1st few times are always exciting! Lots of anxiety near hatch time. I incubated lots of shipped eggs this year, Mainly malaysian serama, cemani..and I have some blue/gold partridge brahmas I put into lockdown yesterday.hatch rates r 50% at best..serama eggs r particularly difficult. Shipped eggs have lots of issues. Messed up air cells and many chicks die halfway through incubation. Some things I've learned that improve my hatch rates is to rest them 24 hrs small end down, not to handle those eggs no more than necessary during incubation, i found that putting them in a egg carton small end down, and gently hand turning from side to side improved my hatch. I do not check fertility until after about 10 days at which point I mark air cells and toss infertile. Then i check just Few again on about day 15 to see if i need to adjust humidity based on how my air cells look. Seramas hatch 4 me on about day 18. When i set eggs up for lockdown i mark all the air cells to set the eggs as the point where the air cell is the lowest is where the chick will normally pip so I put that side up. If I have a wacky air cells i put those eggs n a egg carton with the air cell up jn the best position for hatch. I just hatched 3 w really bad air cells..hugh saddles! When eggs start to pip..it is crucial not to open ur bator. Once they pip..it can be 24 hrs b4 they hatch. Waiting can be hard...lots of anxiety!!! However, they are still Absorbing the yoke/and blood from vessels in the egg... so they pip for extra oxygen needed to strengthen thier lungs and absorb all nutruents needed for the big job of hatching! That's when its most tempting to open bator/examine eggs/and be tempted to help. Many well meaning people lose a lot of chicks during the 1st incubation that way. Once chicks pip...humidity is crucial!!! If the bator is opened..cooler air goes into the pipped eggs, they loose vital moisture needed to hatch and can shrink wrap and be unable to rotate in the egg 4 hatch. So...try your best to stay out of the bator once eggs pip. Give the chick 24 hrs to hatch. Keep temp at 95.5 and humidity at 65/70% Once u see 1st pip.let us know how it turns out. Good luck ..
