Staggered duck, chicken and goose eggs. Humidity and lockdown question

[ivy_huan]

Hi everyone
I need a little advice
I'm using an old hovabator forced air incubator.
On March 31, I set 17 duck eggs, and 3 goose eggs from my own flock. They are first year layers. So I wasn't sure how fertile the eggs are

Someone gave me a dozen of Plymouth barred rock eggs and I didn't want to just eat them

When i checked the goose eggs on day 5 I can only see one that's developing for sure

So on April 6 I decided to add 4 goose eggs few more duck eggs and 7 barred rock eggs

Chicken and the hatch #1 should due to hatch on the 27/28

But the other duck and goose eggs are not ready for another week

I have been keep the humidity at 40 ish
I'm wondering what shall I do for lockdown

I'm thinking about putting hatch#2 in a small basket to separate them from the others
Then lock down on the 26 with a little bit water added ( I'm hoping the hatching of the chicken eggs will help raise the humidity naturally for the duck and goose eggs )
What about hatch #2 it's only a week away from their hatching. Will the high humidity during hatch #1 hurt them ?
Shall I just go dry after all the #1 hatches ?

Thank you

 

[ivy_huan]

This is what's in my incubator right now

 

[Hucklekree]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed.491013/

I would cater to the goose eggs if they are the ones you care most about.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Stop turning the first group day 25 but continue to turn the other eggs until you see an external pip
As for humidity you don’t need to up it till an internal pip happens but they really do need it higher as it makes the shell weaker to hatch as well as keeps them from drying out in the egg. I would run 60% as babies hatching will jump it higher
Once all are hatched go back down ti 40 and turn the egg again
It really should be okay
I picked up a second bator for hatching when I did a staggering hatch

 

[Hucklekree]

@ivy_huan see above post.

 

[ivy_huan]

Stop turning the first group day 25 but continue to turn the other eggs until you see an external pip
As for humidity you don’t need to up it till an internal pip happens but they really do need it higher as it makes the shell weaker to hatch as well as keeps them from drying out in the egg. I would run 60% as babies hatching will jump it higher
Once all are hatched go back down ti 40 and turn the egg again
It really should be okay
I picked up a second bator for hatching when I did a staggering hatch

I have been wanting to get another incubator for hatching but never get around to it and really don't want to spend a few hundred dollars on one.

That's my plan. I am not gonna lockdown on particular day but more as when I see an internal pip. How long do I have between an internal pip to external pip especially for chickens as I expect them to hatch first. But I only candle at night when kids are gone to bed and there is no distraction
So run the incubator at 60 for hatching or incubating. Still really have two weeks to go yet for the first batch

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I have been wanting to get another incubator for hatching but never get around to it and really don't want to spend a few hundred dollars on one.

That's my plan. I am not gonna lockdown on particular day but more as when I see an internal pip. How long do I have between an internal pip to external pip especially for chickens as I expect them to hatch first. But I only candle at night when kids are gone to bed and there is no distraction
So run the incubator at 60 for hatching or incubating. Still really have two weeks to go yet for the first batch

I bought a second hand one on Facebook for less then half store price. Just got luckily
As I Also wasn’t wanting to spend big bucks on a second one
I only hatch ducks but I think it’s around 24 hours
But ti be on the safe side let’s get some chicken Hatcher’s to advise

 

[mcdze]

imo 'lockdown' is overhyped nonsense designed to keep noobs from having anxiety attacks and butchering eggs not ready to hatch lol .. there i said it ... you already got a good answer - take the first ones to term, the rest stop turning as you see them pip .. keeping the temp right is really all thats going to matter .. humidity is a minor factor usually, shoot 60ish throughout and youll be golden .. id say humidity only becomes more critical if the eggs were baked dry or drenched early on and were basically mistreated and now you need to try to fix malforming eggs, THEN humidity becomes a major factor .. but lockdown shmockdown? what does that even mean .. i open the bator 10 times a day right at hatch time lol, and its actually ''locked down' the first 3 weeks .. keep the temp right .. period .. get a simple strategy to turn remaining eggs after the first ones pip .. all there is to it really ...

 

[ivy_huan]

I bought a second hand one on Facebook for less then half store price. Just got luckily
As I Also wasn’t wanting to spend big bucks on a second one
I only hatch ducks but I think it’s around 24 hours
But ti be on the safe side let’s get some chicken Hatcher’s to advise

I will keep an close eye on them when they are close to hatching
Another two weeks and it's killing me

 

[ivy_huan]

Th

imo 'lockdown' is overhyped nonsense designed to keep noobs from having anxiety attacks and butchering eggs not ready to hatch lol .. there i said it ... you already got a good answer - take the first ones to term, the rest stop turning as you see them pip .. keeping the temp right is really all thats going to matter .. humidity is a minor factor usually, shoot 60ish throughout and youll be golden .. id say humidity only becomes more critical if the eggs were baked dry or drenched early on and were basically mistreated and now you need to try to fix malforming eggs, THEN humidity becomes a major factor .. but lockdown shmockdown? what does that even mean .. i open the bator 10 times a day right at hatch time lol, and its actually ''locked down' the first 3 weeks .. keep the temp right .. period .. get a simple strategy to turn remaining eggs after the first ones pip .. all there is to it really ...

Thanks for the reply
I'm trying not to go with the lockdown idea this time but more so looking for readiness of the eggs.
I'm keeping my humidity at around 40 but not stress about it when it changes a bit. I also have been rotating my lid everytime I open to turn the eggs so to deal with the hot and cold spots instead of moving the eggs around

When I candle my eggs they all look good and striving but the eggs are dark on one side and I can see the older eggs that the veins are reaching out to the lighter side. Is it because they are rested on the side compare to stand up pointy side down as the egg yolks are more resting on the side as compare to in the middle ?

Thank you for your reply again. I am gonna try to be patient and not looking at the eggs every night