Incubators Anonymous

[ozexpat]

Hi my name is Blake I'm from Fairbanks Alaska and I just started incubating my first eggs.
6 BLRW
And
4 mixed heritage breed turkeys.

I have one question about each.

Okay so i set all of my BLRW eggs on the same day (the 27th) at the same time and I candled on day 7 which is today. I saw one egg with obvious progress one with maybe some veins and the rest seem just as clear as the day I put them in the bator.
The question is this. All these clear eggs are they just a little behind the progressed egg and might take a little more time or should all the eggs be at the same point by now?
Basically should I crack open the clear eggs and check for fertility or leave them in the bator?

Question for the turkeys which days do I candle them? Like with chickens you candle on the 7th day excreta.
Would turkeys be like the 10th day?

by day 7 you should see growth in any egg.

 

[Runawaylobster]

If you have some copper pennies, place them in the water wells and they will prevent mold or bacteria coming back during the few days left

that's really interesting... i never thought of it and i was worried when i put the sponges in my GQF last nig.. i must be one dumb biologist LOL! after all i spent
lots of time chucking copper sulphate in the fishtank... do you think copper pipe would work too?

 

[waterplz]

What is lockdown?

 

[gladahmae]

What is lockdown?

it's the last 3 days of incubating/hatching (starting day 18 or 19 of incubation for chicken eggs) where you increase the humidity a bit, and some will say to STAY THE HECK OUT of the incubator. No opening it. No candling. No turning the eggs. You "Lockdown" your incubator while your eggs hopefully hatch.

It is also common practice for those who incubate to open their incubators for short periods of time to remove already-hatched chicks, etc. In this case, you should know your incubator and compensate for the humidity you will lose when you open your incubator. (See post 5822).

 

[ki4got]

I would wrap the eggs in some dry towels to keep them warm and wash the bator with soap and water.

even better, take the towels straight out of the dryer before wrapping the eggs, then they'll stay warm even longer!

 

[waterplz]

Thank you

it's the last 3 days of incubating/hatching (starting day 18 or 19 of incubation for chicken eggs) where you increase the humidity a bit and STAY THE HECK OUT of the incubator.  No opening it.  No candling.  No turning the eggs.  You "Lockdown" your incubator while your eggs hopefully hatch.

 

[Overoberyl]

it's the last 3 days of incubating/hatching (starting day 18 or 19 of incubation for chicken eggs) where you increase the humidity a bit and STAY THE HECK OUT of the incubator. No opening it. No candling. No turning the eggs. You "Lockdown" your incubator while your eggs hopefully hatch.

Sorry but this is a myth. I open the bator during lockdown and have no problems at all. I candle unhatched eggs to see how they are doing, I take out hatched chicks and empty shells. I have never once had a shrink wrapped chick that resulted from this. Sure, you probably want to add some water to compensate for any loss of humidity, but it's really not such a hard & fast rule, and it's not the end of the world if you need to open the bator.

 

[maryhysong]

well todays hatch has started with one little early bird out this morning.

 

[waterplz]

So i have an egg that I think is dead but I'm not sure because of a thick shell what should I do

 

[gladahmae]

Sorry but this is a myth. I open the bator during lockdown and have no problems at all. I candle unhatched eggs to see how they are doing, I take out hatched chicks and empty shells. I have never once had a shrink wrapped chick that resulted from this. Sure, you probably want to add some water to compensate for any loss of humidity, but it's really not such a hard & fast rule, and it's not the end of the world if you need to open the bator.

Yeah, I know, but it's easier to say "stay out" to someone who is new to incubating than "you can go in, but make sure you do x y and z".