Incubation Begins

A few months ago, in preparation for the arrival of my first hatching eggs, I purchased an automatic incubator.

I settled on the Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance based on the popularity of the brand and overwhelmingly positive reviews I'd read previously.

Having completed the simple task of setting up the incubator, I moved it to the position it would occupy until the chicks hatch out in about 21 days time. I carefully loaded the eggs on their sides, taking a moment to put a pencil mark on the uppermost side of each one. The eggs needed to be placed in such a manner that the metal dividers didn't damage the shells.

The following incubation conditions are required:

• A constant temperature of 37.5°C throughout the incubation period. At this temperature the eggs should hatch within 21 days. If the temperature is slightly too low, the eggs will hatch late. If the temperature is slightly too high, the eggs will hatch early. Big extremes of temperature will damage the embryos and decrease the hatch rate.
• A relative humidity of 40-50% for the first 18 days of incubation. The eggs should be regularly turned through an angle of 90° during this 18 day period. The auto turn cradle that comes with the incubator will do this every hour.
• A relative humidity of 60-70% for the final 3 days of incubation. The eggs should not be turned during this 3 day period.

After the first 7 days of incubation I plan on candling each of the eggs to check on the development (or not) of the embryos inside.

As mentioned earlier, under optimum conditions the eggs should hatch after 21 days in the incubator. When the time comes, the chicks should be allowed to hatch naturally without external help. They will then be left in the incubator for another day to dry and gather their strength before being moved into the brooder.

Of the dozen eggs in the incubator, I would consider it a good result if about 10 of them hatched. I am only really interested in hens for egg laying, so it would be nice if more than half of those hatching were female.

I'm rather excited at the whole process, so stay tuned for an incubation update soon.