Dilemma- Can you help me solve it?

[kkattt]

Okay.. My eggs went in the incubator on April 25th- at 9 a.m. I am a teacher who is unable to get into the building on the weekends... Would it be too early to begin lock down on Friday the 11th at 4pm? Day 17? I am a little stressed about this-- I am trying to find a way to come in on Saturday... What do you think?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You started them on Wednesday the 25th of April. Lockdown should be Sunday May 13 with hatch Wednesday May 16.

Do you have any history with this incubator? Does it normally hatch early or late? The average incubating temperature affects when they actually hatch. If it is warm, they can hatch two or more days early, If it is a little cool, they can be that much late.

There are different reasons to quit turning and raise the humidity, but the really big need is to get the humidity up before they pip. If you have history with the incubator and are pretty sure they will pip and hatch a little late, you can probably wait. If you know they have hatched early before, you should not wait at all. If you have no history at all with that incubator, that makes it hard.

Coming in on the weekend would obviously be the best. If you can't do that, I'd probably raise the humidity and go into lockdown as late Friday as you can manage. I don't know that there is a right call for this one.

If you lockdown early, you have a real chance of the incubator water reservoirs running dry before the hatch is over. I don't know what type of incubator you have, but I add water to my incubator during lockdown by putting sone straws with those accordian joints together so I can go in through a vent hole to get to the water reservoirs. I use a syringe to put the water in the straw.

 

[kkattt]

This is my first time hatching.. EVER =) I just want to be sure I do everything right. Would locking down late Friday be okay humidity wise? Meaning-- If I increase the humidity so much so early-- will it be okay?

Feeling a bit stressed!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is not the ideal situation, but that's what I would do if I could not get access over the weekend.

How difficult would it be to take them home with you over the weekend, then bring them back Monday?

Hatching is not an exact science where everything has to be perfect for it to work. We try to do things a certain way because that has been proven to improve your odds of success. But even if you do everything perfect, you are not guaranteed success. If you do some things wrong, you are not guaranteed failure. Many of us fail to follow the guidelines perfectly and still have pretty good success. Just do the best you can and you can't do any better.

The issue with locking down early abd increasing the humidity is that the eggs need to lose a certain amount of moisture before hatch. Bt locking down a litttle early, you give them a little less time to lose that moisture. But it us not an exact science. They heed to lose about a certain amount of moisture, not an extremely specific amount. If you are in the ballpark, you are probably close enough.

Another problem in getting extremely specific about it is that different humidities work for different ones of us. We all have different conditions, ranging from type of incubator to height above sea level, which affects air pressure. That is another thing you gain with experience incubating. A better feel for how much humidity you need.

I don't know what will happen with your hatch. You may be fine locking down Friday afternoon. You may have problems if you wait until Sunday. There are just too many variables to know for sure. From what I've read about your situation, I'd think the best you can do is to lockdown on Friday. It may not be perfect, but it may be the best you can do.

 

[Sphinx]

I think if it were me, I'd just lock down a little late. I'd add a little bit extra water on Friday, so humidity is up a tiny bit, but not up to lockdown standards.

Then, I'd really do the lockdown early monday- coming in as early as you can.

These school hatches can be really stressful with the limited access to the incubator, can't they?

 

[kkattt]

I think if it were me, I'd just lock down a little late. I'd add a little bit extra water on Friday, so humidity is up a tiny bit, but not up to lockdown standards.

Then, I'd really do the lockdown early monday- coming in as early as you can.

These school hatches can be really stressful with the limited access to the incubator, can't they?

I think this is what I may do.. A little extra water on Friday-- and get to school REALLY early on Monday (usual time is 6:50--- maybe 6:00) ahhh!