incubating

[Yorkshire Coop]

Yes they should be ok. Get them set and see what develops.....

 

[Ridgerunner]

And please an someone tell me the correct temp in the incubator that I need and what days do I need to change this

In a forced air incubator (one with a fan) the temperature should be as close to 99.5 Fahrenheit (37.5 C) as you can get it. The fan moves the air around so it should be the same temperature anywhere you measure inside. With some incubators, especially homemade incubators, that doesn't always work perfectly but it usually does for the older established incubator models and brands.

In a still air (sometimes called thermal air) incubator warm air rises. There is nothing to mix it up. The elevation you take the temperature inside is very important. The recommendation in a still air is 101.5 F (38.6 C) taken at the top of the eggs.

So, what type of incubator do you have?

 

[Morgan231]

In a forced air incubator (one with a fan) the temperature should be as close to 99.5 Fahrenheit (37.5 C) as you can get it. The fan moves the air around so it should be the same temperature anywhere you measure inside. With some incubators, especially homemade incubators, that doesn't always work perfectly but it usually does for the older established incubator models and brands.

In a still air (sometimes called thermal air) incubator warm air rises. There is nothing to mix it up. The elevation you take the temperature inside is very important. The recommendation in a still air is 101.5 F (38.6 C) taken at the top of the eggs.

So, what type of incubator do you have?

I have a fan one and currently at 38.0 C x

 

[Ridgerunner]

Should be close enough.

 

[HH0611]

If I lockdown on day 19 instead of day 18, will it harm the chicks? I am a school teacher and day 18 is on a Sunday and do not have access to the building on Sunday so I was thinking of locking down on day 19 (Monday next week).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Let's try the easy way out first. Did you count the days right? An egg does not have a day's worth of development the instant it goes in the incubator. It takes 24 hours for the egg to have a day's worth of development. That means you say "one" the day after they go in the incubator. This is not intuitive and a lot of people get it wrong. An easy way to check your counting is the day of the week you start them is the day of the week the 21 days are up. If you started them on a Wednesday then the 21 days are up on a Wednesday. So if you counted wrong Monday would be perfect.

Assuming you did count correctly. You really don't have to turn them after 14 days of development. There are different reasons to turn them early in incubation but by 14 days those reasons are fulfilled. The reason we generally turn them for 18 days is because it is convenient to do everything at once. In your situation I'd stop turning this Friday. Take the turner out and get ready for hatch.

The other thing we typically do at lockdown is increase the humidity to help guard against shrink-wrap. You want the humidity up before the eggs pip. It isn't that unusual for eggs to hatch a couple of days early or late either in an incubator or under a broody hen. There are different reasons for that. If you increase humidity after 18 days of development you are pretty much assured no eggs have external pipped yet.

It is fairly rare to shrink wrap a chick by opening the incubator even if it has external pipped. It can happen so I consider it best practice to not open it during lockdown unless I have a good reason. Why take an unnecessary chance? If I have a good reason I will open it during lockdown.

I don't know what incubator you have or how you increase the humidity. It is possible you can increase humidity without even opening your incubator. With the eggs already in position to hatch since Friday I'd wait until Monday to increase the humidity. Even if you have to open it that should not take long so any risk should be minimal.

I increase humidity by filling an extra reservoir in the bottom of mine. To add water without opening the lid I tape a few of those accordion straws together so I can go in through a vent hole to reach a certain reservoir and use a syringe to put water through the straw. I use this method to add more water if a reservoir goes dry.

I don't think you are in bad shape, should be manageable. Let us know how it goes.