Day 18 Hatching eggs ..

[pamm]

Hi,

Does anyone know when the "21 days to hatching " begins? We got our eggs 19 days ago, kept them cool overnite and the next day incubated them. They have been in the incubator 18 days now..Does day 1 start when they are held at a cool temperature before incubating or the day they are actually put into the incubator?

ALso I'm confused about opening the incubator while the chicks are hatching so I can replenish the water cups... the Brinsea instructions say that it is ok to open the incubater every 6 hours while hatching...but I've read that opening the incubator at this time can harm the chicks, I'm worried that the humidity will be too low because I have to fill the water cup each day already, but I don't want to do any harm to the chicks.

....I'm planning to take a day off work so I can be here when they do hatch!

cheep cheep Pamm

 

[Tala]

I understand that the end of day 1 is after they have been in the incubator for 24 hours.
You definitely do NOT count any days that the eggs are cooled out of the incubator.

To raise your humidity in a dry house, you can add extra cups of water - they need to be tall enough a chick can't fall in, and non-tippy so they won't spil. You can add wet sponges, washclothes, or handtowels to increase the wet surface area in the 'bator without causing a drowning hazard. You can plug any extra vent holes to reduce evaporation, but remember the eggs do need their regular air circulation.
Also, once the first chick hatches it will actually raise the humidity level some, so you will probably be ok once the hatching starts IF YOU DON"T OPEN THE INCUBATOR.

Did you calibrate your hygrometer before you started? Mine was reading 9% high, so it's important to know if yours is reading correctly or not.


If you absolutely MUST open the incubator for some reason, do it in a humid bathroom after a steamy hot shower so you don't shrinkwrap the chicks.

 

[gumpsgirl]

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