As if only 1 incubator wasn't enough, I got a 2nd one. Our current one only holds 18 but we end up only using 16 as the thermometer and humidity detector take up too much space. Not that this is a big deal. I like that we can see all the eggs, anything that happens with the eggs, and it turns the eggs for us. It was a tad costly but it is what we choose at the time.
I had been searching Craigslist for an incubator and came across a Hova-bator that came with a turner, plus it held 42 eggs, all for $40. It was such a good deal, almost too good to be true. We went prepared when we picked it up and checked to make sure both the incubator and the turner worked, they did! It needed to be cleaned, but who doesn't clean stuff they get 2nd hand? We plugged it in and had such a hard time getting the temp to hold. After a week of trying I gave up and threw in the eggs we had planned to hatch. As the days went by I had to keep adjusting the temp (no fan for circulation) due to the house temp changing with the weather outside. It didn't help it was located in the dinning room just off the kitchen, hot central!
We have tried to candle eggs but never get a good view but figured out a new contraption and was able to see something but what we were seeing was hard to figure out as we are total beginners at it. It looked like the eggs were right where they needed to be after searching the web for a chicken embryo development chart. Day 18 came, I took out the eggs, turner, filled the trays, and replaced the eggs. Now it was a waiting game. The next few days pasted slowly, I say slowly because in the small incubator we would always have chicks trying to hatch out on day 19. Day 21 came, or so I thought and still nothing. By late afternoon I couldn't take it anymore and tried candling a few eggs. What I thought I saw was a chick that quit, I cracked it open and what we found was a chick breathing with a lot of yolk left. I had opened a viable egg and was heartbroken that I just killed it. Yes, it died. After that I checked the calendar to make sure I had my days right, nope was off by 1 day. It was only day 20. Of course 30 minutes after cracking that 1 egg, we had a chick pecking it's way out. I wished I would have been more patient and just waited or at the very least checked the calendar first before cracking the egg, lesson learned.
By day 22 we have 33 chicks out of 42 eggs with a few more still trying to break out. I tried making sure that I didn't take out the chicks right after they hatched but to wait until a had a decent bunch to grab out so they weren't knocking the rest of the eggs around and put them in the brooder. By waiting I didn't let the humidity escape too much and possibly ruin the rest of the batch.
I really like this incubator but will see about installing a fan to help air circulation and maybe find a better humidity/thermometer. I should note that we never once knew what the humidity was in the incubator as we had nothing to put in it at the time, but did follow the directions that came with the incubator. It was risky but it worked out. I won't be risking that next time either.
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