Concern about Chick Legs Getting Caught in Incubator Grate

[CalBickieMomma]

Hello Chicken People!

The first grade class where I work will be hatching out Serama eggs - or at least we're going to be trying to hatch them out. I think I've got everything set up properly, but my concern is when hatch day arrives, the itty bitty legs of the chicks might get caught in the gray plastic grate that holds the eggs. I'm including pictures so you can see what I'm talking about.

We are using a Nurture Right 360. I have it set at 99.5 degrees (I saw 99.7 degrees is ideal, but when I try to adjust it, it only adjusts in increments of .5 degrees).

Anyway, if we are successful and the babies start hatching out, I want to make sure they don't injure themselves on the grate. I plan on removing the automatic egg turner on day 17, but is there anything I can put down under the eggs (and on top of the grate) to make it so the area beneath the eggs is solid. Could I use paper towels or a piece of flannel fabric or something like that? Also, should I put this in the incubator BEFORE I place the eggs in on the first day (or do you think it will be okay to wait until a few days before hatch?

Any advice would be very helpful since I've not hatched eggs in an incubator since I was a kid (30 years ago) and my mom mostly dealt with the hard part. Thank you so much!!!

- Jenna

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

When lockdown starts on day 17. I remove the egg turner tray. And put a different mat in. Its a tubber drawer liner, that you should be able to find pretty easily.

My temp is at 95.5. And i have the humidity at 50%- for the first 17 days and then raise it to 65%-70% at lockdown.

 

[Rose Quartz]

With them being a bantam size it's possible they could have a problem with the grate. I would suggest something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Muswanna-Non-...5&psc=1&mcid=845edc4708f438aeaf90c66ccc1c54b9

You can get it at a dollar store usually. And just put it in at the end when the turner is removed. The concern with paper towel and fabric is it will absorb the moisture and get wet. When they're hatching the humidity needs to be up.

eta: 99.5 is the correct temp. It's ok for it to go up and down a little bit, but 102 will kill the chicks. and 98 will delay the hatch, if it runs cold or hot for an extended period it can kill the eggs. Too cold is better than too hot. I've had eggs survive 3 days with no heat when my power went out so long as I kept turning them.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

With them being a bantam size it's possible they could have a problem with the grate. I would suggest something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Muswanna-Non-...5&psc=1&mcid=845edc4708f438aeaf90c66ccc1c54b9

You can get it at a dollar store usually. And just put it in at the end when the turner is removed. The concern with paper towel and fabric is it will absorb the moisture and get wet. When they're hatching the humidity needs to be up.

eta: 99.5 is the correct temp. It's ok for it to go up and down a little bit, but 102 will kill the chicks. and 98 will delay the hatch, if it runs cold or hot for an extended period it can kill the eggs. Too cold is better than too hot. I've had eggs survive 3 days with no heat when my power went out so long as I kept turning them.

Thank you!!!

 

[FunClucks]

The NurtureRight 360 is awesome, and I love mine! It's practically plug-and-play, just follow the instructions that came with the unit. You can use shelf liner to put over the grate, don't use those other items us talked about because they'll absorb mositure and block airflow. here's a pic of a chick in my NutureRight 360 with shelf liner. Just place the lid over the shelf liner, mark with a sharpie and trim just within the line. It's disposable also. you can put it in at the beginning of incubation or when you remove the turner 3 days out from hatching, either is fine. I like to wash the shelf liner with soap and water and dry it, and/or rinse with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide prior to use to remove any residue and for cleanliness.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

When lockdown starts on day 17. I remove the egg turner tray. And put a different mat in. Its a tubber drawer liner, that you should be able to find pretty easily.

My temp is at 95.5. And i have the humidity at 50%- for the first 17 days and then raise it to 65%-70% at lockdown.

Thanks! Oh, and about lockdown on day 17 - is it safe to do lockdown during the night of day 17? I have a work event until 6pm and probably wouldn’t get to the school until 8pm or so …

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Thanks! Oh, and about lockdown on day 17 - is it safe to do lockdown during the night of day 17? I have a work event until 6pm and probably wouldn’t get to the school until 8pm or so …

It should be ok, i know some have done lockdown on day 18.
I have dont lockdown at around 6 on day 17 before. They all hatched.

 

[Yard Farmer]

You could even try a piece of tape to cover up those holes.
I'm using the same incubator you are. I thought I'd try that.

 

[FunClucks]

You could even try a piece of tape to cover up those holes.
I'm using the same incubator you are. I thought I'd try that.

If you cover a majority of the holes, I would be concerned you may have temp and humidity fluctuations across the unit due to lack of airflow. The fan is designed to work with those holes to keep temps and humidity even/equal across the interior of the unit. You can try it, but you may have issues and not realize until less than the expected # of chicks hatch or something.

I like the foam shelf liner, because it still allows airflow.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

The NurtureRight 360 is awesome, and I love mine! It's practically plug-and-play, just follow the instructions that came with the unit. You can use shelf liner to put over the grate, don't use those other items us talked about because they'll absorb mositure and block airflow. here's a pic of a chick in my NutureRight 360 with shelf liner. Just place the lid over the shelf liner, mark with a sharpie and trim just within the line. It's disposable also. you can put it in at the beginning of incubation or when you remove the turner 3 days out from hatching, either is fine. I like to wash the shelf liner with soap and water and dry it, and/or rinse with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide prior to use to remove any residue and for cleanliness.

Thanks! I will be setting the eggs in tomorrow, so I'll go ahead and find some shelf liner on Amazon now. We started warming up the incubator today and hopefully the first grade teacher left it on so it'll be good to go tomorrow morning when I get there (I get there early to run the morning extended care for kids with parents who have to get to work early). If I can't get out of the house early enough, I'll just put them in later in the day . And I already grabbed a large piece of brown book-covering paper from the office and traced the lid. I'll be cutting it down about 1/4" in from the trace line, then cutting the shelf liner from that, so it should fit in perfectly come lockdown time. Thanks again!!!!