2 different hatching times.. how do I work out Lockdown?

[chickenlover2251]

I have 3 Crele Old English Game eggs and 6 Birchen OEG eggs in the same incubator ( a hova bator). The Crele eggs are 2 days ahead of the Birchen, and are due to go into lockdown tomorrow. The Birchen eggs are due to go into lock down on Monday. Since they are both in the same incubator, how should I manage this? Should I add water to both chambers tomorrow for the Crele eggs that are in lockdown? Will this mess up the Birchen eggs? Is it still ok to turn the Birchen while the Crele are in lockdown if I make it quick? Can I just have the Birchen eggs go into lock down with the Crele when they are only on day 16? Any suggestions for me? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your help!

 

[CarolJ]

Great question because I have the same situation. 19 eggs set on Sept. 12th, and then 7 eggs added on Sept. 14th. I don't see any way not to have to open the bator during lockdown. The 7 that were added later will need to be turned - and then the chicks that hatch from the first set will have to be taken out of the bator during the lockdown period for the second set. Other than buying a second bator to use as a hatcher, I don't know how to solve this satisfactorily. Can't wait to hear from others.

 

[TinyChickenLady]

Maybe you can split the difference and put them all in lockdown in Sunday. I had that issue once and that's what I did.
CarolJ - I would suggest the same thing. Try doing lockdown on the 13th.
Some will be turned an extra day and others will lose a day but at least it won't affect the humidity if you just do it that way.
That's just my 2 cents.
Either way maybe this will bump you for a better answer.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I agree, split the difference.
I had that situation and it didn't cause any problems. You can quit turning the earlier ones. You're likely to get a humidity spike as they start to hatch and I think that's the biggest issue.

 

[yinepu]

going in to lockdown a few days early won't hurt the eggs any.. it's better to go in early than to go in late.. lock them down when the first ones are due to go in if the difference is only a day or two

 

[chickenlover2251]

yinepu: If I go into lockdown early, I won't continue turning the birchen eggs, correct? The crele eggs will go into lockdown on day 18 and the birchen on day 16?

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
correct.. you would be in lockdown.. turning eggs is more important during the beginning of incubation.. so the eggs which are on day 16 wouldn't be turned

 

[chickenlover2251]

Ok, thank you so much! I hope all goes well. I can't wait for the chickies

 

[Ridgerunner]

First, the recommendations on here are guidelines, not absolute laws of nature. Following the guidelines exactly does not guarantee success. Violating them does not guarantee failure. If you follow the guidelines as best you can, you improve your odds of success. I assure you, many of us violate some of the guidelines and usually do OK. No guarantees, but we are usually OK. The guidelines are intended to cover us in many different situations. As you gain experience, you start to understand better which guidelines you need to follow real closely and which you can relax a bit. That can be different for each of us.

You don't know when those eggs will hatch. Odds are they will hatch two days apart, but that could be two days early, two days late, or pretty much on time. There are a lot of different things that go into it. The main factor is average incubating temperature, but many other things can influence the actual hatch time. Lockdown three days before theoretical hatch is intended to cover all those differences. If you think about that, you can see that it is not important that they be in lockdown exactly three days before they hatch, but that they be in lockdown some time before they hatch.

The guideline about not opening the incubator during lockdown is humidity driven. If a chick has pipped, then it can dry out and get stuck to the membrane if he humidity drops. It CAN, not that it absolutely will each and every time. I have shrink-wrapped a chick doing that, but there are a whole lot that I have not shrink-wrapped when I opened the incubator. Again, there are no guarantees, just odds. And what your odds are depends on a lot of different factors, how long the incubator is open, how long it takes for it to recover humidity, the humidity of the room, whether eggs have pipped or not, and I'm sure other factors.

I'm not going to tell you what to do. You only need one coach and I've seen other threads where Yinepu has done an excellent job coaching through a hatch. I suggest you pay attention to Yinepu. The main reason I am posting is to say you are not guaranteed a disaster. Your odds would be better if they had the same hatch date, but the world is not perfect. You are faced with how things are, not how we would like them to be. Good luck with the hatch.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well said Ridgerunner.