am i going to incubate correctly????

[HeatherJoe]

Hello. Ok so we are on day 11 of our incubation of our barn yard mix eggs(white eggs, brown eggs, blue eggs & like a light pink eggs)... there are alot that have littlebabies moving inside them ( SO SO EXCITED ) ( THERE ABOUT 14!!!!! ) So anyways we have the humidity at about 40-45 and the heat at 100... that is going really well

... my BIG CONCERN is.... When do i unplug the automatic rotater??? is it on day 18 or is it day 19???

 

[aaronj7040]

I stop mine the evening of day 18.

 

[phishless13]

Hello,

I am also new to incubating but from what I read it is day 18 and make sure you take the turner out and put the eggs back in the incubator without it. Also make sure you increase your humidity levels for hatching time. Otherwise the chicks can get stuck in the goo and it dries up in their airways which causes them to suffocate. I am on day 5 and see growth... Very exciting isn't it??

 

[HeatherJoe]

ok. thank you !!!! i just wasnt 100% sure if i should let them continue to be roated on the 18th day.

 

[dheltzel]

You can stop turning the eggs anytime between day 14 and day 18. I have even had chicks hatch on the turner, but don't recommend that at all.

phishless13 is right about raising the humidity. IMO, that is the most important factor if preventing deaths in chicks that start to hatch. If your temps are easily adjustable, you also might consider dropping the temp a degree on day 18. Chicks are making their own body heat by that time and exerting themselves. My hatcher is always 80% or more RH and I aim for 98.5 degrees, but either 98 or 99 are ok with me.

 

[aaronj7040]

I agree that it is best to turn the temp back a degree, to about 98.5 or 99, and "I" always make certain that at this time I add as much water as my chambers hold & shoot for about 65%-70% humidity...And I never open my bator until the eggs have all had time to hatch, as to do so will drastically drop humidity, and thus tends to "shrinkwrap" or siranwrap the chicks inside the egg with the membranes between the shell & the inner egg...So DON'T open until you are confident all your eggs that are going to hatch have hatched.

 

[aaronj7040]

I learned the hard way & I did it a few times before I realized what was happening...I know people say it's okay to spray some water around if you open it, but I just don't want to keep testing it...Since I stopped opening the bator after day 18 my hatches have been not only more consistent and uniform as far as number of eggs hatching at the same time, but the rate of live chicks increased quite noticeably as well. I couldn't count the Coturnix chicks I killed this way before I caught on

 

[HeatherJoe]

Thank you

• aaronj7040 ...... I will make sure to stay on lock down!!!!

 

[Wyandottes7]

I usually lock down on day 18. But, as stated above, eggs don't really need to be turned after day 14. Be sure to raise that humidity during lockdown. I keep my hatching humidity at 60-70%, with good results.

Good luck with the incubation!

 

[BantamLover21]

You can safely stop turning eggs any time after the 14th day of incubation, since that is when the embryo moves into a ready-to-hatch position. I've always locked down on day 18, and have usually had very successful hatches.

Your incubator temperature and humidity are great right now. Make sure you increase the humidity to at least 60% by day 18, though. Otherwise, the shell membrane may become tough and make it difficult for the chicks to hatch.

Good luck with the incubation! For more answers, I would advise posting this question in the Incubation section of the forums: Incubating & Hatching Eggs