Good idea to remove automatic turner BEFORE hatch starts?

[CarlisleCluck]

I'm using an incubator for the first time. It has an automatic turner tray and a forced air fan kit. I currently have guinea eggs in there and they have about 9 days to go. I am wondering if/when I should take the eggs off the turner and put them on the hardware cloth tray at the bottom. Instructions say that after 23 days (for guineas who have a 28 day incubation period) I can stop turning them (turn off the automatic turner). Is that the time to take them out of the turner and place them on the hardware cloth bottom? If there wasn't a turner with they unit they would be there anyway. Seems logical? Any benefit to waiting until peeping starts? And if I should wait, at what point should I take out the turner?
Thank you!

 

[curranchickens]

I have not done guinea eggs but I have done several incubations of chicken eggs. On the day you stop turning your eggs remove the automatic turner. For chicken eggs, I place them pointed side down in a stationary egg carton bottom because it is alittle neater then just laying them on the hardwire cloth. When they hatch, they make a mess and you do not want that all over your egg turner. Also, the first to hatch walk around while the others hatch and you don't want them falling in between the rows of the egg turner and getting stuck. Lastly, once your eggs pip, do not open your incubator. You need higher humidity at the end of incubation so that the membrane inside the egg does not dry out. If you open the incubator after piping has occurred the the membrane can dry quickly and shrink wrap your little ones. Good luck.

 

[CarlisleCluck]

That all makes great sense! So you use the bottom of a regular egg carton to put them in when you remove them from the turner? The chicks can get out of that once they hatch and while they wait for the rest to hatch? I like that idea!
Thank you for your quick reply!

 

[curranchickens]

Your welcome! Should also mention that I do not use the styrophone carton bottoms, only the cardboard ones and if your eggs are small cut the sides of the cartoon down so it will not get in the way with pips and zipping. Some say that hatching them in the carton makes it easier for the chick because the egg is not rolling all around while they are trying to turn in the egg to zip. And also keep in mind that a chick absorbs the yolk at hatch so they do not need food or water for three days so do not worry about leaving the hatched ones in there while the rest are trying to hatch. Good luck! Let me know how it goes!

 

[CarlisleCluck]

I will get a few cardboard cartons and cut them so the sides are low. I started with 42 eggs and candled them at about day 14 I think. All but 3 had movement - I felt like I was doing a bunch of ultrasounds. Anyway, 3 "bad" out of 42 seems pretty good. I will let you know - thanks for your suggestions and help.

 

[CarlisleCluck]

I wanted to let you know that I did use the cardboard egg cartons to hold the guinea eggs during hatching and it worked very well. The eggs stayed still, the keets were able to jump down onto the wire floor, and the mess was a minimum. This was the first time I was using the incubator and there is a definite learning curve. I had a lot of trouble maintaining the humidity, although it seemed to err on the high side. I also made some mistakes after the hatch when I put them in the brooder (heat lamp too hot, but I will not dwell on it now - I learned). Also, the hatch occurred from a Thursday night until Monday morning - way too long! I ended up with about a 50% hatch rate.
So thanks for the advice!