do you raise the screen floor at lockdown?

HathawayHens

Songster
9 Years
Apr 14, 2010
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DeLand, FL
Hi all. I read somewhere that you should raise the screen floor or the eggs up if you used an egg turner... do any of you bother to do this, or do you just lay the eggs out on the screen as is for hatching? I have a still air LG, has been holding temps decently. Thanks!
 
For lock down you can place the eggs in a egg carton. I am now drawing a blank as to which way to put them into the carton at the moment. But if you use the egg carton it will eliminate the rolling around and knocking into the other eggs and hatched chicks.
 
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can it be a Styrofoam carton, or does it need to be cardboard? Don't have any of those handy...
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I need to keep three of the eggs totally separate even after hatching, as there are three chicks I am interested in marking to keep for myself... a couple of rocks and a possible Ameraucana. I was going to just put those three eggs in a berry basket, and then let the other 9 be on the floor... is there a better way to do it?
 
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can it be a Styrofoam carton, or does it need to be cardboard? Don't have any of those handy...
barnie.gif
I need to keep three of the eggs totally separate even after hatching, as there are three chicks I am interested in marking to keep for myself... a couple of rocks and a possible Ameraucana. I was going to just put those three eggs in a berry basket, and then let the other 9 be on the floor... is there a better way to do it?

Some use one, some use the other, I use what I have. I like to cut slits in the bottoms of each cup, plus some between the cups, for air movement [even though I use a still air]. The eggs go pointy end down, just like an auto turner.
 
If you're using a still air bator with an auto turner, the reason for raising the floor or putting the eggs in cartons would be so that they stay at the same level and therefore the same temperature inside the bator. Fan assisted bators should be the same temp inside no matter where you stick your thermometer, as all the hot air is being constantly swirled around. But in a still air bator, the bottom of the bator could be quite a few degrees lower than the top. You don't want to go into lockdown with eggs that are sitting at a lower temperature, so you should try to make sure they're at the same lever as they were when they were in the auto turner.

I like carton hatching. It's tidy, it's easy to keep track of which egg is which cause they don't get kicked about when the first chicks hatch, and from my own experience with both cartons and just lying the eggs flat, cartons seem to let the chick zip and hatch more quickly. I cut the cartons down to about half height so that most of the egg is sticking up out of it, and I cut holes in the bottom of each cup for air circulation. Oh, and I use cardboard cartons, just cause that's what I put my eating eggs in...

If you want to keep three chicks separate, maybe best to put a little wire screen down the middle of the bator, cause even if you keep the eggs separate, once the chicks hatch they'll be bombing all over the place and you'll find it hard to keep track of who's who...
 
I have hatched both ways and always leave my screen down.. I cut my eggs cartons down a bit but most of my eggs are silkies.. I have used both cardboard and syrafoam..
And I also have just laid them on the screen.. The strawberry basket does NOT work. The chick will somehow get out. It seems to not be heavy enough maybe you could use bread ties to the wire..But when I was hatching marans and olive eggers they just seemed to run right under it.. Hope this helps!!
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Yes, thank you all for the input... I will see what I can rig up with what I have here... correct me if I am wrong, but for carton hatching it is OK to leave the eggs big end up, just as they incubate? I thought they *had* to lay on their side for the chick to get out. Very cool if that is the case.
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I was just thinking... I have leftover dishwasher baskets from when my kids were little... they should work to lock a few eggs / chicks in during the hatch, and I know they can take the heat. hmmmmm. That just might work.

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Thanks all!! Anyone else, please chime in - I am new at this and I am so happy to learn from all of your experiences!
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Just curious, I've read on here that some chicks on occasion, come out the wrong end? (pointy end) what if they're in the carton pointy end down, can they still hatch?
 
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That's what I was curious about. And I thought they needed to roll around to maneuver their way out.

I also would suspect that if the eggs have been flat on the screen and hand turned all along, that it would not be good to put them in cartons for lock down, because their air sack is probably off center due to laying mostly on their side the whole time. [Even if you 'point them down' they are mostly sideways].

blessings,

deborah
 

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