Is Lock Down Crucial???

[marymac]

Today is my 18 day and I guess I need to lock down? My question is , does a hen lock down? I mean will she not get off the nest from day 18 for anything, and is that humidity thing that crucial. I am still new to this incubating thing and this lock down has me shook up. I am testing a new incubator and now I worry about the humidity and adding water. My thinking is a chicken doesn't know when day 18 is , SO HOW IMPORTANT IS ALL THIS ANY WAY?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

It is pretty important to keep the bator closed because every time you open it it will let temp and humidity fluctuate which can cause numerous issues during hatching. It is NOT the end of the world if you HAVE to open...it's just WAY better if you don't. I'm sure you'll do fine

 

[Illia]

Chickens actually do know when it is time. With incubation though - It is very important. The key is to not open the incubator, because by this stage, if the humidity goes down any bit, the chicks can get "shrink-wrapped" and die of suffocation. Also, any temperature change can also affect them.

Last time I even tried helping a chick out when it had troubles, the rest of the eggs, who hadn't even pipped yet, got shrink wrapped inside the shell. They never hatched, and when I opened the egg, their membrane was dry and stuck to them.

 

[KellyHM]

The hens don't lock down, but they do only get up to eat/drink once a day the whole time. If you have good humidity and you open the bator once a day then you still shouldn't have a problem. My hatches are always really staggered, so I open the hatcher once a day to take out whatever new chicks there are and make sure there's still water in the bottom. So far I haven't had any problems with that. It stays super humid here too though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chicks will peep in their shell once they reach a certain level of development. The hen can hear this peeping and will answer it. The hen may not know when day 18 is, but don't assume she does not change her behavior when she starts to hear that peeping.

How important is lockdown? Just like practically every other standard recommendation on here, it is not an absolute law of nature. It is something that will improve your odds of being successful. Proper lockdown does not absolutely guarantee a great hatch. Failure to properly lock down does not absolutely guarantee a poor hatch. I personally try to follow as best I can the recommendations and practices of the people whose livelyhood depends on hatching as many chicks as possible. I don't have to. I just want to improve my odds as much as I reasonably can.

 

[CorralitosSunflower]

When I have needed to open the bator during lockdown I just prepare before hand. I put a space heater in our bathroom and run the shower on hot for about 10 minutes, till it is noticably steamy, mirrors are completely fogged up and bring my bator (very very carefully) into the bathroom and do my business as fast as humanly possible, not so fast that I make mistakes though. I figure if you can mimic the conditions inside the bator during lockdown ourtside the bator when you open it there won't be as much negative impact. Not proven and I haven't hatched tons but it has worked so far for me.

 

[xyresicchick]

that is a good question, i want to know the answer to this one as well!

 

[Glitterik]

Hygrometers (temperator/humidity gadgets) are sold at WalMart for $6. They are the same as the ones sold on eBay for $15 (with free shipping, imagine that).
I've run low on humidity at the most unexpected times so I keep one in the incubator at all times.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

The crucial thing is to keep the humidity and the temperature in its proper range. If it drops for a few minutes then goes back to where it should be it's not going to hurt anything.

The man that made my incubator recommends misting the eggs in the hatching trays with warm water three times a day, but otherwise keeping the humidity at its pre-hatch level. His incubators have an excellent reputation so this system seems to work. I kept a mister bottle in the incubator so the water would always be warm when I opened the cabinet.

Some incubators can take a long time to come up to temperature and can be a struggle to keep the humidity where it needs to be. For them it would be important not to open them any more than absolutely necessary. Others you can be more flexible about IF you stay on top of things. I calibrated my hygrometer and paid close attention to it in those last three days. I made a mistake with the hatching trays so ended up having to open the cabinet a lot more than I had anticipated but so long as I kept that brief and misted the inside every time I did it then the humidity and temperature would only dip briefly. In ten minutes or less it would be back to where it was supposed to be. We hatched thirty one of the thirty four turkey eggs we put into the hatching trays.

.....Alan.

 

[babsbag]

My broody left the nest on her own, for the first time in 18 days, on day 20.

And she had a pipped egg already. I was not happy, but the chick hatched out just fine. With the last broody I candled them twice between days 18-21 and she left eggs twice, and the one egg that was still good still hatched. IMO there has to be something going on between the hen and the chick that encourages them to get the heck out of that shell

Something that we can't imitate.