Being home all the time with both little kids, I thought it would be a good idea to hatch some chicken eggs. We have layers, however they need overhauled. I have a #9300 still air incubator. A few questions:

1. Should I buy the turning racks, or just do it twice by hand by day?
2. If I skip the rack, what sort of spacing should the eggs have in the incubator?
3. Turn them by hand twice per day, is that enough?
4. Recommendations for temp and humidity?

Thanks a bunch.

I have a turner it works fine see if you can add a fan to that model, a old chicken lady told me to spray them down with room temp water 2X a day for a better hatch ratio it did help. Just a clean spray mist bottle is all you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Magicfly-Digital-Automatic-Incubator-Chickens/dp/B00KD75VHW/ref=sr_1_10?crid=YTWMDQB9PX6Q&keywords=egg+incubator&qid=1584480916&sprefix=egg+in%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-10

I have this one the wife got during a black friday sale for like 50 bucks. This thing will hatch some eggs. If they are fertile they have hatched. Just keep some water in the bottom of it the whole time. It has a little fan and has an auto turner. Its cheap and stupid simple. I have never bothered checking humidity and temp and all that stuff. I pack it full of eggs too, it fits 12 and I can 15 in it with some outside the turning tray.

Dont get overcomplicate hatching eggs. They are built to hatch, they just need some warmth and a little humidity.

I have turned them by hand and let the auto turner do its thing. Both ways work but letting it do its own thing is what i do these days. I check it every few days and make sure its got water in it and just mark on the kitchen board the day to take them off the turner (3days before hatching i think) and suddenly there will be a bunch of chirping poop machines everywhere. I also have to recommend the "mother hen" heater
https://www.amazon.com/Premier-Chic...ick+heater&qid=1584481412&sr=8-4

The heating plate thing works great and all our chicks go to it immediately and love it. Keeps em quiet and warm. Its also ALOT safer than just the big red lights, those things have caused many fires when they get bumped and touch something flammable.

Hatch what you can and don’t fret the rest. You will never be as good as a hen.

Great project for kids. Understanding how the hatching process work helps.

i like using a turner(easy to forget to hand turn em)
i aiim to keep the temp at 100
don't have a way to check the humidity so i keep a check on the water i put in it.

The automatic turrner makes it pretty easy. I've turned by hand and it gets old. The model I have now gives humidity and temperature readings as well. Since I got it my hatch rate has gone way up. This model also has a fan which keeps the air moving and more constant temp. My old one I would get kill offs at certain days which would be from the temp getting to high. Like someone said they are made to hatch and if they aren't hatching the days that they die off can tell you whats going wrong with the incubation. I posted a link to the model I have hope it works.

https://www.strombergschickens.com/...-picture-window-hovabator-incubator-1588

Sorry should have read better didn't realize you already bought the still air. Humidity should run 55 or so until hatching then go to 65. Run your temp at 99.5 or so. Like I said in the other post sometimes the still air you will have chicks die off not all at once but two or three here and there sometimes just a few days before hatching. At least that was my experience.

Thanks. This one came with the "aftermarket" fan. Hope that helps.

You can buy a cheap humidity gauge for a few bucks on amazon or probably find one at a hardware or feed store. For a simple setup you can just adjust the humidity by the size of the water dish. wider dish has more surface area so water evaporates faster making it more humid. A lot of what you read on the internet is way more complicated. put a 3-4 inch wide dish of water in there, keep it full. Turn them a few times a day and call it good. More turning and perfect humidity might keep your hatch rate higher but if you have an easy supply of fertile eggs you can always hatch more if the rate is poor. I am incubating emu right now, they cost me so much for eggs I am watching the conditions perfectly. Chicken eggs are a dime a dozen if you have your own flock, you should get 50% without trying too hard.