Have a question about "Lockdown".

[14 chickens & counting]

So, my 14 eggs are in lockdown and I have taken out the turner and the eggs are just laying on their side in the incubator. But, I was reading a thread about using a egg carton to hold the eggs in? Does anyone recomment this?

BTW..this is my 1st hatch....all were moving when I candled yesterday and one of the eggs was moving in the incubator earlier today...

 

[TNBarnQueen]

A friend and I did our first hatch a few weeks ago. We did not put our eggs in anything. Things went pretty good until one of the chicks that hatched went wild!!! It was running everywhere knocking the eggs all over the incubator. Only thing is you are already in lockdown and it would not be a good idea to open your bator long enough to re=arrange things. Since you have only 14 eggs there is a lot of room so you may not have the problem we did. We had 32 eggs. Good Luck!!!!!

 

[14 chickens & counting]

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"went wild"???? Was it alright??? and 32 eggs???? WHEW.......what will you ever do with 32 chicks?

 

[gryeyes]

Oh, once they get their energy, newly hatched chicks dash all over the place.

The egg carton method uses cut down egg carton bottoms (not the top that folds over the eggs), with the bottoms cut out and the sides cut down slightly. This basically leaves a collection of wide rings connected to each other, which will allow the eggs to be placed with the pointy ends down. It keeps the eggs in place so they don't roll out of position as the chick inside moves, or when a loose, newly-hatched chick scampers around inside the 'bator.

 

[14 chickens & counting]

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Is there a "down side" to using these??

 

[14 chickens & counting]

14 chickens & counting :

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Is there a "down side" to using these??

Oh...and how long can they stay in the incubator before I get them out?​

 

[gryeyes]

Chicks CAN stay in the incubator for 3 days, because they will survive off the nutrition of the yolk sack they have absorbed. I generally remove chicks from the 'bator under these conditions:

They have been there either overnight, or all day (a good eight to ten hours) and have fluffed up and are busily running around in there. After they hatch, they need to - and will - rest a LOT to recover from the exertion of hatching.

Plus there must not be any eggs pipped or zipped at the time I remove a chick. If the eggs are solid with no pips (holes punched through by the chick's beak) or zips (cracks made around the circumference of the shell by the chick working to break it open), then I will remove any "ready" hatched chicks.

If there are pips and/or zipped eggs, I leave the hatched chicks in the 'bator until it's safe to remove them.

And this is the up side to using cartons: the eggs are not moved around by the lively chicks, so I can see if there are any new pips.

Down side? You might get a chick hatching upside down like I did.

But that doesn't happen very often. He just needed a little assistance getting turned around. (It was a cockerel, go figure!)

Others may chime in with comments either pro or con.

 

[14 chickens & counting]

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NOw that is a cute pic...Those legs frailing up in the air!
This is good info to know, and thank you...I think I'll take TNBarnQueen's advice this go around and leave everything as is because it's on Lockdown...but again,

, thanks for the information.

 

[14 chickens & counting]

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Sorry for so many questions.....one more

Will they pip anywhere on the egg? or will it towards the pointy or round end?

 

[gryeyes]

They SHOULD pip somewhere in the top half or third of the egg, on the side. The greatest majority of them do that. For eggs on their sides, one hopes they pip on an "up" side, but it will generally be in the top half or third of the egg, with the round end being the "top" end.