3 days before hatching?

[jackrooster]

Umm.... do you take the eggs out of the turner 3 days before the are due to hatch?? is that what lock down is?? because im kinda confused......do you leave the egg in the turner the whole time untill they hatch or take them out 3 days before the hatch and if you do have to take them out of the turner the 3 day before.....do i have to turn them manually???? and last thing what dose lock down mean???

 

[Drew6Melton]

i do at like day 1 1/2 and do good then do it by hand 3 times a day and that works great 4 me

 

[Drew6Melton]

ps take a pen or some thing and mark it on one side and thats how it works

 

[jackrooster]

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so why cant i just leave them in the turner??

 

[Drew6Melton]

you want them on there side it helps them hatch or they will get a leg stuck in the turner it can go bad

 

[Revelle]

Like Drew said, if you keep them in the turner and they hatch, they get stuck and can become lamed.

Lock down is when you pump up the humidity (It's different for everyone, but I mostly hear 60-65%) and then do *nothing* until the eggs are done hatching. No opening, no taking a chick out, nada. If you open it, the humidity is going to get out, and 'shrink wrap' the chicks that haven't fully hatched yet. (The membrane dries too much for them to both break it or move enough)

So right before lockdown, just take the turner out, and put the eggs on the sides in the bator, fill up the trays with water, then close and wait.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Quote:
Ditto. This is usually done on day 18 for chickens. Day 24 for ducks. Good luck.

 

[AngieChick]

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Yep, but also Sit on Your Hands!!! It's hard, but leave the chicks in there until the others are done hatching. If you are really worried about losing humidity, you can get some clear plastic tubing to snake into your bator and refill your resevoirs with it. Since I started doing this on the last couple of days I have had better success, no stuck zipped/pipped chicks.

Day 18 for chickens. Good luck, keep us updated on your results!

 

[jackrooster]

Quote:
How many day ahead of time should i lock down??

 

[Drew6Melton]

lockdown is day 18 for chicken egg it 3 days of lock down i think its 24 for duck egg