Determining day 1 question

[EdistoChicks]

I was contacted on Tuesday saying that a man found a nest of guineas eggs, about 30+ that two of his hens were sitting on. For some reason they gt fed up and leave early. With 30 eggs and 2 hens they were there for a little while. What should I count as day 1? I have an autoturner in there in a hovabator. I am going to be getting a brinsea octo 20 on Tuesday. I was thinking of putting them in there when it comes. (I am getting off topic) I was thinking of counting this last tuesday as day 1 even though even that could be off by a week. HELP!!!! The humidity is what is stressing me out. When do you put eggs in lockdown when you have no clue how old they are.

 

[bigdawg]

count the day you put them in there as day one. now go candle them. humidity 60 to 65 percent. any that are clear toss them. just incubate them as if it was day one, candle them every 5 days. when the egg shows to be full of a keet, check the bator at least twice a day for pips. as soon as you see a pip take the turner out fill the water treys and wait for the little zoomers to apear. good luck i just hope you dont have a stinker.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

I've been in similar circumstances and am, in fact, there now lol. What I do is this: candle them and if they are obviously more than 1 week along plan on candling every other day until the egg is mostly all black except for the air cell. You will have to overlook the whole lockdown thing but once you are pretty sure candling that they are near term candle them daily to watch for internal pips. This will be obvious because you will see movement in the air cell. Once you see even 1 that has pipped internally go ahead and lock down with raised humidity. Good luck and this has worked for me...

 

[EdistoChicks]

Thanks for all the info. I am the worst egg candler on the face of the earth. I guess I have 37 eggs to "practice on" I need to figure how to raise the moisture in there. It is staying around 50% with the water trays full and sponges in there. I had the same problem with the last batch of eggs I hatched and it cost me two perfectly formed little ones. I have a brinsea octo 20 coming on Monday but that won't fit that many guinea eggs. How do you attain 60-65% It seems impossible with this bator. It is an old hovabator that seems to have more holes in the bottom than are necessary. I just tried to cut some little yogurt cups and fill those with water to put under the metal rack and see if that helps. If it seems to I can cut more and fill them up. (We recycle everything!) I tried to candle some of the eggs, some appeared clear but those could have been eggs laid today! The man with the guineas said there are two hens laying the nest together. Other eggs looked like they were at least a week old. I guess I am going to have to hope for the best and prepare for anything but. Thanks again!!!
Melissa

P.S. How long should it take for the moisture to go up when you have added water to it? Now the humidity appears to have gone down to 48%?!? No more hatches with other people's eggs. I would rather practice on ones I either waste my own money on or have only my own feelings invested!

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Here's a suggestion: Cover the bottom of the bator with sheets of paper towels (under the wire) and re-moisten it. It will cover the holes in the bottom and act as a big sponge! Just wet small areas at a time until the desired humidity is attained! : )

 

[EdistoChicks]

I did that with washcloths I am still not sure it is doing anything. I am starting to wonder if the hygrometer is off. The temp went up to 101 from the towels but the humidity is still 50%. I am totally baffled. when I added the towels I noticed the water in the water rings was gone. I added enough washcloths that should have compensated for that. I think I will add more water to the water rings too. This is going to be a long 27 days!

 

[EdistoChicks]

Holy Poo. I just added the water. I am typing and hearing a drip sound. I look at the fish tank, no drips. My eyes glance over to the incubator. Drip, drip, drip though my daughters plastic table. (Which I didn't realize had a crack) Needless to say it is going to be nearly impossible to keep the humidity up in something that is not holding water in the area that it was designed to hold water. Reason number 2 to avoid styrofoam bators. Are guinea eggs roughly the same size as pheasants? I think that octo 20 can hold 30 phesant eggs. I guess I will candle some tomorrow or the day after and see if they are good enough to take up space. I swear to God this is as close to an unpaid full time job as I want to come! Humidity in the bator is now lower than before I added the gosh darn water. 47%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!