BYC's 2026 Valentine's Day Hatch-Along

[AinaWGSD]

I don't have a separate hatching incubator, but I know the answers to some of those questions

Now I have several questions . .

How is the hatching incubator different?

It isn't. It's just a separate incubator, it's just set up for lockdown.

Do you move eggs into the hatching incubator as they reach lockdown?

Yep. You would just transfer the eggs to the hatching incubator instead of adjusting the settings on the incubation incubator.

Doesn't the incubator stop auto turning at lockdown? Do you hand turn eggs?

Depends on the incubator model. But with a two incubator setup you would leave the egg turner out of the hatching incubator entirely. Since you don't want to turn the eggs during lockdown anyway you don't have to worry about hand turning. And since you're moving eggs from the first incubator to the hatching incubator, you don't have to worry about turning the auto turner off at any point in the incubation incubator.

How do you prevent piped eggs from shrink wrapping when you move hatched chicks to the brooder?

Grab them really fast? I'll leave this one to the experts that regularly do staggered hatches and have actual experience. But I'm guessing if they're setting eggs every 5 days it's a non-issue.

 

[gullinkambe]

Yesterday I set another 18 duck eggs! With the 8 + 5 already in there, it's getting crowded

I also have a separate hatcher that I use regardless of staggering hatches or not. I find it hard to clean out the newborn's dust and downs from my Brinsea cabinet incubator, plus it's hard to visually keep watch over the eggs. My old one, a big box-type easy-to-see manual thing, is just so much easier and better to hatch in. It's too uneven for an entire incubation, but it's golden for a few days hatch.

It gives me greater control over the eggs too. I can candle and move them over in bulks if I want to, keeping a close eye on latecomers and "weird" ones. Comes in handy with duck eggs that can stretch on for days.

 

[redinator]

I'm really hoping they put hand warmers or something in with my eggs