I will never consider myself an "expert"...

[ginbart]

LA~Poulet :

I forgot to ask my question! Do you experience a better hatch rate when they come out of the cartons vs. laying on their sides? Can that be done in a still-air inc?

Did you ever get an answer to you question? IMO I put mine in the cartons because it makes less of a mess and less chance for the hatched chicks to knock the eggs around that have not hatched. And yes I did mine in a still air bator.​

 

[chicky gal1]

I would love to hear the answer to this question too. I wonder if it puts the air cell in a better position for hatching also?

 

[walkswithdog]

I usually start shipped eggs in cartons for at least the first week or two. Depending on where the air cell IS at about 14-16 days, I may or may not hatch in them.

Some eggs will have most of the aircell on the side or in the wrong end - I hatch those on their sides.

Most people "good" at this just get a feel for what works for them. They pay attention, they keep track, notes help. Because looking back at "I did this this time and these were the results" helps from getting things confused over several hatches.

While a LOT of people try and avoid "bumper eggs" (like bumper cars only with eggs and hatchlings) those hatchlings are actually doing a job - stimulating the slower eggs, the weaker chicks by bumping and crying.

The people who hatch huge trays of eggs and let them just roll get great hatches in part BECAUSE of bumper chicks. They say "leave them alone" and look all stern at us and they're being both accurate and inaccurate. They DON'T help, but some of the chicks in those huge tray hatches are helped and even forced out by the other chicks banging them around until they get it together.

They get good numbers because that works.

It is neater by far to hatch in cartons but it sucks if in the cartons is one or a few chicks, wrong end round for whom the carton makes hatching difficult or impossible.

So there are trade offs.

You want rules, pick a camp and follow it. There are CARTON hatchers, and people who are NOT CARTON people and both will tell you the rules if you need them.

For those people their RULES work.

If you need RULES pick a rule.

If you want to work out what works best for you and for each hatch and hatches in YOUR home overall, you have to tinker, try, take notes and learn. And yes, possibly risk greater gain or greater failure in doing so. Learning and discovery certainly often have that price.

Your climate and home and bator and situation are all unique. While following someone else's rules - you may or may not get a good result. They don't live in your home, have your bator or your eggs, or your climate.

It'd be nice if some formula worked for everyone, everywhere always. I'm here to tell you - that doesn't happen. Even HUGE commercial hatcheries with climate controlled rooms, computerized bators and decades of practice have failed hatches. Lots of them.

Hatching is part science and part art form, and part nature. There's no way to force it to be all of any one part of those things.

While you can get to the point where most of your hatches go like clockwork, with practice and notes and getting to know your equipment well. Nature will always decide what hatches and what does not, in the end. And accidents will happen.

Hatching will never be "chicken making" or you could count them before they hatch... and you cannot.