Incubating using egg cartons

[Sill]

Forgive me if this question has come up before but I searched and couldn't find any threads on it.

I have a homemade forced-air incubator that fits a Hovebator turner with some room to spare. It works great, I use it for quail eggs often. This time I'm incubating chicken eggs from my sister's flock plus some from mine and some Trader Joe's fertile eggs. That's so many eggs they won't fit in the turner so I'm going to try to keep them in cartons and just tilt the cartons to turn them. My question is do I keep the lids on or tear off the lids of the cartons? I'm not sure they will get enough ventilation with the lids, but with the lids on I can tilt them more without worrying about any eggs falling out.

 

[Drewnkat]

Every time I have seen people using egg cartons to position eggs, they have removed the lids, and cut holes in the bottom for proper air flow. Just like the racks in the turner have holes in them, basically.

I'd venture to guess having proper air flow is a fairly high priority, so my own comfort level would be to make sure they have air, and then exercise caution while moving the cartons.

 

[Sill]

Thanks for the reply. I'll be cutting the cartons then.

 

[RubyNala97]

I'm planning on doing quail eggs next! They are absolutely adorable little chicks!! I might have to pick your brain when the times comes, if that's okay? And yes, I would leave the lid off and cut holes in the container under the eggs, that's what I'm currently doing.

 

[Sill]

I'm planning on doing quail eggs next! They are absolutely adorable little chicks!! I might have to pick your brain when the times comes, if that's okay? And yes, I would leave the lid off and cut holes in the container under the eggs, that's what I'm currently doing.

Sure just let me know. They are the same as chickens as eggs but quicker to hatch. Oh and the mottled eggs make candling tricky.

I got 5 1/2 dozen eggs in cartons, and they pretty much fill the incubator without the turner in there. All cartons are topless and I cut messy holes in the bottoms. They are pretty easy to turn this way and each carton stays upright by itself except the big one tends to lean. So much faster than turning each egg!

 

[Sill]

Finally remembered to get a pic of the incubator with the cartons.



One egg didn't fit so it gets rolled by itself until a clear gets pulled.