Early Lockdown with Varying Air Cells

[Waterfaery]

Yes, it is a Maxi 24 Ex.

The eggs were shipped and I had read about not turning them too much for the first few days so I just turned them manually 3 times for the first couple of days and then for another couple of days I set them to turn every 3 hours. After that, it was set to turn every 45 minutes. I stopped the turner at the end of day 16.

They would have all been turned at least 3 times a day because I did check, especially with it having turning issues, and I made sure I manually did any that hadn't turned at least that amount. Two of the 5 malpositioned chicks were eggs that consistently got stuck turning and I had moved them into different slots several times.

I had 11 losses and 8 of them were early. Altogether, there were six undeveloped, two with red rings and three that went smelly and rotten. I thought that the five that developed and died all suffered from some sort of bacterial issue? The eggs did have small bits of poo on them but I had read that it's better to not clean them anyway so I put them in as they were. I always washed and sanitised my hands before handling them and the incubator was brand new but I sterilised it anyway before use. Could the turner have caused those ones to die?

 

[Rose Quartz]

Yes, it is a Maxi 24 Ex.

The eggs were shipped and I had read about not turning them too much for the first few days so I just turned them manually 3 times for the first couple of days and then for another couple of days I set them to turn every 3 hours. After that, it was set to turn every 45 minutes. I stopped the turner at the end of day 16.

They would have all been turned at least 3 times a day because I did check, especially with it having turning issues, and I made sure I manually did any that hadn't turned at least that amount. Two of the 5 malpositioned chicks were eggs that consistently got stuck turning and I had moved them into different slots several times.

I had 11 losses and 8 of them were early. Altogether, there were six undeveloped, two with red rings and three that went smelly and rotten. I thought that the five that developed and died all suffered from some sort of bacterial issue? The eggs did have small bits of poo on them but I had read that it's better to not clean them anyway so I put them in as they were. I always washed and sanitised my hands before handling them and the incubator was brand new but I sterilised it anyway before use. Could the turner have caused those ones to die?

it is better to not wash them, the eggs have a coating on them called bloom that helps keep bacteria out. I haven't had any of my eggs have an off smell so I'm not sure what happened there.

if you do anymore shipped eggs candle them. Any that have a detached air cell can either be disposed of, or you can put them rounded side up in an egg carton for a day and hope it reattaches before setting them, the rest set normally in a turner.

Not getting turned early on is a big problem. That being said, almost half hatching for shipped eggs is a good hatch rate, so don't beat yourself up thinking you did something wrong. You did great.

 

[Waterfaery]

Thanks so much. Yes, I got 13 out of 24 (54%) so I'm happy with that. I had no idea what to expect so every single chick that hatched was a bonus and I'm delighted with them.

I just always like to analyse, learn and improve, especially if certain things are under my control. I so appreciate all of your advice!