Is it better to lockdown early or late?

[bwhitley4936]

I am a first time hatcher and set 6 eggs late day on the 10th. I have to take my daughter for a 24 hour medical test this morning. I had planned to lockdown before I left, but am having second thoughts bc I feel my air sacs are on the small side. I don't want to up the humidity any sooner than needed. Yesterday evening I could see the eggs rocking in the incubator, so that has me worried they may be closer to hatching than I think. They have been incubating around 99-100° with humidity levels in the mid 30s. Does rocking of the eggs mean they are close to pipping? I haven't slept a wink tonight trying to decide what to do! I don't see any internal pips or hear any peeping. Any advise would be appreciated!

 

[jaredthefox]

I put mine in lock down at day 18 or 19. Works out great for me. Putting lockdown to early is worse than to late.

 

[torilovessmiles]

Rocking eggs mean they're close to pipping, they're moving around to position themselves to hatch. Turn off the turner now if you have one!
A day or two early is better than a day or two late, considering I almost always get early pippers on day 19! Often, people who have a mix of bantams and standards put them on lockdown on day 16 or 17 since bantams often hatch early. Lockdown on day 16 is better than day 20, because on 20, half of your chicks could already be hatched. Day 18 is best, but early over late definitely.

 

[jaredthefox]

Your temps ain't right if you got hatching 2 days early. I have automatic egg turners and they move so slow that it don't really matter if I don't turn them off. I currently have 200 eggs in my incubator and hatch 30-50 every week. If you stop turning your eggs on day 16 you raise the risk of them settling to the egg skin and that would make them more vulnerable to sticking to the skin.

 

[torilovessmiles]

Your temps ain't right if you got hatching 2 days early. I have automatic egg turners and they move so slow that it don't really matter if I don't turn them off. I currently have 200 eggs in my incubator and hatch 30-50 every week. If you stop turning your eggs on day 16 you raise the risk of them settling to the egg skin and that would make them more vulnerable to sticking to the skin.

They won't stick at day 16. The embryos only stick early on in incubation, not in the last few days.
21 is just a guide, they can hatch as early as day 19 and as late as day 23, no matter your temps. Even with a broody, some hatch early and some hatch late. There are entire threads devoted to this subject.

 

[bwhitley4936]

Thanks for the input! I had to leave this morning for our appointment before I could get any responses. I went with my gut and laid them with the lowest portion of the air cell up and added about a tablespoon of water to my water bowl. I had my DH go check them at lunch and reported that the humidity was 80%

I sat here all day worried sick about my eggs! When he got off work he came over to the hospital to sit with our daughter (we live about an hour away) and I ran home to check on things and settle the "funny farm" for the night. Much to my relief he was reading the temperature dial off a thermometer/hygrometer combo that wasn't even inside the incubator!

Eggs looked good with my humidity around 35%. While leaving them on their sides I held a light up to the fat end and much to my surprise the air cells have enlarged!

Still no signs of internal pipping and saw movement. Hopefully we will be out of here and home by early afternoon tomorrow.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks for the input! I had to leave this morning for our appointment before I could get any responses. I went with my gut and laid them with the lowest portion of the air cell up and added about a tablespoon of water to my water bowl. I had my DH go check them at lunch and reported that the humidity was 80%

I sat here all day worried sick about my eggs! When he got off work he came over to the hospital to sit with our daughter (we live about an hour away) and I ran home to check on things and settle the "funny farm" for the night. Much to my relief he was reading the temperature dial off a thermometer/hygrometer combo that wasn't even inside the incubator!

Eggs looked good with my humidity around 35%. While leaving them on their sides I held a light up to the fat end and much to my surprise the air cells have enlarged!

Still no signs of internal pipping and saw movement. Hopefully we will be out of here and home by early afternoon tomorrow.

Hopefully you'll have plenty of time to get back and get it raised before an external pip. 35% would be real low for them to externally pip in, but if there were no internal pips you have better chances of having time to up the humidity before they pip. Anytime you get to lockdown/hatch and feel your air cells are too small you can hatch upright in cut down cartons to reduce the risk of excess moisture finding its way into the air cell after the internal pip. When you hatch in cartons you just want to keep an eye near the bottom for malpositioned hatchers because it's harder to see tham and they have a better chance of not getting air.


Now, I'd like to comment on some other off topic comments.

It is not neccessary to turn eggs after 2 weeks of incubation. Once the embryo is a fully formed chick and has the ability to move around there is no danger to it "sticking" to the side. That danger lies in early development. As a matter of fact I now turn eggs for the last time at the end of day 13. The developmental chart states that eggs start to turn toward the big end of the egg at day 14, so it makes more sense to me to stop turning before they start this process and give them a fairly still environment to do their thing in. (My last hatch was 100% with no wrong end (pointy end malpositioned pippers. All healthy and happy.)

Eggs can rock days before pipping when they move to the round end as well as day 17/18 when they are positioning themselves (head under wing). Many people see rocking at day 17/18 and then nothing again until day 20/21.

I would never leave a turner in during hatching because they increase the probability of leg injuries.

While 21 is a guidline, temps affect how close to the norm a chick will hatch. If they are hatching a day or two early it is a sign of slightly elevated temps and if they are a day or two late it is a sign of slightly cooler temps during the incubation. Mine are usually a day or two early as I use an LG and my average temps run more along the 100 mark than the 99.5.

Lockdown early vs late all depends. If you have significantly small aircells locking down early could do more damage than locking down late. If there are no internal pips and it's only a matter of one day, I would go for the day later. If the air cells are good and on target I would go for a day early to make sure the humidity was up for the pip.

The only things that are certain in incubation is temps. There is not much argument about what temps eggs should incubate in (with the exception of wh

ether to lower it for hatch or not.) Everything else has too many factors for there to be absolutes and people find success in many different ways. A hatcher can only find what works for them and take other's advice into consideration. What works for one might not work for another.

 

[bwhitley4936]

Ok I just got home and before I even opend the bathroom door I hear peeping!!!! I added water and humidity is already up to 66%. They are in a homemade styrofoam cooler incubator with a fan. I have read and read and thought I was prepared, but the sound of that little peep has turned my brain to mush! Haha. There still is no external pips. Can the humidity be too high during hatching? How long before I should see an external pip? My DH said he thought he heard a cheep this morning. Gah! This is so nerve wrecking!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Ok I just got home and before I even opend the bathroom door I hear peeping!!!! I added water and humidity is already up to 66%. They are in a homemade styrofoam cooler incubator with a fan. I have read and read and thought I was prepared, but the sound of that little peep has turned my brain to mush! Haha. There still is no external pips. Can the humidity be too high during hatching? How long before I should see an external pip? My DH said he thought he heard a cheep this morning. Gah! This is so nerve wrecking!

LOL. It can be anywhere between a few hours to a full 24 hours between internal pip to external pip and the same thing from external pip to zip. I run 75% at lockdown (because I am a meddler) and it often goes up past 80%, but I try to keep it from being that elevated for too long. If you see condensation on/in the bator it's too high. Depending how big the bator is you may find that you get condensation at a lower percentage.

 

[bwhitley4936]

Sorry for the frantics! I am a worry wort meddler too and being away for a day and a half really put me into high anxiety mode! Within about 10 minutes of adding my water and getting the humidity up we have a small external pip!!!! I don't think it has broken the membrane yet. I just heard another small faint peep out of it. Should the peeping be pretty continuous, or do they quiet down for period of time?