Incubation, using the Little Giant Incubator, How to incubate chicken eggs, demonstration 

Thanks for commenting, John!

Thank you so much, I actually made this video in 2006! Glad it's still being appreciated.

Quality lasts my friend.. ;)

Thank you, yes, TekTrol is still my preferred sanitizer for incubation. The principals of incubation haven't changed, but I may look around for a new model to demonstrate/review. Thanks!

I woult not attempt the "shake-and-bake method" Embryos are very sensitive at early stages, and you can damage their fine blood vessels if jarred or addled. Hand turning would be best if you don't have a automatic egg turner.

TekTrol.

Thank you Lefty... I'm glad you enjoyed the presentation... in this demonstration, the Little Giant units were being used for incubation and on the 18th day, the developing eggs were transferred into a Top Hatch incubator... the top hatch units are easier to clean out and then the Little Giant units are ready to start another batch without waiting... thank you for your question!

You are very welcome Lawrence! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Yes, the top of the egg should be at 102 f.

Because I'm a poultry technician and get inspected by the Dept. of Ag, I have to use sanitizer and it does improve hatch rates. TekTrol is what's approved. Eggs for hatching should not be scrubbed. If you, like me, plan to use your incubators for several batches of eggs, then sanitizing is going to be very important. Bacteria builds fast in that hot and humid incubator. I wish you all the best Teresa!

@@FrederickDunn thank you!

No, you can't determine the sex of the embryo by altering the heat parameters. That's possible with some reptiles, but not chickens. Lower temps just take longer to hatch, higher temps speed things up a little.

Get any thermometer, take it to a pharmacist and ask him/her to put it in with their calibrated thermometer system, them mark any difference on your own thermometer. Then, plage the thermometer in your incubator at the top of your eggs, it doesn't matter where, just so you can read it through the window. If the incubator is a still-air system, you want it at the top 1/3 of the eggs.

www.miller-mfg.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=IG049

Just follow the instructions on TekTrol bottles. It leaves an antibacterial coating on the bees that protects them throughout incubation.

Absolutely.

www.amazon.com/Regarding-Chickens-Incubation-Hatching-Brooding/dp/B000K28MI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490126312&sr=8-1&keywords=Regarding+Chickens

Thanks

Take care

See my video on the Top Hatch Incubator.. for small hatches, I use those, I also use the GQF Sportsman as it has a large hatching tray and very easy to clean out.

+blessedfamily27 This is a link to the Calibrated Thermometer I always use to double check the provided thermometers... www.amazon.com/Thomas-Traceable-Digital-Thermometer-Display/dp/B0069TUET8/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1456502600&sr=8-13&keywords=calibrated+thermometer

+Frederick Dunn Thank you for your very quick reply. I am now using 3 thermometers and all are way off. Have a blessed day.Amber

So glad to have helped... you can also just take one of your thermometers to any Pharmacist.. have them put it in their controlled climate system and then just mark your thermometer with the actual temp... for example, when your thermometer is at 99.5.. and their calibrated system says 101.3 (for example) then you will know how much your thermometer is off... :)

I'd go by air-cell size, not the actual humidity.

+Dave Meeks Not enough information. What is the air cell like at day 15? Are the chicks able to pip out? Maybe too much humidity. I also found that turning eggs by hand the first 3 days and the last 4 days (until you hear the first pip) makes a big difference. I use a GQF incubator with turner but turn by hand when I can (like weekends) by taking out some of the trays. Turning by hand with the eggs on their side will greatly improve a hatch. I often get 100%.

+duckmanjoel Thanks that's a good tip.

+duckmanjoel You should not be turning by hand, nor turning at all during the last few days.. from day 18 on.. the chicks are orientating themselves for pipping. If the air cell charts I've posted on my website aren't clear enough, you can also determine proper dehydration by weight... 13% of original/start weight. During pipping, increase humidity to prevent drying out and sticking to the shell/membrane during hatch. As I show in the demonstration, it's easier to run without added water, until you are certain that the dehydration rate is adequate. Easier to add humidity later, than it is to dehydrate quicker if weight loss/dehydration is too slow. Chubby chicks are the result of too much humidity at the point of hatch/pipping... they simply cannot turn within the shell and die in place after pipping. I hope that helps?

+Dave Meeks Sorry I missed this question... by now you already have your answer.. but you mention the unit is home made.. does that mean you have a blower/forced air system? Or, is this a still air system without circulating fan inside? The 99.5 deg. reference is for forced air systems... if it's a still air unit, you will want a higher temp at the top third of the eggs when on end circa 101-102 deg. F. the temps would stratify... are your "turns" rolling or tilting the eggs? As duckmanjoel says... more information would be helpful. What are the problems you are seeing at the 17th day?

Frederick Dunn You will notice I said turn until the first pip. Then I add water and close it up until the hatch is complete. Sometimes genetics or other factors will cause the eggs to hatch a day early or late so I use the first pip as my indicator. Been hatching successfully for 40 years.

My first question for you is, what do you see when you candle the eggs? That is far more critical for gauging proper moisture loss during incubation than the actual humidity levels. With 2000 eggs, you would do a sampling and weigh eggs in batches of 24 so can measure their percentage of weight loss, they should have lost 13% of their weight by day 21. Of the chicks that died in the eggs, did they pip and not hatch, or did they fail to pip the eggs at all? If humidity is too high, and the chicks do develop but fail to hatch, they may be too large to move adequately inside the shell prior to hatching. My last question is what are you sanitizing with? That would be my last "potential" issue, that bacteria got to the developing embryos. I hope one of those suggestions helps you trouble shoot your hatches.

candling from day 6-17 seem to be normal embryo alive but cannot say about much about the air cell. Many of the eggs have not start to pip out but very few do ( with some greenish fluid stick on them). I broke out many of the eggs. Many of the embryo are completely developed but not pip. I do not use any chemical for sanitation only water and detergent. Thank you very much for your respond. One thing i forgot to mention we do have black out sometimes for more than 2 hours and i notice the temperature and humidity get little bit high when i turn on solar inverter. what should be done in case of blackout for 2 hours? what should be ideal humidity and temperature for successful hatch?

There are no "stupid questions"... The bottom of the incubator has troughs pressed into it, you just fill them with water, as much or as little as you need to keep your eggs dehydrating on schedule. Use filtered water if you can... distilled, even better. There are detailed instructions on my main website if you need more info...

+shaul hameed Turn at least three times a day, not two and you need to boost your humidity, also 96 deg. f is too low, 99.5 f for a forced air unit, it it's still air (no fan) you need 102 deg. F at upper third of eggs placed. Are you saying that they dried out? What was the air cell like at the end of incubation? Did the embryos develop at all?

I'm also on a whole house solar system (10kw)... the electricity demand varies, of course, depending on the environmental temperature they are already operating in. So, you'll want the incubators in a warm area... do not insulate the incubators and inhibit air flow... the leads into your other problem.. altitude. If you are at 5,600 feet, the forced air units are your best bet... a still air unit would suffer more from the low oxygen levels. With the forced air unit, you will be fine, but expect a lower hatch rate and possibly having to continue your incubation a tad longer. Monitor the moisture loss of the eggs by weighing them periodically... 13% (assuming the eggs are fresh) should be lost by the 21st day. I hope that helps you out... candle those eggs and fill the incubators with eggs, a full incubator is more stable and holds heat better.

Frederick Dunn Also... see my review of the Genesis incubator... it runs on 12 v DC....

That depends on the environmental humidity conditions where you live. In my part of the U.S. I don't put water in my incubators until it's time for pipping, then I fill the reservoir during the hatch so the chicks don't dry out and stick to the shell. In my neck of the woods, high humidity is the number one reason chicks develop yet fail to hatch because they did not lose enough moisture through the shell during incubation and can't properly turn to pip out completely. Or, if they do make it out, chicks developing with high humidity will have albumen poking through their stomach.

+Franz Jayne Re-position them right away, better now than never... they should still be fine assuming all other incubation conditions are good :) I think you've caught the mistake in time... I wish you well with your hatch Franz!

+Frederick Dunn thank you for the info . I just recandled them and set them in accordingly. I will let you all know how the hatch turns out . til then here to crossing my fingers and praying.

I think they will be just fine...

I personally do not... that's because our air already has high humidity and if I added water, the chicks would be too large in the egg for a proper pip and hatch to occur. When the first egg pips, I increase the humidity so the chicks don't stick to the shell lining and dry out.

Thanks. I have a 9300 Little Giant Still Air Incubator with a 6300 automatic egg turner. Anything I should know about it? I didn't change the temperature from the 99.5 preset but I did fill all the water tubes up from the beginning. First batch of 41 eggs, 3 hatched and still living.

Mary Bricker If you have the "still air" version, then 99.5 degrees is too low. Set your thermometer at the upper third of the eggs and measure 101-102 deg F. That is your setting. Still air incubators are warmer at the top and cooler at the bottom. 99.5 is only for forced air incubators.

You don't know that until they hatch and then only if you understand how to sex chicks.

Ok thanks

thanks I want learn more about this

I live I Kenya

Thanks

I'm sorry to say that I don't sell incubators.

I wash my eggs to prevent infection. Mother hens can't wash their eggs, they also don't lay in the same nest over and over again. That's a strange comparison to be honest. The Dept. of Ag requires it in my state in order to prevent disease. Given my use of TekTrol and the success I've had for the past 24 years, I think I'll stick with my methods. If you're just going to eat the eggs, then yes, you don't have to perform sanitization.