HELP! Just had one of my cochins hatch in the incubator...when to move

[crazy country gal]

I will definitely try that next time, but do you leave them on small end and rotate side to side or flat and flip them side to side? Hope that makes sense...now I'm confused..lol

 

[SarahIrl]

I lay them on their sides for days 1-18, and let the turner in the incubator do it's thing. If you don't have an auto turner, turn as usual by hand. When locking down on day 18, set them in cartons big end up. I cut the bottom out of the cartons, too, I find it helps keep fresh air moving around the egg. Also, you only want to keep them upright, not smother them. They should be fairly loose in the cartons. Leave them that way until they hatch! I find it eliminates A LOT of mess too. Plus, they get a good chance to zip easily and a good fight to get up and out. I rearely loose chicks post-hatch, which can happen often. Out of 73 eggs incubated over three hatches this year, I have lost 3 chicks to 'failiure to thrive', where they just seem to give up any time in the first two weeks. You do have to watch for low pips, though, if it looks like it's too low for the chick to zip around because of the carton height, lay it down again, pip facing upwards.

That's just what I do, though, so many people have different ways of doing things. I have 3 goose eggs in now, and will have to lie them down for hatching, but will try to at least prop them up and keep them still for hatch.