hatching in egg carton.. ?

[birdbrain5]

going into lockdown for my 4th hatch, and biggest yet! 30+ eggs! i have been hand turning them so they are on thier sides for the past 18 days, i'd like to hatch in an egg carton because i have been successful with that before. my other batches have been in an auto turner so they were upright throughout incubation. i just dont want to put these eggs upright since they have been flat until this point. does it matter?

 

[birdbrain5]

anyone?

 

[anaiyuk]

I would suggest keeping them on thier sides!

 

[CCourson05]

Yep. Stick to sides because they are accustomed to the temp that they receive while on their sides, and it might be too hot upright...

 

[Meara]

I have no scientific basis for this opinion, but I feel that if they are incubated on their sides then they should remain that way during lockdown and vice versa for those incubated in am auto turner.

 

[FrenchToast]

Quote:
x2

 

[CCourson05]

If they were incubated in an autoturner, which keeps them upright, they can hatch on their sides... The temp has to be adjusted however... Same for the opposite

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Yup, that's correct. The whole point of stopping turning on day 18 is to give the embryo time to get into position for hatching. Upright or lying flat, it doesn't matter. As long as the eggs aren't moved in the last three days, the chicks will sort themselves into the correct position. You DO have to monitor the temps at the level of the eggs and be ready to make minor adjustments though, especially if you have a still air bator. You are changing the height that the eggs are sitting at, so remember to change the height of your thermometer to accurately measure the changing temp inside the eggs.

I incubate my eggs on their sides and hatch in cartons just like you're asking about, and I get better hatch rates now than when I used to incubate and hatch lying flat. I don't know exactly why this is, but I prefer the carton method for keeping the eggs in position and keeping them separate from each other and keeping hatched chicks from rolling them all over the bator..