How long to let eggs settle and how do i set up a hova bator ?

[EasterEggersRULE]

I was just given a hova bator thats been beat up but in decent shape and eight fertile EE and buff oprington eggs. They where driven here from houston thats 4 hours of bumpy road. How long do the eggs need to settle and how do i set up the bator where do i put water ?? I do have a themometor and a hydrometor. The hova bator does not have a wire floor but i will make one. I know i need the incubator to set for a while but the eggs are five days old and the sooner they get in the bator the better.

 

[Time-Out]

I would leave them pointy end down for 24 hours and run the incubator for that whole time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not sure which Hovabator you have. You might find the manual for yours down on the right hand side of this link.

http://www.gqfmfg.com/store/comersus_listOneCategory.asp?idCategory=2

With my 1588, I fill only the center tray for incubation and usually get somewhere between 40% and 50% humidity. During lockdown, I fill other trays until I get in the 65% to 70% range.

At 5 days old, those eggs should be fine for another couple of days. As long as you do not store them in "extreme" conditions, hatchability should not drop until 7 days at least, and if you store them in good conditions, they are good for about 2 weeks total. In your case, I'd go with the 24 hours and set them.