Day 18..Can I move eggs to a brooder?

[bgrantalasykes]

We have two sets of eggs in our incubator and so I'm wondering if at day 18 I can put eggs into a brooder type container if I maintain a steady temperature with a heat lamp? If I keep a lid on it I can probably maintain humidity as well. If this is too risky for my chicks let me know.
There are 22 eggs set to hatch in roughly a week and the other 20 to hatch in 2 weeks.
A couple other questions, does anyone here spray into their incubator with mist that gets the eggs slightly wet? We realized after a few days that our humidity reader wasn't working and that the humidity was not likely staying at only 10%, but we were desperate to raise the humidity.
Also on day 18 do people lay their eggs on side or put into an egg carton to keep ends down? I've heard both opinions.
FYI this my first hatch, we tried last year with about 10 eggs and had 0% success and we were rather devastated. Our temperature has fluctuated a bit at the beginning but we candled them on day 12 and saw the embryos flickering in 21/22 eggs!
Thanks everyone

 

[AmericanMom]

We have two sets of eggs in our incubator and so I'm wondering if at day 18 I can put eggs into a brooder type container if I maintain a steady temperature with a heat lamp? If I keep a lid on it I can probably maintain humidity as well. If this is too risky for my chicks let me know.
There are 22 eggs set to hatch in roughly a week and the other 20 to hatch in 2 weeks.
A couple other questions, does anyone here spray into their incubator with mist that gets the eggs slightly wet? We realized after a few days that our humidity reader wasn't working and that the humidity was not likely staying at only 10%, but we were desperate to raise the humidity.
Also on day 18 do people lay their eggs on side or put into an egg carton to keep ends down? I've heard both opinions.
FYI this my first hatch, we tried last year with about 10 eggs and had 0% success and we were rather devastated. Our temperature has fluctuated a bit at the beginning but we candled them on day 12 and saw the embryos flickering in 21/22 eggs!
Thanks everyone

I was able to hatch four chicks out using nothing more than a heat lamp and a box with hay.. I kept the temperature between 100-101.5.. My hen got off the nest after hatching her first four eggs out, these last ones were three days behind..

I watched them closely and on day 21 I noticed two had internally pipped, I moved the whole operation to the master bath, got the room pretty steamy by running a full hot shower for a bit then maintained it by running a humidifier. Mind you, I had a temp and humidity gauge and kept the humidity between 50-60%.. When I brought the eggs in they were on day 18... They all hatched by day 22 but one died shortly after hatching..
Here was my set up...









This was before moving them to the bathroom

 

[AmericanMom]

Also, note I wasn't keeping track of the humidity, I didn't bother until I had an internal pip... That's when I pulled out the trusty Humidity gauge..

 

[AmericanMom]

After the internal pip... Got the humidity up..

 

[AmericanMom]

Also... Do not put a lid over the eggs.. They need the oxygen..


Why do you want to take them out of the incubator??... I wouldn't do it unless as above I didn't have a choice, my incubator was full..

 

[bgrantalasykes]

I was thinking i should take them out of the incubator because there are 20 eggs that wont be hatching for another week after and i was a bit worried about the extra humidity during hatch time. It will also be very tight in there for the hatching and im a bit worried about damage to other eggs.

 

[bgrantalasykes]

What are the markings on the eggs? Is it to monitor the airsac? If so what days do you start marking? Thank you!

 

[AmericanMom]

What are the markings on the eggs? Is it to monitor the airsac? If so what days do you start marking? Thank you!

I didn't mark them til I brought them in, and yes, it was to show me the air cell and where I thought they would pip