How do I manage this "dual stage" hatch?? HELP!

[technodoll]

OK in my forced-air Hovabator with automatic egg turner I have 5 silkie eggs due Jan 20th, just candled them and everything is looking fine

BUT!!

I also have 10 EE eggs in there, due Jan 26th.

Help, what do I do??

Do I remove all the eggs from the automatic turner on Jan 17th to allow the silkie eggs to hatch?

What do I do with the EE eggs, do I put them in egg cartons and manually turn twice a day for 3 days?

What about temps and humidity during these 3 pre-hatch days?

Obviously I cannot have a "lockdown" for the silkie eggs since I have to turn the EE eggs...

I really want all these babies to hatch as fat healthy chicks, please help!

 

[Olive Hill]

At the beginning of lockdown for the silkies remove all but two rows of holders from your auto turner. Cut a small piece of chicken wire to prop up next to those two sections to block that area from the silkie chicks once they hatch. Set the silkie eggs on the bottom of the bator/bottom of the auto turner where you removed the turner trays. Lockdown. After they've hatched you can clean up the main shells and mess and remove the silkies and then proceed with the EE hatch as usual when the time comes.

 

[technodoll]

Quote:
I think you just saved my hatch... I had NO IDEA I could remove rows of egg holders from the automatic turner

And this is my 4th hatch with this contraption...

*groan*

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Last question: what temp & humidity level should I look for in lockdown so the silkies don't dry out in their shell but the EE embryos don't drown in theirs?

 

[Olive Hill]

I would raise the humidity as normal for the silkies and then, as soon as you can open it after they'd hatched take the water out completely. This'll allow the EEs to "dry" back out to where they should be before it's time to raise the humidity for their hatch. Theoretically anyway...

Good luck!

 

[technodoll]

Quote:
OK great - I'll try to keep the lockdown humidity at 70 to 75%, temps at 100F and hope for the best...

Thanks again, I am soooo relieved now!

 

[ddroland]

Quote:
I think you just saved my hatch... I had NO IDEA I could remove rows of egg holders from the automatic turner

And this is my 4th hatch with this contraption...

*groan*

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Last question: what temp & humidity level should I look for in lockdown so the silkies don't dry out in their shell but the EE embryos don't drown in theirs?

Yep, take some rows out of your automatic turner.

 

[technodoll]

OK I read the instructions and don,t understand a thing

http://www.gqfmfg.com/pdf/Turner- Hova-Bator for internet.pdf

I can't find any "how to" videos on youtube, either - I know I have to move fast and carefully when removing the trays because there are live eggs that need to go back in the 'bator asap, so I don't have a whole lot of time to mess around figuring out how to do this.

Can anyone please point me to a how-to video or try to explain things to me like I'm 5 years old?

I appreciate your help!

 

[Olive Hill]

I doubt you're going to find a how-to video. Just take the eggs out of the turner, pull the pins out of the ends of where the trays attach to the base and then pull one end and then the other of each tray out. You should be reasonably quick, but it's not a race. A few minutes out of the turner won't hurt them. You can set the eggs back in the bator, just on the bottom, while you work with the turner if you think it's going to take you a bit to figure out.

 

[technodoll]

OK, I'll do just that - thanks!

I'm so excited to have baby silkies that my brain shut off.