Chick hatching RIGHT NOW! Want to watch?

[PrairieChickens]

The latest batch of eggs has just gone into lockdown! Tune in over the next few days to watch baby chicks hatch.

 

[PrairieChickens]

We've got some serious pipping going on. One chick has already hatched--28 eggs left to go.

 

[Banjostorm]

Congrats on your chicks!!
Can you please post how you did your staggered hatches with one incubator, and let us know the temps and humidity along the way, as well as how far apart the chicks hatched, and the hatch rates of each set of eggs? Im curious if the increased humidity affected any of your other sets of hatches that weren't on lockdown.
I cant find anywhere else where someone has done staggered hatches in one incubator.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Wow, that's some detail right there! I didn't take super-detailed notes. Basically, when I had a staggered hatch, I set the humidity to what was ideal for the chicks who were hatching--a bit higher than normal, in fact, to compensate for opening the incubator to hand-turn the setting eggs. I didn't notice any adverse effects on the air cell development of the eggs that were set, and when the eggs that were hatching were done, I let the incubator run "dry" for a while to compensate for the period of higher humidity. I had a very good success rate--in the staggered clutch, I only had one or two late quitters, and one of them was obviously due to problems with the egg itself.

Temp was kept steady at 100 F at all times, though they would of course have dipped when I opened the incubator to turn eggs.

 

[Banjostorm]

That works! Thank you!

 

[PrairieChickens]

The last batch of eggs until fall has gone into lockdown. The smallest egg has already pipped internally and is working on an external pip. 36 eggs in total, due on Wednesday.
Tune in to watch: http://www.chickentownusa.com/Webcam.html