Incubator Help - Urgent!!

[julesapple]

We put six eggs into our bator today at about 12noon, but tonight it's stopped working. I can't get a replacement until tomorrow morning. What can I do about the eggs?

Jules

[Suechooks]

Just keep them at room temp I think. As far as I remember Richmond told someone last week that it's not too serious if there's a break early on. Not much else you can do really just keep fingers crossed and hope for the best! Hope it all turns out ok.

[julesapple]

Just keep them at room temp I think. As far as I remember Richmond told someone last week that it's not too serious if there's a break early on. Not much else you can do really just keep fingers crossed and hope for the best! Hope it all turns out ok.

We've left them in the bator, hoping that the less disturbance the better. The bator is only two months old and Brinsea will replace it for me. Thankfully the factory is just a few miles away and I can be there & back in an hour.

Found what Richmond said "the eggs will be fine at this stage. Interruption in incubation doesn't usually harm them in the first day or two. It's at the later stages that they mustn't cool off too much. Time the hatch day from when the hen starts sitting properly on them."


Fingers crossed then,

Jules

[Nicos]

Just seen this!
you did exactly what I would have done...and that would have been my advice too. - not that I've ever had an incubator- how frustrating for you!

My last clutch was sat on and off for the first few days and they hached late.
The alternative would have been to stuff them down ya bra and sleep on your back!!!!

[julesapple]

Just seen this!
you did exactly what I would have done...and that would have been my advice too. - not that I've ever had an incubator- how frustrating for you!

My last clutch was sat on and off for the first few days and they hached late.
The alternative would have been to stuff them down ya bra and sleep on your back!!!!

LOLOLOL I thought of that, but 6 eggs...... Anyhoo, BH left half an hour ago for Brinsea and should be back soon. It'll be a while before I can get the eggs back in though. The new bator has to be scrubbed and brought to temperature etc first. I just hope the eggs are ok for a bit longer.

If the first bator had only packed in half an hour earlier, we could have had a new one within an hour. As it was, it decided that 5 mins before closing time at Brinsea's office was the optimum moment.

Jules

[jessmorris]

Just seen this!
you did exactly what I would have done...and that would have been my advice too. - not that I've ever had an incubator- how frustrating for you!

My last clutch was sat on and off for the first few days and they hached late.
The alternative would have been to stuff them down ya bra and sleep on your back!!!!

Boo. How frustrating for you Jules!

I was just going to post something on this them when I spotted Nicos post - I discovered last night that one of my broodies had abandoned her clutch to be with her sister. She's only been on them two days at most so I guess the above will apply? I've put all the eggs under a more reliable and fluffier bird now, so hopefully they'll warm up again and get going. Not gone for the bra option this time.....
J

[RichmondHens]

How frustrating Jules, but I'm sure they will be fine. They will obviously be a day or two behind the hen's lot, but that shouldn't matter. You should still be able to introduce them to the hen. As they will be a little younger you will need to do it at night so the hen doesn't get off them to tend to her others. By morning they should all have bonded happily.

[julesapple]

Dilemma.....

My beloved has not only gone and fetched the incubator, but stopped at a local breeder to buy me some fresh eggs 'just in case' our precious Coronation eggs are wasted. Bless him, this was a big thing for him to do as he's feeling a bit overwhelmed by chooks as it is. It must be catching because he's bought 18 eggs.....

So, these eggs are fresh but they've been jiggled in the car for 30 mins. Can I put them in the new bator as soon as it's up & running in an hour or so, or should I leave it 24 hours as recommended everywhere. Come to think of it, should I leave the new bator 24 hours? I wanted to get the Coronations back in asap.

Help please!

Jules

[RichmondHens]

What's the capacity of the incubator? Will it take 24 eggs? Are the new eggs Coronations too? You could put all in together later. Don't worry about letting them settle for 24 hrs. A couple of hours sitting will be enough. Don't know about the incubator though. I would have thought once it's up and running you can load it and get going, but you will have to look at the instructions.

As a thought, if they all hatch, the hen won't cover all of them I don't think. What will you do with the extras? Raise in a brooder?

PS: You have a very thoughtful hubby ...........

[julesapple]

What's the capacity of the incubator? Will it take 24 eggs? Are the new eggs Coronations too? You could put all in together later. Don't worry about letting them settle for 24 hrs. A couple of hours sitting will be enough. Don't know about the incubator though. I would have thought once it's up and running you can load it and get going, but you will have to look at the instructions.

As a thought, if they all hatch, the hen won't cover all of them I don't think. What will you do with the extras? Raise in a brooder?

PS: You have a very thoughtful hubby ...........

All eggstras will be raised under the heat lamp in the brooder pen. Our older babies will be able to go outside in their own run by the time these hatch. The new eggs are 6x Friesians, 6x Blue Leghorns and 6 lucky dips to make up the full quota. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the lucky dips are. Had to look up the others on the superinterhighway to see what they looked like.

I DO have a thoughtful hubby......the lady at the bator factory told him it would hold 24, so he did his sums. The lady then also recommended her husband to supply mine with eggs. Very clever lady, you have to admire her chutzpah.

I am amazed (and thrilled) that he bought the eggs as, although he loves our 6 girls (he said he never would they're just chickens) and he can chick-watch for hours (he says he's just tidying the garden) he's always been against us buying more POLs, and he frequently moans about the cost of keeping our spoilt girls (even though he drives me to get supplies and will buy much more than we need and will pick up any greens on reduced when shopping) and says that any eggs produced are the world's most expensive eggs. But guess who eats most of them.......he even made proper mayonnaise the other day.

The bator is up & running, all systems go, so I'm going to put the eggs back in this afternoon. All this is worse than pregnancy

Before that, I'm getting the icecream maker out. We've got an egg glut despite only three laying.

Thanks everyone for your advice, no doubt I'll require more soon!

Jules

[Hilary B]

Isn't it recommended practice to put eggs in the incubator when both are the same temperature? If there is even a little humidity, and the eggs are cooler than the atmosphere in the machine, you will get condensation on the eggs!