How should eggs be positioned for hatching?

[Apriljc]

Hi all! My two chicken eggs are now at 14 1/2 days incubation. I have two questions for you; first, how does position of the egg during development effect the position of the chick? Does it always lay head up/bottom down relative to gravity or does it orient relative to the shell? Most pictures I see show the chick head toward the large end and bottom toward the small end--my chicks are head up to one side of the egg and bottom down to the other side of the egg because the egg lays almost horizontal since I am not using an automatic turner (yes, I make sure the large end is higher than the small end).

If my chicks indeed are developing across the egg rather than lengthwise in the egg, will it effect hatching? When we get to 18 days and we stop turning, should the eggs be standing on end or will they find the air space even with the eggs laying down? I would imagine that is how it happens in nature...

Its very interesting. When I see candling pics (maybe from egg turners) the dark area is in the bottom half of the egg. My dark areas are in the center third or so of the egg with a light area on the small end and air space on the other.

What do you think?

 

[hennypenny99]

I wish I could help you. I am confused about this part too. Should I just unplug my egg turner when it is in an up and down position or leaning to the left or the right? lol! Or would it be best to take them out of the turner and lay them all flat on the wire screen? I am thinking if I leave them in the turner and they all start hatching out it's going to be very uncomfortable for the baby to rest laying on a turner.

This is my first time hatching and I did a staggered hatch. I know, stupid - stupid - stupid. I have about 6 silkie eggs due to reach day 21 on April 28th and 30 or so mutt chicken and silkie eggs due on the 30th of April. I sure hope it all turns out okay.

 

[Apriljc]

I don't know that its "stupid". Do you know which eggs are at which stages? Could you make a home for them during the hatching phase so you can bump up their humidity without effecting the eggs that aren't ready?

I made my incubator. Its a 10 gallon fish tank with a screen over shallow water in the bottom and a tray in the center. I have a hygrometer and thermometer with the eggs (only two of my 6 were viable). I have sponges for added humidity and a screen over the top of the tank. I have a 150 watt bulb/fixture above the screen (used for reptile basking) and alluminum foil over the lamp and screen in three pieces. I adjust the foil to change the temperature. This was rough for the first few days but after the setup was running for a few days, it became pretty consistent. I find the temperature soars when the humidity gets too low.

I'm not sure what I am going to do to raise the humidity for hatching. I want the bottom to dry out to reduce the possibility of a chick drowing (though I'm not sure they could get out the tray which has sides and are probably too light to press the screen in to the water). Maybe more sponges? Spritzing bottle? We shall see!

Its a very curious thing to watch

The shadows of my chicks low look fuzzy--maybe the starts of feathers? I wish I could know for sure how they are doing and I pray they hatch!

 

[Apriljc]

Henny Penny:

My guess is that you would carefully remove the eggs and lay them on a screen, large end slightly higher than the small end....

 

[thechickonthehill]

Quote:
Do a search on "hatching in egg cartons" and see what you think about that. I always hatch in eggs cartons and I don't think I will ever try it with the eggs lying on their sides as the carton hatching has worked very well for me.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Its really a matter of how much moisture is still in the eggs at hatchtime. I think its easier to drown them standing them on end an nature has them on there side for a reason but some people seem to do better with them on end. I keep mine in cartons tilted to where the eggs are still on there side.

 

[hennypenny99]

April: Have you seen those bird feeder squares that you put the square birdfeed cakes inside? They are made of wire and open and shut. Maybe you could get one of those and but a shallow dish inside. Then if the chicks do walk on it they won't fall in the water. Or you could buy some wire or screen and make a cover for a bowl of water to add to your incubator? I had to fill all my water trays to get my humidity to 60%. I will probably have to add an extra to get it high enough for lockdown.


On my staggered hatch:

Yes, I know exactly which eggs are at what age. I have some time, maybe I could make or buy another incubator for the hatch? My husband would flip out if I bought another incubator! lol! I just feel stupid for staggering my hatch because I have been reading all the different problems you can encounter plus this is my first time hatching so it's not like I am an experienced hatcher or anything. Someone told me that if I do lockdown on my eggs and don't turn the others they would probably be okay. They said that the first 7 days are the most important for turning.

Here is my group....

6 silkie eggs (supposed to be bearded and the parents are beautiful) - Set April 7th - Will lockdown April 25th

2 silkie and 1 White Crested Polish and 24 Barnyard mixes (had more silkie eggs but lots of scrambled eggs in this e-bay lot) Set April 9th - Should lockdown April 27

Then a girl from work asked me if she could give me some of her eggs to put in the incubator too. She has some kind of game chickens called Blue Shufflers and Generals... something like that. Well she gave me 10 eggs. I was going to set them Sunday and my little boy grabbed the carton and dumped the whole thing out. Luckily he dropped them on a wicker basket full of extra blankets so they had cushy fall but 2 eggs broke. I set them on Sunday the 17th. That means hers will be 8 days old by the time I lockdown mine. Hopefully they will be okay. I may still try to turn them at least once a day if I work really quickly. I was thinking I could move them to the side and just barely crack the lid while I turn them really quickly.

Right now the temp is staying around 101 and the humidity 60% When I just crack the lid for a quick turn with the four on the side that don't fit in my turner the humidity drops to 55%.

Question though...... how does momma hen know to start lockdown? Seriously? Is there some kind of instinct that tells her it's lockdown time? I would think she would need to eat and go to the restroom. Plus when the chicks start hatching you know she is going to get excited and start moving around. My grandma's chickens did a victory cackle and ran around each time they laid an egg so you would think hatching a chick would be pretty exciting stuff for a momma hen.

Time will tell. It's so HARD to be patient! I think I might try the hatching in cartons thing and elevate one end. I could put a folded dish towel or something under there.

 

[Apriljc]

You must keep turning the younger eggs at least three ot five times a day while the others are in lockdown. Hatching eggs need higher humidity than developing eggs. Personally, I would make a hatching home for the older ones and move them over with their last turning since you have them staggered.

 

[Jake1297]

HennyPenny
You'll want to remove your automatic turner for two reasons. One you don't want the chicks getting hurt or trapped in between the turner rows. Two it will become a big dirty mess that will take some time to clean up if you leave it in. I remove my auto turner and I use the method of a paper towel roll cut into 1/2 inch pieces. (so you end up with a 1/2 inch circle to hold up the egg) This works for me.