Is that an Octagon 20? I have a 20 and am in my second hatch with the first hatch having gone horribly, this one going really well so far. Please email me if you want since it sounds like we are at the exact same point in time. Also, I am a newbie at this, this is like our 6th hatch, the second with our 20, the others with the Brinsea mini.
So I did not use the dividers this time, but had enough eggs to pretty much cover the space. I do not have a turner, so I marked the eggs with a O on one side, and an X on the other side, and each time I turned them I simply removed the top and turned them till the other symbol showed up. I have 17 eggs in my Octagon 20 and 4 have hatched as of this morning, so it appears that my method worked just fine up till now. Day 20 started at 7:00pm and my first egg hatched at 6:15pm. Today they are pipping and zipping.
For me they have been just fine staying in the incubator after hatching. They crawl around and rest on the other eggs. It seems pretty normal. I don't move them till 24 hours have passed.
I read in another thread and agree that we need to give these little guys more credit for durability. Just think what it is like when they are hatching under a hen that is constantly moving around, is on top of them, is off of them, temperature changing and humidity changing constantly.
My first hatches went fine while my kids constantly were opening the incubator to candle them. I think our hatches have tested the limits of trying to follow the rules but deviating from the rules quite a bit. Hence, do you best as often as possible and I think you will find things will turn out fine.
As long as you have 1) fertilized eggs 2) constant good temperature of 99.5-99.6 when the top is closed and 3) constant humidity between 40-50%. these seem to be the three constants.
I got my humidity and temperature reader for this hatch for the first time. Before this hatch I did not know what humidity I was really at. It really makes a difference. It was like $10 at the hardware store. I set it in the area with the chicks to monitor the temp and humidity at that height level (the leve the eggs are at).
So far so good. I think you are fine. Good luck.
So I did not use the dividers this time, but had enough eggs to pretty much cover the space. I do not have a turner, so I marked the eggs with a O on one side, and an X on the other side, and each time I turned them I simply removed the top and turned them till the other symbol showed up. I have 17 eggs in my Octagon 20 and 4 have hatched as of this morning, so it appears that my method worked just fine up till now. Day 20 started at 7:00pm and my first egg hatched at 6:15pm. Today they are pipping and zipping.
For me they have been just fine staying in the incubator after hatching. They crawl around and rest on the other eggs. It seems pretty normal. I don't move them till 24 hours have passed.
I read in another thread and agree that we need to give these little guys more credit for durability. Just think what it is like when they are hatching under a hen that is constantly moving around, is on top of them, is off of them, temperature changing and humidity changing constantly.
My first hatches went fine while my kids constantly were opening the incubator to candle them. I think our hatches have tested the limits of trying to follow the rules but deviating from the rules quite a bit. Hence, do you best as often as possible and I think you will find things will turn out fine.
As long as you have 1) fertilized eggs 2) constant good temperature of 99.5-99.6 when the top is closed and 3) constant humidity between 40-50%. these seem to be the three constants.
I got my humidity and temperature reader for this hatch for the first time. Before this hatch I did not know what humidity I was really at. It really makes a difference. It was like $10 at the hardware store. I set it in the area with the chicks to monitor the temp and humidity at that height level (the leve the eggs are at).
So far so good. I think you are fine. Good luck.
