1st hatch.....I jacked it up

[Little Bear Game Farm]

Kag - I used to use a Little Giant inc w/ turner.  I put a small hole in the top and ran 1/4" tube down through that, through where one of the eggs would go, and through  the wire mesh into one of the slots.  I put a funnel on the other end.  This way you don't have to open the incubator at all to add water.  For hatching, I removed the other red plug but didn't do anything different with filling the water.  I would also light mist the eggs the final 3 days of hatching to add moisture and do it as quick as possible to not let all of the heat and humidity out.  I got between 65% and 75% hatches with coturnix eggs from my own hens and about 50% on mail order eggs.

[jimmurray3]

Kag, are your hatches doing any better???

[KAG]

Kag, are your hatches doing any better???

Started hatching last night. 5 so far with one I know is not going to make it. I did pull 10 out on the 15th day and opened them. 3 had chicks the others were just eggs. Still looking for a good egg supplier. Need another 120 soon to fill this incubator. My other one has been incubating 5 days now. I think with the first hatch I had too much water in it and killed them early. I guess my deal is until I figure it out I will just keep the little giant dry. I did note that I had to adjust the temp on the little giant daily sometimes multiple times. I am using digital temp probes. One incubator has a fan the other does not. I did buy another fan just need to hook it up.

I keep looking at a sportsman 1502 and will probably get one sometime in the fall.  Also getting ready to build a whizbang plucker for use on all the chickens, ducks, and turkeys I will cull later next month. I plan on building a small one for the quail too.

[Little Bear Game Farm]

Kag - I purchased the 1502 recently and love it.  However, the Little Giant worked pretty well for me, I just needed more capacity.  When I incubated eggs, I started the inc a day before and got the temp dialed in.  I just used the plastic thermometer you get with it and put it on top of the turner to dial it in and then just left it alone.  It seemed to maintain temp from 99 to 100 pretty good.  Does the room you have your incubator in maintain an even temp and humidity fairly well?  I think you need a little water in the tray or the eggs would just dry out.  Also, an incubator takes a little time to adjust when you change the dial, changing it multiple times a day could affect your hatch.

[KAG]

Lots of great advice here........now I just need to follow it 

I did not have a single egg hatch all day.....so in my usual form I messed with a few.  Seems like most of the ones I opened (10) were well developed with feathers and such but dead. I did fill the water rings when I took the eggs out of the turner and placed them on the wire. I am going to pull the live birds out tomorrow and then wait 2 more days then open them all up and see what I have going on.   As most of the ones I opened tonight were advanced in their development I would say I killed them in the last several days or so. All were moist and not dried out looking. Believe it or not it is not discouraging but interesting in just how many ways can I screw it up.......

We have a rural lake home and we lost power for about 12hrs 5 days ago. Do not know if that is enough to maybe have an impact on them.