fridgerator?

[deejeff442]

question... if i store eggs to save enough to fill my incubator. does the 21 days start when i put them in or when they lay them?

 

[1muttsfan]

You start counting when you bring them up to incubation temperature.

You may like the article Hatching 101, found in the Learning Center.

While you can hatch refrigerated eggs, cold temps may decrease your hatching success. I store hatching eggs out on a counter, and keep them up to a maximum of about a week before incubating them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To be a little more precise on the 21 day thing. An egg does not have a day’s worth of development 2 seconds or two hours after you put it in the incubator. It takes 24 hours for the egg to have a day’s worth of development. A lot of people get that wrong. A good way to check yourself is that the day of the week you set them is the day of the week they should hatch. If you set them on a Friday, they should hatch on a Friday.

That’s all theory. In reality a lot of eggs don’t hatch after 21 days of development. There are several things that can make them early or late; heredity, humidity, how and how long they are stored, and even just basic differences in the eggs. A really big one is average incubating temperature. If your average incubating temperature is a little high, they can hatch a few days early. If it is a little cool, they can be late. I’ve had eggs pipping in the incubator when I went into lockdown. I’ve had eggs hatch two full days early under a broody more than once. Others have been equally late. The 21 days is a target to shoot for, but as long as they hatch within 24 hours either side of the 21 days, I figure they are on time.

 

[thebitty]

I put some tinfoil around the bulb and It hasn't went over 100 today

 

[deejeff442]

dont you have a vent plug on the incubator? if its styrofoam you can poke a hole to let heat out too.

 

[thebitty]

Thats what I did. Its staying at 99 and 100 with 55-60% humidity

 

[five is my dog]

I can't keep my temp at 99 will it still incubate between 100 and 104?

if you have it at 100 yes but embryo cells start to deterierate at 103-104

 

[thebitty]

Thanks for the info. This is my first time incubating