Incubation Question(s)

[ChickenPalace123]

I have incubated eggs before but never candled eggs. so one of my questions is which end of the egg is the air cell on (when i candled this morning the air cell was on the big end of the eggs)? if I add eggs everyday the eggs will be 5 or 6 days apart is it ok to lockdown on day 18 still? the 2 eggs in the incubator are on day 2. the eggs are most likely cochin/D'Anvers and old English game/D'Anvers
the only rooster i have is a quail Belgian bearded D'Anvers
all are bantams

 

[ChickenPalace123]

oh and my incubator is a brinsea mini advance

 

[pennyJo1960]

staggering can take a little talent probably not the best to answer them letss see if I can find a bit help @ronott1 @Sally Sunshine

 

[Deryk]

The difficulty in staggering is that you will have eggs that require different humidity levels at the same time.

For example if you are a week apart you will can have one egg that is on day 10 and another on day 17. The day 10 egg will need to have lower humidity to continue to lose moisture so the air sac develops correctly, but the day 17 is ready for lock down and humidity to be high for hatch preparation.

The best bet is to no start incubating over a week long period until you have all the eggs collected you want to hatch. It is fine to store them before incubation for a short period.

 

[Deryk]

Sorry, just reread your OP.

Candling is done on the fat end of the egg. This is where the air sac should be and where the egg should first pip when the chick starts to hatch.

 

[Mosey2003]

The air cell should always be on the fat end, this is why they go fat-end-up in a turner.

You can collect eggs up to 14 days before setting them. It's best to collect 10 days or less, but you will still get some viable up to 14. If you're planning on doing 5 or 6 days, definitely save them and set them together. The newest eggs will hatch sooner than the oldest ones, but you can leave chicks in the incubator for two days or more, so it's not a big deal. While you're collecting, turn the eggs 3 times a day if possible. So prop a book under one end of the carton(s) and switch which end it's under to turn.

 

[ChickenPalace123]

my incubator has a turner and it is set for 4 times a day which is the least amount of turns possible. the air cell was on the fat end of the egg. 2 eggs have already been set they are on day 3 now.

 

[WVduckchick]

Do you have another incubator or hatcher?
I would collect more eggs, but wait and put them all in at the same time in a few more days. The 2 that are already going can be managed when its time for them to hatch.

 

[Mosey2003]

If you don't have another incubator to use as a hatcher, you'd be best off collecting the rest until you have enough to set all at once. Then you could pull a rail or two off the turner and set the 2 early birds on the floor there. But doing it like that isn't the best way, as the ones that hatch are going to get your incubator dirty. Personally, I would toss the 2 you already set and set a full batch all together.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You don't want to mess with staggered hatches unless you have a separate incubator for hatching. It's tricky to get air cells large enough when you need to up humidity for each hatch. I've done it with good success with hatch date week apart in same incubator. Don't recommend it but doable; trick is to keep higher humidity to three days (cull late hatches/duds) then take all water out to run dry until second batch is day 19. See? it's a bit of a pain.

I store eggs for incubation up to three weeks. Store in cool room and turn eggs. If stored properly have not seen decrease in hatch rate. There is no need to stagger a hatch. I did it one year due to lack of fertility, pulled all the duds then set a bunch more eggs. As it worked well enough and had sudden opportunity for another line of hatching eggs rolled it into another staggered. Had chicks hatch every weekend for three weeks. So doable but don't recommend it as you can collect and store eggs for three weeks if done right.