Egg placement in half empty incubator

[Ilovechickens2525]

I’ve tried searching this and can’t find answer. Might be a silly question but it’s my first time incubating eggs.

My incubator holds 25 eggs and I’m only putting 6 eggs in for this first hatch. Does it matter physically where I put the eggs? My incubator has an auto turner that holds the eggs, I know to put the pointy end down. But do I put them all on one side? 2 each in a different row? Better to put them in the middle? 3 on each edge?

I’m sure I’m overthinking this, but with all the extra space that’ll be in here how should I space them out lol.

 

[HonkABC]

I think with only that many eggs, you should put them in the middle.

 

[Island Coppers]

It would be helpful to know the type of incubator. If it's one of the type with clear plastic dome and the heater and sensor in the center then I would cluster the eggs directly under it. You might also wrap some towels around everything but the air holes in the cover. That will reduce heat loss and result in a more stable temperature.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If your incubator has a fan the temperature should be the same everywhere in there so it won't matter. That's why I like the forced air incubators. If your incubator has cool or warm spots I'd cluster the eggs so the temperature is the same for all of them. With most commercial incubators that should not be a problem but there are so many incubators on the market right now I just don't know.

How do you add water? With mine, if I leave the middle open it is easier to add water. That's where I pit the thermometer and hygrometer. Look at your incubator and think about things like this.

As long as the temperature is right it doesn't matter but see if you see any conveniences that might make it easier for you.

 

[Island Coppers]

Ridgerunner has a great deal of experience and has offered some of the best advice to be found on BYC, imho.

My experience is limited to one incubator, a Maticoopx (which has a fan). I used two additional temperature senors. I monitored the temperature multiple times a day throughout the incubation period. The senor in the incubator showed some very reassuring readings but questionably accurate. The two Yolink senors showed that the temperatures dropped while the heater was off and then rose when it came on. Near the heater coil it rose past the desired temp and cooled faster toward the edges of the incubator. This variability was about 4 degrees under to two degrees over the desired temps. Whether or not that much variation is going to affect your hatch rate I don't know. Adding that insulation, the towels, reduced the variation. The physics governing these variations are going to be true regardless of who manufactured incubator.

It's recommended that you let the eggs rest, pointed end down, for 24 hours to help the air sac stabilize to counter the affects of transport.