warm as the incubated ones.. I also had a feel of another guys eggs which are under a clocker, and they feel the same as my eggs under my clockers.  My question is... Is it too hot in my incubator for the eggs to hatch properly? (as I tried b4 in the incubator and out of 14 eggs I got 1 chick).   I would really like some1 with experience on this to answer as I only have a little time left b4 my chicks are due to hatch.. I could make extra air holes, but the temp is perfect the way it is at 37.5 - 37.9 degrees C. 100 F. But that means that the eggs under the broody chickens arent at the same temperature. What am I to do :?:  :?:  :?:

[Helen Louise]

Try to forget about comparing the eggs with the ones under the hens as it makes it far too complicated!

Practise does make perfect & I have gone from poor hatches to having a 99% hatch over the last couple of years,

First of all if the temp is ok, what is the humidity? in the last few days the eggs do need more humdity & not enough can reduce hatch rates?

Helen

[Gardening Mark]

Hi there thnx, I do not know how to test for humidity, I have 2 cups of water not far from the light bulb, and I do keep spraying the eggs every time I check on them so how would I be able to tell in a home made incubator??? Glad to hear youve got it so good now, 99% is great. Keep up the good work.. I will keep u all posted how many I get this time....

[MontyTom]

silly question, but are you turning the eggs?  You can buy a humidity dial for about £3 that gives a percentage reading - look for 70% at hatching time. Beleieve me, I have had failures because of my lack of humidity care and had to pick out chicks that struggled.  as long as temp ok, this should not affect fertility.  do you clean eggs before incubation too?

[Danielle280]

I actually Hatched Canada Geese in an incubator before because i found them abandoned. I felt the eggs and they felt very hot in there compared to my hen who was sitting on her eggs also. Sure enough all 7 canadian geese hatched. So i think it does tent to feel warmed in the incubator but it doesnt mean anything, as long as you have the temperature set to the 99-100 then they should be just fine.
And you said that you can see them in there, then thats a good sign they are doing great.
Good luck with your chicks i have 2 chicks hatching in my coop as we speak!!

[Gardening Mark]

yeah i turned eggs 3 times daily upto 18th day then left alone (apart from spraying). Do not clean the eggs, that is what I have read so no I do not. I had thermometer in there and the temp was perfect for the full stage. I hatched 2 chicks, 1 had crocked toe so had to be put down. Such a shame... The other chick is doing fine cherping right now. It is 4 days old. I noticed in the eggs that didnt hatch but had chicks inside, they were realy dry which suggests humidity was dodo for the little things. Never going to do it again in an incubator, I have a clocker that hatched 6 chicks today and I havent checked them yet but I think (hope) they are all fine... So I'm gonna go natural from now on, especially since I have another 2 clockers sitting tight now aswell. Hopefully lots more chicks..!!..