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Chick Hatching |
We have 2 GQF cabinet incubators and 1 Brinsea 20 that we use only when we have small hatches, like at the beginning or end of the breeding season. One of the cabinet incubators serves as the incubator for the first 19 days, and the other is only used as a hatcher. Both have humidity attachments on them, so we can monitor and adjust the humidity as needed, and so we only have to open the door to move eggs or candle. In the incubator, humidity is kept around 35%.
Please bear in mind that everything we do is predicated on the fact that our silkie building is insulated and rarely gets below 50 degrees. This allows me to keep all the incubators and brooders out in the building and out of the house. :-)
Eggs are collected daily, marked with the parents' numbers and the date laid - I use a china marker to mark, as it's soft, doesn't wear out and still shows up great at hatch time. The collected eggs are kept in a fiber paper 30 egg tray, with one side propped up higher than the other. Each day when the eggs are collected and added to the tray, the high side is changed, so the eggs are being moved slightly. I set eggs in the incubator on Sunday, and mark the calendar with the total number of eggs set.
On Friday morning, the eggs that are due to hatch are moved to the hatcher. They are candled and placed in pedigree baskets, which are just square boxes made of hardware cloth, and assembled with j-clips. Each pedigree basket has a hinged lid, which is tied shut with a twist tie, and the basket is marked with the parentage on a piece of masking tape. In the hatcher, the humidity is kicked up to 70%. Since each group of eggs is in their own basket, we don't have to bother getting them out as soon as they hatch and losing that precious humidity.
On that same Friday, I also candle the eggs that were set on Sunday, toss any that aren't fertile, and move the trays down in the incubator, leaving the top tray empty for the eggs that will be set on Sunday. My candler is not scientific, it is just an old slide projector with cardboard taped over the aperture and cut in a very small circle to concentrate the beam. It is an extremely bright light and will even light up dark eggs, like wellsummer and maran. I love it and can even candle eggs at 3 days and tell it they are fertile.
Sunday is usually hatch day, depending on what time of day the eggs were originally set. Sometimes they start pipping on Sunday night and don't make it out until Monday. I don't open the hatcher unless I am sure there is a chick that is trying to hatch and having trouble. If I have to intervene, I help the chick and then put it right back in the hatcher. I leave the chicks in the hatcher for 24 hours. I have found that it seems to help them get their feet under them and straighten out any curled toes.