AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi again everyone,

I set 12 pekin eggs in an "Incubators & More" incubator on Monday night, but am having terrible trouble regulating the temperature and humidity, even though my wonderful husband has let me keep it in the house. It fluctuates between about 98oF and 102oF and is driving me crazy! It hasn't gone outside those temps, but I just can't get it stable.

Last night, my lovely white silkie hen, Lucy, decided that she wants some babies and has gone broody. I've shifted her from her nest of choice (in the garden where she can get eaten) to an enclosed pen, and she has been sitting on the eggs all day.

My urgent question is - can I move some of the eggs from the incubator to the hen tonight? I don't want to set any new eggs as we are on a bit of a hatching deadline as we are going away for a few days after the chickens are due, so I would really like to put half of the ones from the incubator under the hen to better my chances of getting something to hatch.

Would this work if I do it quickly so the eggs don't cool down???

Thanks.

Deb

In the 30 seconds or so it should take to get the eggs from the incubator to the chook nothing bad will happen! A broody chook will get off the eggs on occasion for up to 20 mins to eat/drink etc and the eggs do not suffer.
Personally, and I think a lot of people will agree with me, a broody chook is easily the preferred method of hatching
You pretty much don't need to do anything. The only thing I do is lift the chook off the eggs every second day or so if I feel they are not eating and drinking because they're "too" broody. Usually they're back on the eggs within a few minutes and it also encourages them to rearrange (turn) the eggs.
Being in a very cold area I also bring the chook and her eggs inside a day or so before the hatching is due (the coop is too cold for chicks).
I put them in my bathroom under the "tastic" heat light.
That's probably a bit of overkill though most people have a "brooder" coop which is just a small coop (a chopped off small water tank is perfect) with a heat source (light globe) where the chicks can live for the first few weeks.
Good luck!

Thanks schnapper. I am finding the incubator really hard work, so I will shift some of the eggs - unfortunately, she can't take all 12!! I'll pick the ones I really want to hatch and put under her I think and leave the others in the incubator just in case it works. Could a silkie handle 6 pekin eggs?

I think we are ok temperature wise outside, as our last silkie sat in about June/July - middle of winter!! The crazy bird managed to hatch 2 out of 3 borrowed eggs (the 3rd was clear) when the temperature dropped to about 3 degrees overnight.

Thanks again!

Deb

Hi Debbieo4914, Yes move them if the Incubator is fluctuating that much. You will need to be fairly quick when you move them but don't panic as the inside egg temp is far higher than the outside. A Pekin/Silkie hen can take 12 eggs; we have quite a few on 14 right now.


Thanks
Peacocks Australia

Thanks PA. I was really relying on quick replies this time, and haven't been disappointed!

I will move the eggs after the kids go to bed. It would have been nice if Lucy had told me she was feeling clucky and I wouldn't have wasted $400 on the incubator!!! Patience really is a virtue!

Are the eggs still likely to be ok after 48 hours in that temperature range?

Debbieo4914, if the Bator didn't go over 103, for any period then the eggs will be fine. Chook eggs are quite resilient and will take more extremes than many others.

If only chooks could talk!!

We would recommend you experiment with the Bator in the off season, not to hatch but learn the settings; every Bator has its own little habit.

Good luck with the eggs, please keep us up to date.


Thanks
Peacocks Australia

I don't think you can beat Mother Nature, but I understand some using artificial hatchers if they have lots of eggs to hatch. Just my 2 cents worth



Jeff

I was too impatient to wait for a clucky hen, and the day after I bought the incubator my white silkie hen decided to sit, and I also now have a pekin hen sitting, however I'm not putting eggs under her until Wednesday as we are going away for a couple of days later in the month and I don't want to miss the hatching.

I moved 7 of the incubator eggs out under the silkie hen, and the incubator has been working perfectly with only 5 eggs in it - maybe the full load was too much??

Broody hens are much less work than a temperamental incubator!!!

Thanks for your input everyone.