information on egg carton incubation

[jvls1942]

chicks hatching in the middle or in the wrong end or upside down have nothing to do with egg cartons.. I have had the same thing happen with the eggs laying flat on the wire floor.
it is just something that happens..

However, you might confuse a chick if you lift an egg during lockdown and then set it down in a different position than what it was before you picked it up...

 

[midget_farms]

I used the egg cartons for my first hatch. i was pretty happy with it. I had humidity issues in lock down though & I'm not sure if the paper cartons contributed to the large losses I had.

I'll do the carton business every time because of the design of my bator - but I'll be using plastic cartons from now on.

Since you cant upen the bator in lock down - once they hatch the first ones will play soccer with the other eggs. The carton method keeps them from being kicked around too much.

None of the chicks that hatched seemed to be bothered by the carton.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
I use only paper cartons.. they have no bearing on the humidity. heat or hatchability ..

do you cut the bottoms out of each cup and cut the divider "castles" off.? when I am finished with a carton it is nothing more than a bunch of holes held together by paper ..

 

[jbowyer01]

Quote:
I use only paper cartons.. they have no bearing on the humidity. heat or hatchability ..

do you cut the bottoms out of each cup and cut the divider "castles" off.? when I am finished with a carton it is nothing more than a bunch of holes held together by paper ..

I use the carton method and haven't had a problem, though I only use the paper cartons and not the Styrofoam. I cut small holes in the bottom of each holder (where the egg sits) I hand turn each one, one side is marked with an x and the other an O (just my preference). I've done the tilt the incubator thing and that worked too.

 

[clairabean]

I also use paper cartons. I cut the bottom part off for ventilation and attach a length of pipe along the bottom. When I need to turn the eggs I just rock the whole carton from side to side. The only time I take the eggs out of the carton is when I candle.

Last batch I did I left them in the carton- minus the 'rocking' pipe. I think this time I am going to try without- just on the bottom of the bator.

 

[Katy]

I've used the paper cartons for hatching for quite a while.....like going on 3 years. I've been very happy with it. I just cut the lids off and put the eggs in and place the cartons in the hatcher.

 

[Higins00]

I don't have a turner so I do it by hand. The eggs lay on their side but they get kicked around after one hatches so I tried the carton idea. As soon as I put them in the carton I did not like that they went from laying down to sitting up. So I read a post about someone using a toilet paper roll and cutting it into strips, setting the egg on it sideways (just like it was on wire). Worked excellent and I will use this method everytime now!

 

[midget_farms]

Quote:
OK that makes me feel much better about using paper cartons - The plastic ones are OK - but a pain to cut.

I had such a problem with humidity last time during lock down I wanted to eliminate all variables.

So far I've had the bator running for just over 24 hrs with the new modifications & with only 1 water tray partially filled its holding at 40%

That is good - that means when I get to lock down, not only can I add more to the paint tray (sloped bottom so more water = more surface area) I still have an entire second one waiting with 2 huge sponges directly under the fan. Just add water.

I definatley like the carton method though - made it all easy.

 

[latebloomer]

i just added a paper carton to my incubator
to help keep the eggs more or less in the same position
because when they were on the wire floor
the rolled around a little and i didn't like that

 

[AmandaGrace]

I've heard if you use the egg cartons to hold the eggs while incubating you should take them out before lockdown. Its supposed do help them hatch faster and then you wouldn't have a problem of them hatching upside down. I'm going to try it with my next hatch.