How do you hatch multiple batches?

[EngleAcres]

Hi. I decided to try my hand at hatching eggs from my welsummers recently and went with knowledge a friend had with incubating eggs. I collected eggs for 5 days and turned them several times a day until I put them in the incubator.

I used a little giant forced air with an egg turner. Set the temp to 99.5 and humidity around 40% but usually ended up around 20-30% when I would check it. I set 11 eggs and 5 days later put in 10 more that I had collected. At day 18 of my first batch I set them on the floor of the incubator and kept humidity at about 65%. All 11 eggs hatched with healthy chicks.

I returned the humidity back to 30-40 and set the remaining 7 good eggs on the incubator floor at 18 days. I candled them at that time and could see 7 little chicks moving around inside the eggs. They have been sitting on the floor for 5 days without a single pip so I assume they're dead.

Did they get too much humidity during the lockdown period of the first batch of eggs sharing the incubator?

When incubating multiple batches in the same incubator, is the temp and humidity slightly compromised to accommodate all the eggs? I have an older gqf 1502 that I have two batches of eggs in and now I'm worried the first batch will hatch while i lose all of the 2nd batch. Looking to learn from those with more experience doing this than me (which is very little)

P.s. I just read the hatching 101 thread before posting. I did not see info referring to this, but I may have missed it. If so, you can point me in the right direction and I'll do more reading.

Thanks!

 

[FridayYet]

Many people that do staggered hatched use one incubator for the first 18 days, then move those eggs into a separate incubator for hatching. If you have a ton of experience and a great incubator you could swing it, but most people don't.

If your GQF is working well, I'd just move the early eggs into the LG for hatching, and leave the rest in the GQF.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Since you have an extra incubator, if you can, move all of the eggs incubating into the same unit. Then move the eggs ready to hatch into the second unit when they go into lock down.

If you keep incubating and hatching everything in the same incubator, you'll continue to compromise the later eggs as you up the humidity for the eggs ready to hatch.

 

[FridayYet]

Since you have an extra incubator, if you can, move all of the eggs incubating into the same unit. Then move the eggs ready to hatch into the second unit when they go into lock down.

If you keep incubating and hatching everything in the same incubator, you'll continue to compromise the later eggs as you up the humidity for the eggs ready to hatch.