AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi everyone I'm Kirsty,
I am a first time poster but have been reading this forum for a year now. I have recently got into breeding my chickens after buying some light sussex from a show breeder, they are the loveliest chickens I have ever had, although I did love my ex cage hens that I rescued previously.
I was having a few problems with foxes on our property and had finally got in touch with my neighbour up the dirt road to ask if he was having the same problems and to also introduce myself. I found out he was a retired show breeder and judge of poultry and from then on we have made a great friendship, with sharing stories and giving me great information. With my new interest in breeding he got the breeding bug back and started to get some chickens for himself and has also brought some for me to start breeding with, he then purchased a large 260 egg incubator and we have both set eggs in it.
Anyway back to the topic at hand, I have been looking after the incubator with regular checks about 4-5 times a day turning and topping up water as he has had some family issues that have taken him away for a few days every week. We have now finally reached the day of hatching and he is away, I am a novice to say the least and am a little nervous about the hatch. All temperature and humidity are right on the money as the gauges actually have the recommended temps written on them, so that is all good. I went and checked them at midday and I dont hear anything yet and there is no holes or cracks. All 60 eggs are down in the hatching trays ready and the brooder box is ready with one of those red warm lights attached to it. I am hoping that some of my 16 sussex eggs hatch as I would love some more as I only have 3 hens and my rooster "Ronnie" left after as I previously stated a fox problem (I have since fixed that problem with fort knox cages and my pig who patrols the chicken yards). I also have an old english bantam girl who is sitting on 11 eggs at the moment and they are due to hatch next week, so babies everywhere, fingers crossed. I was told to leave the chickens that do hatch in the incubator till they dry out and then place them in the brooder but it is hard to see in the incubator without opening it as the windows are a little small and the turning trays are in the way of seeing clearly down the bottom, hopefully opening it for a short time for me to check them all is not too bad??
So I just thought I would kinda introduce myself and share my first ever incubator hatch, but if anyone has any useful information that I may need to know I would be most grateful for the advice.
Thanks
Kirsty

Hi there Kirsty and a HUGE chooky welcome to the forum. So you've been a "lurker" for 12 months. Boy, I only looked at this forum once and joined (gotta have my say! ! )

I too have Light Sussex (for meat production) and have a Light Sussex hen (two actually) who have gone broody. I did have some issues with nest swapping etc, and have spotted her off the nest twice during the broody period. Threw some out today, very spectacular when they popped. My hens went broody the day my home made incubator was ready to take some eggs on. So I have an each way bet at the moment like you. We have had a few really cold nights (frosts) these last few days, and I'm thinking my eggs in the incubator may have been too cold for too long, so this morning I got out my trusty glue gun and now have double layers of polystyrene and every nook and cranny has been patched up. Gggrrr. Oh well tomorrow will tell the tale I'm guessing.

My neighbour has a Bellsouth incubator, which they kept on opening up, everything hatched ok, but I'd go down there with the torch and peer in through the tiny glass window. If you can avoid it, I'd recommend just trying to see what you can with a torch. It's hard to resist though isn't it! ! ! I made a full glass front on my incubator, to avoid the "peek" worries which we all feel when we can't resist. It's covered with polystyrene at the moment, but is easy to flip up to "check" for any progress.

How exciting. Light Sussex are such beautiful big birds arent' they.

Have fun and keep us all posted hey!

Cheers for now.

Ann

Hi Kirsty, nothing to helpful but as I have just had my first hatch, I know of your excitement and concerns, go for gold, hope all your sussex come good, one of my favourite breeds.

Hi everyone,

Well it is not looking too good, I have had none hatch, although my neighbor was a bit vague on the dates himself. he checked some of the eggs before he went away and the ones he checked seemed fine and good to go. I checked again yesterday and swore I saw a couple of eggs moving so maybe the fact that we have had some weird weather out here has slowed the incubation a little. The weather has been hot some days and then very cold others, it is raining and cold today but 2 days ago it was hot and humid....grrrr
He has the incubator in a shed that is not very good at keeping the drafts out but the temp and humidity have always stayed right where they should. I am not sure what kind of incubator it is but it seems old it has a brand tag on the front that says Saunders on it, but all the seals are in perfect condition, it has sliding holes that can be shut and opened to let more air flow through and it is fan forced. I have only opened it up to fill the bottom with water and fill the wet bulb thing up and thats it, I have been peering in through the windows every other time but it is a bit hard to see. It has been a little hard to keep a good eye on it when I am not living there and having to drive up the road to check so I am not sure whether the power has gone out or what during the incubation. I want to get an incubator myself, just a small one and have been looking at making one after looking at all the people on here who have made one.
But all in all I am still waiting as I am not sure of the dates anymore????? I really do hope something hatches even if it is only 1 I think I would be happy now....anyway it has been a good practice if anything and alot of knowledge for me, although my 2 young children are a little dissapointed that they havent arrived and I am having a hard time coming up with excuses as to why, I have changed the subject on them with the fact that our dorpers will be lambing in January and that there will be little lambies running around soon so hopefully that makes it better??? lol

Well we left the eggs in for a few extra days but still nothing, my neighbour took all of them out and cracked them to check. NONE were even showing any signs of growth and looked like fresh eggs.
So we are scratching our heads on this one???? We had eggs in the incubator from 3 different roosters 2 are my neighbours 1 is mine. My rooster has been with our hens since 10wks old and he is now 1yr old, my neighbours roosters are the same age and all have been with the hens for over 6mths. All eggs were less than 10 days old before going in the incubator and stored correctly before.
How could we both have unfertilized eggs???
Or could it have been the incubator in the early weeks?
My neighbour is cleaning and disinfecting the incubator now and going to run it again for a couple of days to check the temps through the day and night to see if we have any temperature drop through the night.
If anyone knows any reason why we could have had this happen that we are overlooking then pls help.
I still have my old english bantam who has been sitting on 11 of her own eggs now for 19 days, so I will soon see if she hatches any out.
I should also say I had a small lice problem in my sussex's and have since dealt with that but can they do any damage to fertilizing??? I dont know but thought I would try and give out as much info as I can.

Sounds like a bit of a disappointment Kirsty.

I have had similar issues, but only a few were infertile. Here's the thread of my issues and post-mortem. viewtopic.php?f=39&t=5281&start=50

Hope this helps with your investigations? Just wondering, were the eggs under your broody from the same batch. If so, then you'll at least get an answer regarding the fertility issue.

Cheers for now.

Ann

We have been thinking that it might be something to do with the incubator, but are yet to find out. The eggs under my broody girl are her own and none of her other eggs went in the incubator so we are waiting to see if she can hatch anything. We are completely stumped at the moment???? Surely we cant have 3 or 4 infertile roosters, can we??? My broody's partner is another rooster all together so lets hope we get some chicks.

I hear cheeping!!!!!!! What a relief that is, my broody girl was sitting in her box this morning and all I can hear is cracking and cheeping. Not sure how many have hatched or are going to but it is a good sign. She has 11 eggs under her and started to sit on them on the 16th sept.
My first hatch, makes me a lot happier
and to top it off my neighbour brought me 3 muscovy ducks, 1 male and 2 females, apparently they will start laying in december. Will have to read up on muscovy ducks now...lol
Thanks for all the help and support, will keep the info coming in on how many hatch and if we find out whats wrong with our incubator.
I have just started to put together a home made incubator from a Fisher/Paykel fridge that died 2 days after the warranty ran out.....goto know that was going to happen, and have loads of essentials posting to me from ebay to finish it off.
YAY!!!! baby chicks.