I need a chicken hatching eggspert please!

[kzane23]

Ok so I have 7 chicken eggs and 1 duck egg in my incubator right now. They were all started together because I had a brain blip and forgot the ducks take longer..... Day 17 started this afternoon around 6pm. My automatic turner has removable rows. Now, my question is, is it going to hurt anything if I take my chicken eggs off the racks tonight instead of tomorrow night, and remove all the racks except the one my duck is in? I wont be home tomorrow night when I should be taking them out of the turner and I don't want to leave them to long....

 

[kuchchicks]

After day 14 you can stop turning. Day 17 should be no problem.

 

[calichicken]

Hi there! I am definitely no hatching expert, that's for sure! But you can take them off the turner a day early and it will be fine! Good luck with your hatch!

 

[biteme2134]

Don't duck eggs take an extra week to hatch? I don't think it will hurt to take the chicken eggs off a day early but I wouldn't like them hatch next to the turner. I would think that wouldn't end well for the chicks...

 

[kzane23]

After day 14 you can stop turning. Day 17 should be no problem.

Does that mean I can take the duck egg off as well? I really want the duck egg to hatch

 

[kuchchicks]

I have never hatched ducks eggs... I do agree with above though about being careful about the turner with the chicks. If you are able to remove the trays and leave the duck egg in the turner you could try to section off part of your bator. I do this to keep my breeds separate while hatching so I can keep them straight. I got some of that plastic canvas at the hobby store and created a "playpen". You could do this to keep your chicks away from the turner. That way everyone gets what they need.

 

[lazy gardener]

Ok so I have 7 chicken eggs and 1 duck egg in my incubator right now. They were all started together because I had a brain blip and forgot the ducks take longer..... Day 17 started this afternoon around 6pm. My automatic turner has removable rows. Now, my question is, is it going to hurt anything if I take my chicken eggs off the racks tonight instead of tomorrow night, and remove all the racks except the one my duck is in? I wont be home tomorrow night when I should be taking them out of the turner and I don't want to leave them to long....

If you have enough room in your bator, and can do a separate enclosure like kuchchicks suggested, that would be fine. If there's not enough room for the turner and the chicken eggs, I'd recommend that you take out the turner, and divide the bator to keep the chicks and their hatching goo away from the duck eggs. It won't hurt the duck eggs to be hand turned. Your biggest issue is going to be how the duck air cells respond to the elevated humidity during chick lock down. At this late stage, it won't hurt the duck eggs to miss turning during lock down. Not the best scenario, but if those duck embryo's are strong, they should do ok. However, when you put the chick eggs in lock down, I'd recommend that you put something under them so that clean up after the hatch will be easy and quick to keep the bacteria load down while the duck eggs finish cooking.

 

[kzane23]

OK, here is what I've concocted! I put the bowl in there because my humidity isn't maintaining. I also filled up both reservoirs. Its super super dry here and my house is getting to hot during the day because my AC isnt hooked up yet.

 

[RubyNala97]

OK, here is what I've concocted! I put the bowl in there because my humidity isn't maintaining. I also filled up both reservoirs. Its super super dry here and my house is getting to hot during the day because my AC isnt hooked up yet.

Just be careful with open water and the new hatched chicks. I don't know if you plan on leaving the water bowl in during the hatch. If you are, add pebbles or marbles. Someone had a similar set up and she went to pick up the kids at school. When she got home 2 eggs hatched and the chicks drowned. I felt terrible for her.

 

[kzane23]

I ended up taking it out right away. My humidity shot up to 87%!!! I figured with the paper towels in there that it would dry it out a bit but I was apparently wrong...