Eggs rolling/rattling around

[Dylly]

Hi everyone. I have just set my incubator for the second time. The first timid was a 100% fail as we lost power one night for too long and all the eggs got too cold I have a concern with my incubator in the fact that my eggs roll around from the vibration of the fan. There is no form of egg holder/stabiliser in the incubator. So what can I do to add stability to my eggs? Will egg cartons be okay? Any other suggestions please

 

[Rowsdower]

Hi everyone. I have just set my incubator for the second time. The first timid was a 100% fail as we lost power one night for too long and all the eggs got too cold

I have a concern with my incubator in the fact that my eggs roll around from the vibration of the fan. There is no form of egg holder/stabiliser in the incubator. So what can I do to add stability to my eggs? Will egg cartons be okay? Any other suggestions please

Rubber shelf liner.

 

[biteme2134]

Yes egg cartons work fine. We've even hatched in cartons to keep from rolling. Some people love it we just take the chicks out once we're down to minimal pips to stop the rolling

 

[biteme2134]

Just another thought : I know you said it was your second hatch, don't forget to turn the eggs. If you're using egg cartons I assume you don't have an auto turner. Our turner rotates them every 4 or 5 hours I think. It keeps the yolk inside from sticking to the side of the eggs which will kill your hatch.
I forgot to plug in my turner one hatch... Since I've got it down to a pretty hands off approach I hadn't even opened the incubator until lock down. I think only 10 or so of my 40 eggs hatched!

 

[GirlWithTheTJ]

We just hatched 6 eggs with 100% hatch rate in our turbo fan incubator. We didn't have a problem with our fan but we did put rubber shelf liner down and it worked awesome for when they were hatching they barely rolled the egg around. I'd say give the shelf liner a try it's cheap and easy. So I'd agree try the shelf liner

 

[Rowsdower]

Yes egg cartons work fine. We've even hatched in cartons to keep from rolling. Some people love it we just take the chicks out once we're down to minimal pips to stop the rolling

I don't like egg cartons for hatching unless I am hatching eggs with damaged air cells, etc. I feel like with the egg upright, the chick can't escape drowning should there be issues with the chick being too wet or malpositioned. Lying on their side just seems more natural to me and the chicks' movement seems restricted when they are trying to zip in a carton.

 

[biteme2134]

I don't like egg cartons for hatching unless I am hatching eggs with damaged air cells, etc. I feel like with the egg upright, the chick can't escape drowning should there be issues with the chick being too wet or malpositioned. Lying on their side just seems more natural to me and the chicks' movement seems restricted when they are trying to zip in a carton.

I agree - We tried the egg cartons once or twice and went back to eggs flat on the bottom of the incubator - Now I just pull the chicks out who are have hatched and have no issues with rolling

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I don't like egg cartons for hatching unless I am hatching eggs with damaged air cells, etc. I feel like with the egg upright, the chick can't escape drowning should there be issues with the chick being too wet or malpositioned. Lying on their side just seems more natural to me and the chicks' movement seems restricted when they are trying to zip in a carton.

I agree the laying down is more natural. The big con to the egg cartons are the malpositioned chicks. I read, and have saved an article, where they experimented with hatch positions to see what had the higher percentage of hatch. They put them in three positions 1)Upright in carton 2)Upside down in carton and flat. They didn't find a big difference in hatch rate, but they did find a difference in length of time it took to hatch and the PASGAR score of the chicks. The time between internal pip and external pip for eggs that hatched up right averaged 5 hours longer. Hatching occured 1-2 hours earlier in the eggs laying down. The upside down eggs had lower PASGAR scores higher frequency of poor navels and red hocks/beaks.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21934018

I agree - We tried the egg cartons once or twice and went back to eggs flat on the bottom of the incubator - Now I just pull the chicks out who are have hatched and have no issues with rolling

I pull my chicks out as they hatch and become active. Don't have to worry about rolling around eggs. I also use the rubber shelf liner and love it. Makes easier clean up as well.

 

[Dylly]

I have put in egg cartons and I try an sit the eggs on a lean in them rather than straight up and down..I plan on laying them flat during the "lock down" period for the egg to hatch in a more natural position. I am turning my eggs by hand 2-4 times a day. I have them marked with an x and o and I simply roll them gently. Thank you everyone for all of the advice and suggestions.