Hatching Eggs from Multiple Sellers, One Order Delayed! :O

[CtyGrlwantsaFrm]

I ordered rare eggs from 2 sellers, after making sure they would both be shipped and delivered at the same time.

But now one set is arriving tomorrow, and the others haven't shipped! I only have 1 incubator. How long can I wait before hatch rates start going down?

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old are they? How are you storing them?

The closer to ideal storage conditions the longer they remain viable. Ideal storage conditions are around 55 F and high humidity. They should be turned a few times daily and stored either pointy side down or laying flat. I haven't done it but saw a suggestion to wrap the eggs in Saran Wrap or equivalent to stop moisture from evaporating through the porous egg shell.

It is not a case that at a certain time they go from perfect hatchability to will not hatch. The longer they are stored and the further they are from ideal conditions the less likely they are to hatch. If they are stored in ideal conditions they can easily go two weeks but after that it gets iffy. I do not store mine in ideal conditions, too warm and too low humidity, but I easily get a week out of them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Depending on how long between arrivals, you could always choose to just manually turn them and mark the different sets. It's what I'm doing since mine will be arriving about a week apart

 

[Jan Croot]

When you reach lock down on one, you may be hand-turning the later arrivals.

 

[CtyGrlwantsaFrm]

Thanks for all the responses!

I just had them at room temp, so about 60*... But I can store them at a cooler temp if that will help!

Does the humidity level not vary based on stage of incubation? (This is my first time doing this.)

 

[nao57]

Well...

Do you really have to have them hatch at the same time? What if he can't get them started at the right time. In theory, there should be a critical point, to think about ahead of time, that he should decide not to cross before he has the stress. People manage things better thinking about it this way. Its still up to him, whatever that point is.

If some are bigger than others, would the bigger ones bother the smaller ones or bully them? I suppose you could also ask, how far different the ages of the ducklings can be without having problems? (I wish I had more experience to be able to help with this.)

This is part of the thinking of what would the alternative be that I'm comparing the main choice against.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I just had them at room temp, so about 60*... But I can store them at a cooler temp if that will help!

60* F is much better than most of us manage. pretty close to ideal. I think you are doing great there.

Does the humidity level not vary based on stage of incubation?

Why humidity is important in the entire process is that the eggs need to lose a certain amount of moisture for the eggs to hatch properly. This goes from the time they are laid until they hatch. It is not just while they are in the incubator. Eggs lose moisture while they are being stored waiting to go into the incubator. The lower the humidity while stored the more moisture they lose. That's why preventing moisture loss is important during storage.

Don't let this frighten you too much. Nature was kind to us in that a pretty wide range of moisture loss still works. A hen can lay eggs in a nest for a couple of weeks to build up a clutch before she starts incubating them. Those nests are usually in the cool shade and often (though not always) on the ground where they can draw moisture or at least don't dry out that much. Still, it is best practice to minimize moisture loss during storage.

Yes, you vary the humidity during incubation. You want a certain moisture loss to get in that sweet spot (a pretty big sweet spot) where the eggs will hatch. But if the incubator is too dry when the chicks pip the chick can become shrink-wrapped. That's where the membrane that surrounds the chick dries out and shrinks around the chick, keeping it from hatching. So you want the humidity inside pretty high during actual hatch to decrease the chance of that happening.

One of the hard parts in this is that there is no one perfect humidity during the 18 days of incubation for every incubator on the planet. Each of us have a different "best" humidity because of many factors. Some of us do best if that humidity is 30%, some do better at 50%. My suggestion on that is to follow your incubator manufacturer's recommendations on your first hatch and see how you do. I don't know of a better way to get a baseline.

I hate a staggered hatch under a broody hen or in an incubator. They are stressful and you can get some pretty bad results. Most people that do them regularly use two incubators, one to incubate in and one to hatch in when they reach lockdown. That avoids the issues of turning, increasing humidity during hatch, the mess they make when they hatch, and having to open the incubator during hatch which risks shrink-wrapping. If you decide to try a staggered hatch come back with how many days apart you started them and we can help you navigate those traps.

I sympathize with you, you are in a rough spot. I don't know how best for you to proceed.

 

[CtyGrlwantsaFrm]

I just had them at room temp, so about 60*... But I can store them at a cooler temp if that will help!

60* F is much better than most of us manage. pretty close to ideal. I think you are doing great there.

Does the humidity level not vary based on stage of incubation?

Why humidity is important in the entire process is that the eggs need to lose a certain amount of moisture for the eggs to hatch properly. This goes from the time they are laid until they hatch. It is not just while they are in the incubator. Eggs lose moisture while they are being stored waiting to go into the incubator. The lower the humidity while stored the more moisture they lose. That's why preventing moisture loss is important during storage.

Don't let this frighten you too much. Nature was kind to us in that a pretty wide range of moisture loss still works. A hen can lay eggs in a nest for a couple of weeks to build up a clutch before she starts incubating them. Those nests are usually in the cool shade and often (though not always) on the ground where they can draw moisture or at least don't dry out that much. Still, it is best practice to minimize moisture loss during storage.

Yes, you vary the humidity during incubation. You want a certain moisture loss to get in that sweet spot (a pretty big sweet spot) where the eggs will hatch. But if the incubator is too dry when the chicks pip the chick can become shrink-wrapped. That's where the membrane that surrounds the chick dries out and shrinks around the chick, keeping it from hatching. So you want the humidity inside pretty high during actual hatch to decrease the chance of that happening.

One of the hard parts in this is that there is no one perfect humidity during the 18 days of incubation for every incubator on the planet. Each of us have a different "best" humidity because of many factors. Some of us do best if that humidity is 30%, some do better at 50%. My suggestion on that is to follow your incubator manufacturer's recommendations on your first hatch and see how you do. I don't know of a better way to get a baseline.

I hate a staggered hatch under a broody hen or in an incubator. They are stressful and you can get some pretty bad results. Most people that do them regularly use two incubators, one to incubate in and one to hatch in when they reach lockdown. That avoids the issues of turning, increasing humidity during hatch, the mess they make when they hatch, and having to open the incubator during hatch which risks shrink-wrapping. If you decide to try a staggered hatch come back with how many days apart you started them and we can help you navigate those traps.

I sympathize with you, you are in a rough spot. I don't know how best for you to proceed.

I really appreciate how informative your answer was. Thanks so much for taking the time to go into so much detail! I'm leaning toward waiting til the new order comes in. There are more eggs in the second shipment, *and* they are more rare. So I'm going to prioritize those, and just hope that the ones I got early might still hatch.