PoultryTalk.com

So we should be getting into the breeding season now, who has chicks or eggs in the incubators? What breeds? What is your fertility like?

We have both eggs in and chicks now! All orps, of various colours. We'll keep hatching now untill end of May, then that's another one over! I love watching them hatch, it's better than anything they have on the telly!!The blacks were a bit slow, but we're off the mark now. I think it was the weather which has slowed the fertility down.
JubesX

Have also got chicks and eggs on the go, got a mixed bunch..they are so funny when hatched as none of us can work out which one is which...fertility not as good as last year but still o.k.
got some light sussex,various pekins,wyandotte and a few orpingtons..so far..

Lucky folks,

Our recent incubations have been awful. We have Marans and the chicks have problems breaking out of the shell.
One lady said that with Marans, she kept the incubator dry until the 20th day and then brought the humidity up adding water to the reservoir.
I have tried it and the shells were brittle - unfortunately none of the eggs were fertile!!

Hi Loz, sounds like you are having the same trouble we had a couple of years ago. You need to check your ambiant humidity, it's different for all of us, and this determinds wether or not you need to add water at all, we actually don't add any, even when the chicks are hatching! The first one out pushes the humidity up enough for the rest to follow without problems. If they are having trouble getting out, it quite often means they are too wet. so too much water is added, the thing i always think is, when chicks are hatching under a broody hen, when they are arriving, you don't see the hen running round the garden with cups of water! It really is, sadly trial and error, and you have to keep good records of what you did and when untill you find out what is the cause of your bad hatch rate. Getting a new incy can be a headache too, because then you have to start all over again! If you live near a water source, ie. a river, or lake, the sea or even if you live on low land, you may not need to add water at all.The weather can also play a huge part in a good result, or a bad one, hot humid weather isn't great for hatching, and a down-pour of rain can also ruin a good hatch. If your ambiant humidity (the reading you get from your hydrometer when not inside the incy, but close to it.) is around 50/60% then try incubating and hatching without adding any extra water.Adding too much before the eggs have 'pipped' can accumilate inside the eggs and drown the chicks, and too much when they have pipped, can cause them to become sticky and get stuck.The egg shells become brittle as a natural proccess of incubation anyway.They resemble porceline when they have been in an incubator, so that's normal. Good luck!
JubesX