here is a picture of the 1st Light Brahma to hatch here....and we have another pip, and 3 more eggs to go,
Picture
 

Candled  the eggs tonight and of the 7 set that are due Feb. 16th
1 was infertile
1 I dropped and was developing
5 I can see veining, development and movement.

of those 5,
2 seem really full already, but they have air cells, so they appear to be on schedule.

Temp 99-100.5
RH is 35-40% 
Autoturner & Fan

the green eggs (2) are Light Brahma/ EE
but the other 3 could be

Pure Light Brahma
Light Brahma x Rocks
Light Brahma x NHR
Light Brahma x Black Sex Link

I just randomly chose 7 as that was the empty turner tray I had for this batch.
Normally when I started hatching, I would bring seperate 3-4 hens from the flock and collect from them for 3 days, then add to the incubator.
Since I have never used these incubators before I needed to do a little fiddling with it, so I figured to use my own eggs, rather than waste money & time....
I think I have the incubator figured out. It has cool spots, that I need to avoid putting eggs in or I need to rotate eggs, when I candle them.

The (2nd incubator) Hatcher gets a temp spike every 5th day of running of 104, which drops humidity.  So it needs a fan kit I think.

but for now I have 5 still in the incubator (1) and they will be there until they hatch, to see how well that one works all the way through, I will be upping humidity to 65% for lockdown.
 
I went to bed at 4:00 AM, and got up at 8AM and still only 2 have hatched out.
3 & 4 just Hatched! one more piped!
 
Well the first eggs didn't hatch on Jan 27-29. 
We have a new set of 8 eggs due Feb 3. Let's hope this works better.
We have 2 hatched, 2 -pips and 4 more we are waiting to pip. I will leave the hatched chicks in the incubator until tomorrow when they will more to a brooder. Then we will see about the other eggs at that time
Then we have another 7 more started in incubator #1 that are Due on Feb 16th.
I won't set more eggs till we figure out the incubators. They seem to have temperature swings that are unacceptable to hatching.
Hopefully we will have new chicks soon! I have a video camcorder in with the hatcher.
I may have to get new Waffer thermostats, thermometers....or maybe even build a incubator.
I have been considering this as a option, since I have 4 incubators here, so I have some parts to work with. I can order more parts
There are many interesting links on BYC for building incubators, and brooders and etc....
I have been looking at alot of designs for them and buildings.

I have to find new software for burning my videocam films as the program that came with the camera will not work with Windows Vista and of course I didn't know that when I bought the Video Cam!
I do have videos of the Chickens and Family events, but I can't burn them yet, which is a real bummer, I can't share them until I find a program that can convert & burn them.

that is about all for now on the Hatching News for now.
 
 
I have a Styrofoam incubator with Fan, plugged in with a auto-turner; the Fan & the Turner is working and it is warm in there, but I don't know if it is warm enough. DH will be bringing home new Thermometers when he comes home. Currently he is 67 miles away attempting to rebuild a Transmission for our Suburban, which left me stranded after delivering 12 dozen eggs to the local store last week.

But I think my first hatch will be light Brahma Roo over my laying flock of light Brahmas (4), Barred Rocks (5), New Hampshire Reds (2), Black Sex Link (22) and 1 EE hen.

Just to test the incubator and add to the laying flock. The Brahmas will then be separated out (so I can tell whose egg is whose) for breeding/hatching. I am also going to be getting a few chicks this spring, so I can breed Barred Rocks & New Hampshire Reds as well. But it won’t be till next year that they will be breeding age.

Then the Black Sex Link will be the laying flock and the rest will be my project/breeding birds. I am missing the Roosters for the other breeds. I have a beautiful Light Brahma Roo, but I think the girls need saddles. He has several bare backed now.

I have to find the patterns and see if I have anything to make them out of….lol

This is a project to see if this will work for me. Farmer Ronny...lol
I will be breeding my Light Brahma Roo.....and his ladies and will try to keep my journal and pictures updated!
 
+10 F today, we got 24 eggs from our flock of 32 . I will post a picture of the eggs in a bit.
Several trips to the coop to count heads, as there is a ermine scouting them. So now the flock is locked in the coop; there is a trap set in the Chicken Run, and I have to keep checking it, because I hate anything to suffer.
I am hoping the ermine decides to move on, but I don't think this will be the case. I believe it will continue to hang around til is trapped. it has already dug into the run under the gate.