Different aged eggs in incubator

[Duckcalledwinston]

Hello,
I have 6 eggs in the incubator, only one looks fertile, I’ll take out the infertile ones. But my question is can I have eggs in the incubator that are a week apart?
Thank you!

 

[333113]

Yes. Some people call that a "rolling hatch." They add in the eggs to start incubating as the eggs are laid.

It has some drawbacks. You have to be more careful around the time the eggs hatch to keep the incubator warm as you remove hatched chicks and eggshells.

If you are using an incubator with an auto-turn function, you generally want to turn it off a few days before hatching. When you turn off the auto-turner for the egg that's about to hatch, you will want to remember to manually turn the eggs that aren't about to hatch.

Also, hatching can be a messy business, and the other eggs can get dirty or gooey as hatching progresses. Newly-hatched chicks tend to wander around the incubator as they dry off, and they will spread goo and fluff dust. This goo doesn't make much difference to an egg that is about to hatch, but it can gum up a younger egg at a time when it needs air. And it builds up over time with each egg that hatches.

It will be much easier to manage a rolling hatch if you mark each egg with the date you added it to the incubator. Then you will know what to expect as you candle each one.

Best of luck with your hatch!

 

[Duckcalledwinston]

Yes. Some people call that a "rolling hatch." They add in the eggs to start incubating as the eggs are laid.

It has some drawbacks. You have to be more careful around the time the eggs hatch to keep the incubator warm as you remove hatched chicks and eggshells.

If you are using an incubator with an auto-turn function, you generally want to turn it off a few days before hatching. When you turn off the auto-turner for the egg that's about to hatch, you will want to remember to manually turn the eggs that aren't about to hatch.

Also, hatching can be a messy business, and the other eggs can get dirty or gooey as hatching progresses. Newly-hatched chicks tend to wander around the incubator as they dry off, and they will spread goo and fluff dust. This goo doesn't make much difference to an egg that is about to hatch, but it can gum up a younger egg at a time when it needs air. And it builds up over time with each egg that hatches.

It will be much easier to manage a rolling hatch if you mark each egg with the date you added it to the incubator. Then you will know what to expect as you candle each one.

Best of luck with your hatch!

Thank you for the help!!