Cochin Bantam Lockdown Day

[Loralye]

Hi, newbie here....
I'm incubating for my first time, 4 cochin bantam eggs. My question is when do you recommend lockdown?

There's so many conflicting things online. Some saying I should lockdown on day 16 instead of 18....

Also my understanding is when they go into lockdown I'm meant to leave the incubator alone because you want to keep a steady temp and humidity for hatching but I need to open it over those days to top off water, will that be okay? Or should I just lift the lid a tiny bit and slide in a wet sponge?

I'm using an older Brinsea Mini Advance, but in hand turning 3 times a day.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Uff Da]

What do the air cells look like? You can stop turning as early as day 14, but if they still need to lose some weight you can hold off on increasing the humidity till day 18. I don't recommend opening the incubator much to top off humidity. I prefer to figure out a way to keep humidity up for the remaining days by using sponges. I cut one about 1" by 2" and stick it next to the edge of the lid, so when I need to increase humidity I can just crack the lid open a bit and squirt water into the sponge with a syringe.