Incubating Eggs day 7 again!

Pair of Wyandottes creating a heart shape!

Well I have been away for a few days in London and that meant leaving the incubator running without any monitoring for 3 days.  I did realise this would happen when I set the eggs back on 7th February, I knew it was a bit of a risk, but I was impatient probably due to the failure of the last batch.





Today, Valentines day, is the 7th day so I have been candling the eggs to check for development.  The great news is that at present 11 out of the 12 eggs I set appear to be fertile.  The one egg that appears not to be developing is unfortunately the Cream Legbar which is a shame however it does mean that there is potential for Croad Langsham, Owl Beard, Salmon Faverolle and Silver Lace Wyandottes hatching out in around 14 days.

What did I do differently to my first batch?
Well I'm not going to take all the blame or credit here as I have had loads of useful advice from Andrew from Slate House Farm and from Norfolk Bantams on Twitter, in fact, without their help I may have delayed my next hatch for some time.  There is also the consideration that maybe the eggs were not quite ready as it was so early in the year.

I think I took the instructions with the incubator quite literally with regards humidity.  It stated that one water trough should be filled and two should be filled at day 18. The instructions did not mention anything about ventilation either and I don't recall reading about this, but it is crucial when controlling the the humidity. Ultimately I think I drowned the chicks or prevented them from developing properly which is very sad and a mistake I will never make again.

Secondly, I did not monitor humidity, I had no way of knowing what the relative humidity percentage was at any time.  But again looking back I think levels were far too high.  The condensation on the roof of the incubator was a big sign that I totally missed.

To correct both of these major mistakes I have bought myself a reptile humidity gauge for £5.99.  Why these are not fitted or provided when you buy a Corti incubator I have no idea, but it is an essential piece of kit in my opinion.  I have also worked out how to open the vent holes in my incubator.

You do learn by your mistakes, and it has been a big mistake and quite a large learning curve.  It is almost addictive, learning and putting into practice what you have learnt.

Before setting my current batch of eggs, I ran the incubator for 2 days monitoring humidity.  I ran it initially with no water.  Humidity was as low as 10%, so there was no chance of adding the eggs without water.

Once one water trough was filled the humidity increased, first to 30%, then a few hours later 40% and the next morning it was stable at 50%.

The incubator has continued to remain at 50% with a full water trough and vents fully open.  11 of the 12 eggs are developing so its good news for now.


I will be monitoring carefully and will post more updated soon.


Thanks for reading.

The Next Hatch - Poultry

So after the failure of the Silver laced Wyandottes, I have decided to try again.  It didn't take long, in fact I think I was plotting my next batch before the Wyandotte batch had come to an end.  This time I have a mix of breeds and I have doubled the number of eggs in the incubator.  Hope the wife is not reading this!

The incubator was set up on 6th February in the morning.  I will be leaving it for 24 hours before setting the eggs.  This time I am trying the dry incubation method.  Something that Norfolk Bantams on twitter (@norfolkbantams) and several other people have suggested as a good method.

I have to be honest I had never heard of the method and assumed that every hatch needed water.

From what I have been told, this is how it works.
Incubation from day 1 to day 18 there is no water in the incubator.  Humidity levels in the UK are apparently high enough that water is rarely needed.
It will be interesting to see the results.  At day 18, you add some water to increase the humidity.

Recommended relative humidity (RH) levels for chicken eggs in the incubator vary but it appears sensible to run with 30-40%.  During the hatching stage, 18th day onward, it should be around 60- 70%.
The humidity in my house is currently 45%, so very close to the required level.  When the temperature increases in the incubator this RH will drop in theory. My incubator was continually gathering water droplets on my last hatch that failed which suggested humidity was too high.  So I am feeling confident that this hatch will be more successful.  
My newly purchased humidity gauge from the local reptile shop will hopefully help.  At £5.99 I think it is a bit of a bargain and will assist a great deal.

After 3 hours the incubator is showing 49% humidity without water.  Amazing I think, but then with all the rain we have had in Wales recently I should not be surprised.

What am I attempting to hatch?
A really great  selection and very exciting.  I have another 6 Silver Lace Wyandotte eggs and thanks to Andrew at Slate House Farm (www.slatehousefarm.co.uk) I have the following :

Two Salmon Faverolle, Two Croad Langsham, One Ownbeard and one Cream Legbar.

Photo from Brockabye.com
Salmon Faverolle

Photo from Omlet.co.uk
Croad Langsham

Photo from Slatehousefarm.co.uk
Owlbeard

Photo from Slatehousefarm.co.uk
Cream Legbar

Thanks for reading.