Once your eggs have shipped, please notify your Postal Carrier that you have eggs en-route.  Let him or her know, that the box should not be left in direct sunlight, or out in the cold.  If you won't be home to receive delivery, it may be best to have the package kept at the Post Office in a cool location (warm in winter) until you can pick it up personally.

Before setting eggs:

A good rule of thumb is: The earlier the eggs are incubated, the better.  Your eggs will have been mailed within 24 hours of being produced, check the postage date and that is your benchmark for how old the eggs are (add 24 hours to that date).

Run your incubator without any eggs for 24 to 48 hours, regulating and checking the internal temperature and humidity.  Do not place water in incubator at the beginning during humid summer months, wait to see how the eggs dehydrate first. Follow the chart which may be included in your shipment.

**Always remember to wash hands before handling eggs, skin oils can block egg pores.  Gentle handling is critical once incubation has started, unless you?re turning them by hand, the handling days should be 1^st, 14^th and 18^th day.  If you have any questions whatsoever, please e-mail 

Fred@FredsFineFowl.com .  

THE HATCHING PROCESS
 

Please handle carefully and don't forget to wash your hands, skin oils block pores.

·Please do not wash eggs you receive from Fred's Fine Fowl, only clean eggs are shipped and no further fumigation or sanitizing is required.  If you see some dirt on the shell, it has been rendered free of bacteria/pathogens prior to packaging and shipment.  If you have eggs from another source, it's recommended that you not place them into your incubator without first sanitizing/fumigating.  Contaminated eggs will colonize uncontaminated eggs very quickly in the incubator environment! 

Egg Care and Storage

Many times a buyer carefully attends to the incubation process but disregards the care of the eggs before they are placed in the incubator. Even before incubation starts the embryo is developing and needs proper care. Hatching eggs suffer from reduced hatchability if the eggs are not cared for properly. Shipping and handling also takes its toll on eggs, obtain your eggs from the closest possible source.  Listed below are tips to help maintain hatching egg quality.

1.      Take no chances, please do not set dirty eggs.  Dirty eggs will not be shipped.

2.      Store eggs in a cool-humid storage area.  Ideal storage conditions include a 55-degree F. temperature and 75% relative humidity.  Store the eggs with the small end pointed downward.  Most basements are great for storage in summer, cool and humid naturally.

3.      Alter egg position periodically if not incubating within 6 days of the date they were produced. Turn the eggs to a new position once daily until placing in the incubator.  Some people tilt their eggs side to side in long-term storage (more than 6 days from lay date), I prefer to invert them daily (pointed end down, then pointed end up) this is a better way to keep the yolk centered.

4.      Hatchability holds reasonably well up to seven days, but declines rapidly afterward. Therefore, do not store eggs more than 7 days before incubating. After 3 weeks of storage, hatchability drops to almost zero. Plan ahead and avoid storage problems and reduced hatches.  Only purchase eggs when ready to begin incubation.  Have your incubator up and running before eggs are due to arrive.

5.      Allow cool eggs to warm slowly to room temperature before placing in the incubator. Abrupt warming from 55 degrees to 100 degrees causes moisture condensation on the eggshell that leads to disease and reduced hatches.  Likewise, eggs which have undergone the shipping experience, should be settled for hours prior to incubation. 

Incubators

The size and type of incubator selected depends on the needs and future plans of each producer. Many different models are available. For continuous settings, separate incubator and hatch units are recommended. If all eggs in the unit are at the same stage of incubation, a single unit can be used.  See detailed directions and demonstrations in the DVD titled Regarding Chickens.  Even some who have hatched for years have found improvement in their hatches by following the DVD.

Locate the incubator and hatch units indoors to protect them from major weather changes. It is essential that the room have a good ventilation system to supply plenty of fresh air. Keeping the units indoors makes it easier to maintain uniform temperature and humidity.
There are basically two types of incubators available, forced-air and still-air incubators. Forced-air incubators have fans that provide internal air circulation. The capacity of these units may be very large. The still-air incubators are usually small without fans for air circulation. Air exchange is attained by the rise and escape of warm, stale air and the entry of cooler fresh air near the base of the incubator. Recommended temperatures vary between the two incubators, so follow the manufacturer's recommendation that accompany the units.  There are many popular table-top units available.  If you have problems locating an incubator, please write and I'll get you going in the right direction.  Two companies you may want to look into are: Brower Top-Hatch incubator, or Little Giant.  The Brower does everything, automatically turning the eggs, forced air and serves well as a temporary brooder.  The Little Giant is very quiet, holds temperature well and comes with forced air fan or still air options.  Clean up of the Little Giant can be a challenge if you hatch in it, as it is Styrofoam. 

Incubating Conditions

Poor results are most commonly produced with improper control of temperature and/or humidity. Improper control means that the temperature or humidity is too high or too low for a sufficient length of time that it interferes with the normal growth and development of the embryo. Poor results also occur from improper ventilation, egg turning and sanitation of the machines or eggs.  I personally use Tek-Trol as a disinfectant, cleaner and sanitizer for my incubation/brooder units and hatching eggs.  It serves as a staphylocidal, pseudomonacidal, solmonellacidal, aspergillocidal, tuberculococidal, virucidal, fungicidal, mildewcidal and deodorant.

Obtain the best hatch by keeping the temperature at 99.5 degrees F. throughout the entire incubation period when using a forced-air incubator. Minor fluctuations (less than ½ degree) above or below 99.5 degrees are tolerated, but do not let the temperatures vary more than a total of 1 degree. Prolonged periods of high or low temperatures will alter hatching success. High temperatures are especially serious. A forced-air incubator that is too warm tends to produce early hatches. One that runs consistently cooler tends to produce late hatches. In both cases the total chicks hatched will be reduced.  I generally run my forced air units at 99.5 deg. F.  If you are incubating during summer months, during the end of the hatch, automatic turner and fan motors may generate additional heat along with the embryos.  This may cause the temperature to rise uncontrolled and your chicks will die in the shells.  Do not incubate in a room where temperatures rise above 75 deg. F.

Maintain a still-air incubator at 102 degrees F. to compensate for the temperature layering within the incubator. Obtain the proper temperature reading by elevating the bulb of the thermometer to the same height as the top 1/3rd of the eggs when the eggs are lying horizontal. The temperature is measured at the level where the embryos develop (at the top of the egg). Do not allow the thermometer's bulb to touch the eggs or incubator. Incorrect readings will result.  Doing this with a group of kids?  Have them watch the incubation segment on the DVD Regarding Chickens! Check the thermometer! Is it accurate? An error of one degree for 21 days can seriously interfere with embryonic growth. Check the incubator thermometer's accuracy by placing the bulb next to the bulb of a clinical (the kind used to measure body temperature) or good laboratory thermometer. Hold both under lukewarm tap water and compare the readings. Compensate for any variation of the incubating thermometer by increasing or decreasing by the amount of variation. A thermometer with a split or gapped mercury column will not give an accurate reading, discard it.
Humidity is carefully controlled to prevent unnecessary loss of egg moisture. The relative humidity in the incubator between setting and three days prior to hatching should remain at 58-60% or 84-86 degree F., wet-bulb. When hatching,(during final 3 days of incubation) fill all water troughs with boiled/filtered water to maximize humidity, chicks may dry during pipping and become stuck in their shells otherwise. 

In my opinion, the best method for determining correct humidity is to candle the eggs at various stages of incubation. The normal size of the air cell after 7, 14, and 18 days of incubation for a chicken egg is shown below. Necessary humidity adjustments can be made as a result of the candling inspection. The eggs weight must decrease by 12% during incubation if good hatches are expected.  Please, make sure you have vents open, if air cannot exchange at an adequate rate, your chicks may suffocate, they must breath through the egg shell and if air is stagnant inside the incubator waste respiration has nowhere to go.

Please, pay careful attention to the size of the air cell during development.
If the air cell is too small on the 18^th day, your chick will be too chubby and may not be able to turn properly inside the shell to pip out.  This is a very common cause of failure to hatch in fully developed chicks. 

The water pan area should be equivalent to one-half the floor surface area or more. Increased ventilation during the last few days of incubation and hatching may necessitate the addition of another pan of water or a wet sponge. Humidity is maintained by increasing the exposed water surface area.  I keep vent holes completely open throughout the incubation process.  If there is a spoiled egg in the bunch, it may off gas and kill the remaining embryos.  Ventilation is critical.

Ventilation is very important during the incubation process. While the embryo is developing, oxygen enters the egg through the shell and carbon dioxide escapes in the same manner. As the chicks hatch, they require an increased supply of fresh oxygen. As embryos grow, the air vent openings are gradually opened to satisfy increased embryonic oxygen demand. Care must be taken to maintain humidity during the hatching period. Unobstructed ventilation holes, both above and below the eggs, are essential for proper air exchange.
If you lose power during incubation:  A proper response depends on several factors, some of which include the temperature of the room in which the incubator is located, the number of eggs in the machine, and whether the eggs are in the early or late stage of incubation.
The two most important considerations in this situation are to (1) keep the eggs from overheating and (2) be sure they have an adequate oxygen supply. The longer the eggs incubate and the greater the number of eggs in the incubator, the greater the chance that you will experience overheating and suffocation of the embryos.  A full incubator, like a full fridge, provides for more stable temperature regulation as each egg helps hold current temperatures.  I have had some success during power outages by plugging the units into a battery backup designed for computer use.  It serves as a surge protector as well.   
If the room in which the incubator is located is hot and stuffy, you will have to react more quickly to power outages than if the room is kept at 75 degrees and is well ventilated. The most effective guard against overheating and suffocation is to open the door of the incubator or hatcher. Whether the door is opened slightly or fully and the length of time it is left open depends on the factors mentioned earlier.

Eggs must be turned at least 3-5 times daily during the incubation period. Do not turn eggs during the last three days before hatching. The embryos are moving into hatching position and need no turning. Keep the incubator closed during hatching to maintain proper temperature and humidity. The air vents should be almost fully open during the latter stages of hatching.  If the room is free from drafts, I recommend leaving vents open throughout the incubation process.

The eggs are initially set in the incubator with the large end up or horizontally with the large end slightly elevated. This enables the embryo to remain oriented in a proper position for hatching. Never set eggs with the small end upward.
In a still-air incubator, where the eggs are turned by hand, it may be helpful to place an "X" on one side of each egg and an "O" on the other side, using a pencil. This serves as an aide to determine whether all eggs are turned. When turning, be sure your hands are free of all greasy or dusty substances. Eggs soiled with oils suffer from reduced hatchability. Take extra precautions when turning eggs during the first week of incubation. The developing embryos have delicate blood vessels that rupture easily when severely jarred or shaken, thus killing the embryo.  When turning eggs to look at them during candling, do not spin the eggs, turn slowly. 
 Don't forget, that candling your eggs during incubation is very important, monitoring the air cell size is the most effective way to determine proper humidity.
The following table lists incubation requirements for various species of fowl.

IF ALL OF THIS IS CONFUSING

GET THE DVD VIDEO ENTITLED: REGARDING CHICKENS

IT WILL ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS (">