Hatching Trouble

[champers44]

So I just realized I have a problem. I put about 9 eggs in a week ago I got from my own flock. Then I ordered some eggs and put them in about 3 days later..and now I just added one more egg I got from my grandpa...if you have to take the egg turner out before you hatch them, how are the newer eggs going to get turned while the older eggs are hatching? Should I take the turner out or leave it in?

 

[moodybubbles]

I'm no expert but I believe at lockdown you shouldn't be opening the incubator at all. And some of your eggs will be in lockdown but others will still need turning.

You could take it out at lockdown for the first set and manually turn the eggs you added later that still need turned but leave the lockdown ones alone.

Like I said, I'm no eggspert but I wouldn't add any after I started a batch and have them hatch at different times, esp adding some after a few days because a lot goes on in the first week.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

So I just realized I have a problem. I put about 9 eggs in a week ago I got from my own flock. Then I ordered some eggs and put them in about 3 days later..and now I just added one more egg I got from my grandpa...if you have to take the egg turner out before you hatch them, how are the newer eggs going to get turned while the older eggs are hatching? Should I take the turner out or leave it in?

That's the problem with staggered hatches. The eggs you put in 3 days later actually would not require turning when the first ones go into lockdown. An egg does NOT need to be turned after 2 weeks because the chicken is formed and can independently move. I actually stop turning my eggs at the end of day 13 so that days 14/15 when they make the turn to the air cell end, they are not being moved.

Now the last one, is your problem, because that is still going to need to be turned and it's going to need less humidity, but in this case you would do what is best for the majority, which is going to be the first ones. Yes, you need to take the turner out when you go into lockdown for the first 9. It wouldn't hurt if you have your humidity up to continue to turn the last egg. I keep my humidity at 75% during lockdown and hatch because I often open the incubator during hatch, so my philiosophy would be, if you have a bator that holds good temps and recovers humidity well and you are comfortable doing so, go ahead and continue turning. After the first 9 hatch the next ones will be in lockdown, so to stop altogether is more likely to affect the egg than to continue turning through the hatching. (Again, providing that you keep the humidity up in the bator during hatch time.

If you are not comfortable opening during hatch or your bator has problems recovering humidity, then your only other option is turn until the first pip and then stop and see what happens.

How many days are there between the second batch and the last one?

 

[champers44]

Quote: There are four days between the second batch and the one egg I got from my grandpa.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

There are four days between the second batch and the one egg I got from my grandpa.

So there's a week before first egg and last?
Ok, if I am figuring right when the first ones go into lockdown the second ones will be on day 15 and the last one will be on day 11.
So if you lockdown on 18 for #1 you could reasonably keep turning that last egg until you get the first pip. If everything is on schedule and you get your first pip at day 20 then that last egg would be on day 13 and you could probably go hands off for hatch w/o too much problems if you chose to.

 

[kuchchicks]

That's the problem with staggered hatches. The eggs you put in 3 days later actually would not require turning when the first ones go into lockdown. An egg does NOT need to be turned after 2 weeks because the chicken is formed and can independently move. I actually stop turning my eggs at the end of day 13 so that days 14/15 when they make the turn to the air cell end, they are not being moved.

Now the last one, is your problem, because that is still going to need to be turned and it's going to need less humidity, but in this case you would do what is best for the majority, which is going to be the first ones. Yes, you need to take the turner out when you go into lockdown for the first 9. It wouldn't hurt if you have your humidity up to continue to turn the last egg. I keep my humidity at 75% during lockdown and hatch because I often open the incubator during hatch, so my philiosophy would be, if you have a bator that holds good temps and recovers humidity well and you are comfortable doing so, go ahead and continue turning. After the first 9 hatch the next ones will be in lockdown, so to stop altogether is more likely to affect the egg than to continue turning through the hatching. (Again, providing that you keep the humidity up in the bator during hatch time.

If you are not comfortable opening during hatch or your bator has problems recovering humidity, then your only other option is turn until the first pip and then stop and see what happens.

How many days are there between the second batch and the last one?

Amy - I'm curious... have you noticed an increase in hatch rate by stopping turning around day 14/15? I know that it's only a couple of days early compared to what I do, but I am wondering if that decreases the chance of a chick being malpositioned?!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Amy - I'm curious... have you noticed an increase in hatch rate by stopping turning around day 14/15? I know that it's only a couple of days early compared to what I do, but I am wondering if that decreases the chance of a chick being malpositioned?!

Well, I used to have at least one upside pipper per hatch, but I've never had a big problem with malepositioned, and I have not done enough hatches to really make a valid hypothesis, but my last hatch, stopping turning at the end of day 13 I didn't have a single upside malepositioned pipper. I was talking to someone in PM who had been having a lot of problems with malepositioned chicks, so I mentioned to him what I had started doing and my theory behind it and he decided to try it and found that his malepositioned chicks decreased significantly. Coincidence?

I plan to continue with tracking the results this spring to further my hypothesis, but since it has been noted before that an egg does not need to be turned once the chick is fully formed, it doesn't hurt to try it if anyone is having an issue with malepositioned. Maybe it won't make a difference, but it's worth a try in case it might.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Amy, glad to hear your experiences on stopping turning. I also believe they don’t need to be turned after about two weeks but it’s good to get confirmation from someone I trust. Turning helps the body parts form in the right spots plus it keeps the yolk or developing chick from contacting the insides of the porous egg shell and sticking. But at a certain time the body parts have formed and a membrane has developed around the chick to keep it from sticking to the egg shell.

One possible way to keep turning that last egg, depending on the incubator, would be to build a seat for it on a pivot and reach a rod down through the vent hole to rotate that seat. It might take some ingenuity but I envision a box made out of hardware cloth set up on a stand with a rod going across to act as a pivot. Make a seat for the egg, say cut out a piece of an egg carton and fix that in there so it doesn’t move. Then drop a rod from the vent hole and attach it. You’d need a way to lock that rod in place when you raise and lower it. The benefit to having a box around the egg is to keep the newly hatched chicks from crawling on it and getting it all slimy and dirty. That could lead to bacteria getting inside and killing the developing chick.

The risk in opening the incubator after a chick has pipped is that you can shrink-wrap the chick. That membrane that forms around the developing chick can dry out, shrink, and lock the chick in place so it cannot move to hatch. There is a big difference in something that can happen and something that will happen each time. Since something bad can happen I consider it good practice to not open the incubator during lockdown unless I have a good reason. If I have a good reason, I’ll open it. I did shrink-wrap a chick once doing that but I’ve opened the incubator many times without shrink-wrapping any. If your humidity is up and you don’t spend a lot of time in there the chances of actually shrink-wrapping one is pretty small.

I consider Amy’s option of just opening the incubator a reasonable approach. There is some risk associated with it but not a lot. And it’s much simpler than building something on a pivot. I’d still suggest an inverted mesh box to put over the late egg a good idea to help keep it clean.