[mdueal]

We have just been given an incubator to have a go at hatching some eggs with that. I know not everyone likes them but we are going o give it a go and see how it works out.

It is a Maino MPS18 manual turn. We have also got one of those digital humidity/temp monitors with a probe that is suspended at egg level in there.

I have it set up to run and settle for 24 hours whilst eggs are resting. I have the temperature at 37.5 degreed celsius - is this right??
The humidity is 60% without any water in yet - that just seems to be the humidity today - probably cos it looks like rain! Will this be ok - how would I reduce it if that was too high?

(I remember reading something about chicks growing too large and ending up dead in shells with high humidity so fairly concerned!)

[bedifferent]

Hope you have great success with your incubator - woulden't mind a go myself but they are expensive arn't they. Haven't got the foggiest about your question but i am sure someone will by the end of the day.

[snozzer]

37.5 is fine, in fact it is pretty much spot on.

Humidty 60% is okay, but as I recall the Maino has a little tray in it, fill it with warm water and leave for 12 hours to see what the humidity settles at for the first 18 days 60% is maximum and 56-58% is desirable. Day 19+ you raise it to 65%.

I would get the water in now, even though it is showing 60%, because if the conditions dry and the humidty drops the hatch rate will decline significantly.

Also, leave the incubator shut, only candle twice, first time around day 7 and then on day 18 to remove dead peeps before closing the incubator up for the last 3 days.  

Turn eggs a minimum of 3 times a day, but 7,9,11 or more is preferable.

Good luck and enjoy

[Viv]

I've just incubated my first ever chicks. i kept the humidity around 50 until day 18 and then added more water to the trays to get it up to 60. We turned our eggs up to day 18, 5 times a day and then left well alone. You should always turn an odd number of times each day. The temperature sound ok to me.( but I am a novice at this)
I candled at day 6 and then day 14, some eggs were definately not fertile so these I removed at day 14, others that I was not sure about I left in there. The first one pipped at day 20 then quite a lot on day 21 and one on day 22, I left the remaining for another 3 days hoping that if they were not live they would not explode! Nothing happened with these so I removed cleaned out and have now put some more in. Good Luck  

[mdueal]

Thanks for that guys - will put water back in and see what it does. Didn't know that about turning an odd number of times either!

[cudders]

Could i ask how long it is before you can sex the birds? I gather a high number will be cocks and it's the ladies I'm after..

Cudders

[mdueal]

Depends on the breed. Some have distinguishing features that you can guess with - our silkie girls had much bigger bumps on their heads from day one and the araucanas got big comb withing 4 weeks. Generally can;t be sure till 8 weeks though (or sometimes till point of lay if you have a particularly indeterminate one!)

You can always go for an autosexing breed where the boys and girls are definately different from day one - like cream legbars (plus they lay blue eggs!)

We are hoping to sell any excess birds as pairs/trios which will get rid of some boys, then offer single boys free to a good home (there are usually some takers if they are pure breeds as people always wanting to extend blood line). Our light sussex boys will probably end up in the pot as they are utility breed anyway.

[jonny1982]

What youve set your temperature at is ok but i wouldnt advise on adding any water at all. Ive seen somone tell you to go 60% maximum and somthing like 50% ish minimum.
When i first started incubating eggs i made a fuss about the humidity a friend from work hatches pheasant eggs in the hundreds and advised me not to bother adding water.
I thought that couldnt be right and i found out the hard way! Ive achived far better results since by not adding water. You humidity will show 50 to 60 this time of year.
I currently have about 80 eggs in my incubator on their last week - ive only had to remove 3 and they are all doing well thats my best result with an incubator.
When ive bought eggs most of the sellers point out that most people go wrong in raising the humidity . When i was adding water i wasnt doing well at all i know why now!. You have a manual incubator i dont know if thats fan assisted but i think that makes a bit of a difference to.
When it comes to turning i would turn them up to 10 times a day if you can.
Ive mostly used automatic fan assisted incubator and i mainly use my munual as a hatcher.
I hope ive helped you with your question.
Regards Jonathan
< it can also depend on the breed smaller eggs could require higher humidity. My humidty levels could vary from as low as 40% to 55% with no water.

[Viv]

You'll soon have lots of little chicks running around. I followed the instructions for my incubator which stated that one water tray had to be filled and kept topped up unless condensation formed on the lid, and the other tray to be filled on day 18. I bought the hygrometer for my own benefit and it stayed around 50 until I added the extra water when it moved up to 60.

[mdueal]

Ok - water now out and humidity stable at 60 so as long as it stays that way it will be fine.

I am at home at the mo revising for my finals so I have been turning the eggs every two hours all day (welcome break!) The temperature in there drops considerably whilst i am doing this - but presumambly that is just the air temp and the eggs, having been warmed through, should hold their temp through these fluctuations?? I shouldnt be worrying about how much I onpen the incubator to turn the eggs?

[Viv]

I have been told that although the temperature drops, the eggs retain the heat for a while. I would suggest that you use disposable gloves if you are turning by hand so as to prevent bacteria being transfered from egg to egg. Don' forget make it an odd number of turns a day.
I may be overdoing it and I know that some of the others will give you good advice. Once again best of luck