? about hatching in cartons

[BornInSpain]

I use an egg turner, then I place the eggs in an egg carton tray after I cut the bottoms off, and the tops are all even out, so all you have left, is a structure to hold them upright like an egg turner made of paper. The chicks don"t have a hard time getting out, and the slow eggs don't get picked and tossed by the new born chicks. I had a good success with this

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Craptastic???


My opinion, when the eggs are removed from the turner they are at a stage where the are making a lot of there own heat. Dropping them in to slightly cooler air should be ok assuming you had them at 101 to start with. Assuming you dont have a LG its probably easier to add a quarter turn to the thermostat than to raise the eggs anyway.

 

[lutz123]

Quote:
If you use an automatic egg turner your eggs are closer to the heating element the first 18 day. Then on lock down if you take them out of the egg turner and just lay them on thier sides they are farther away for the heat...dropping their core heat. If you use something ( and im not sure what yet) to elevate the wire rack....make it the same hieght as the egg turner then you don't loose the that core temp. hope that makes since!

This makes sense if you have the thermometer on the rack the entire time, but if you keep the thermometer in the same place in relation to the eggs throughout (like on top of the eggs), wouldn't it be more or less a matter of just adjusting the thermostat to account for lower eggs? Or am I thinking of that wrong? Sorry...I feel like I'm hijacking a bit, but I am unclear. It does make sense though why people would say to increase it a degree during lockdown. It sounds like that means "just make sure the eggs stay the same temperature no matter where you put them".

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I don't know that it makes any difference at all, but I do cut the bottoms out of the cartons I use for hatching.

 

[gfcm]

I was going to ask this question this morning! I was going to just lay them on their sides because it just seems more natural. And then two eggs got cracked. I dropped one of them, so that doesn't count. But the other got cracked from rolling while turning eggs. Now I'm paranoid about them laying on their sides. And I'm stressing because I can't make up my mind which way to go?!

 

[redhd077]

Quote:
Well i layed my on thier sides last time and i didn't get a single one hatch. not that im say that is the reason they didn't hatch. So i am trying the carton. Seems like a good idea to me because they are in the same position they have been for the last 18 days. Good luck with your hatch!

 

[hennypenny99]

I had no idea I was supposed to cut the bottom out of the carton. I just cut the top off of the carton and set mine inside. Mine seemed to hatch just fine that way but alot of them sat in their egg awile after the top was zipped and popped off. It did seem like sitting straight up made it a little harder for them to get out. I was just nervous about laying them on their side because they had been sitting up in the turner for weeks. Seemed like lying them down after that would be confusing.

My first hatch and I used cartons to hatch was 60% on local eggs and 30% on shipped eggs - of course being my first time I am sure I made plenty of mistakes.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
I just poke holes in the bottom with a scissor.

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
If you use an automatic egg turner your eggs are closer to the heating element the first 18 day. Then on lock down if you take them out of the egg turner and just lay them on thier sides they are farther away for the heat...dropping their core heat. If you use something ( and im not sure what yet) to elevate the wire rack....make it the same hieght as the egg turner then you don't loose the that core temp. hope that makes since!

This makes sense if you have the thermometer on the rack the entire time, but if you keep the thermometer in the same place in relation to the eggs throughout (like on top of the eggs), wouldn't it be more or less a matter of just adjusting the thermostat to account for lower eggs? Or am I thinking of that wrong? Sorry...I feel like I'm hijacking a bit, but I am unclear. It does make sense though why people would say to increase it a degree during lockdown. It sounds like that means "just make sure the eggs stay the same temperature no matter where you put them".

The problem with increasing the temp a tad is tht on an LG incubator it's nearly impossible to make small temp adjustments and once you get it stable you want to NEVER touch it again. The knob is too sensitive and you will have issues at the most crucial time...so it's easier to just adjust in other ways. If you have your plugs out, you can use those to hold in a bit more heat, but it can also decrease air circulation...so it's up to each to find what works best for them. I prefer to use a separate unit and hatch on their sides, but it isn't always possible...like right now when they're all full!!

 

[redhd077]

Quote:
This makes sense if you have the thermometer on the rack the entire time, but if you keep the thermometer in the same place in relation to the eggs throughout (like on top of the eggs), wouldn't it be more or less a matter of just adjusting the thermostat to account for lower eggs? Or am I thinking of that wrong? Sorry...I feel like I'm hijacking a bit, but I am unclear. It does make sense though why people would say to increase it a degree during lockdown. It sounds like that means "just make sure the eggs stay the same temperature no matter where you put them".

The problem with increasing the temp a tad is tht on an LG incubator it's nearly impossible to make small temp adjustments and once you get it stable you want to NEVER touch it again. The knob is too sensitive and you will have issues at the most crucial time...so it's easier to just adjust in other ways. If you have your plugs out, you can use those to hold in a bit more heat, but it can also decrease air circulation...so it's up to each to find what works best for them. I prefer to use a separate unit and hatch on their sides, but it isn't always possible...like right now when they're all full!!

LOL thats alot of fuzzy butts you'll have! Does it matter is your carton gets a little wet? I agree with not adjusting the temp in an lg! ITs a bugger to get the temp just right!