June Hatch-A-Long

[Vantic]

When you guys do the 18 day candling then go into lockdown, do you purposely place the egg so that the largest part of the air cell is up? Does the chick's wiggling and rolling move the egg enough for it not to matter anyway?

Whenever I cande I try to place the egg back in the same place/orientation along it's daily roll cycle in the bator so this is the first time I've had to think about this.

If hatching on the side, I do. I figure it will be easy to see the pip that way. Of course, I do not have the experience. I guess and see what happens.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

The day I set my eggs, it was around 1:30 pm in the afternoon by the time I got everyone set so they rolled smoothly and I reset for "go".
Today is day 18 and when I got up the turner was still on, however when I went out to feed this morning it auto shut off. I've been using mid-day as my mark for counting the days and had planned to candle this evening after it got dark outside, like I have been doing all along.

Should I -
A. Wait until later today to boost the humidity up? Wait until after candling to boost humidity since logic says I will loose all the humidity when I candle anyway?

B. Candle now? I can close blinds and it's cloudy this morning.
Or candle tonight when I can see best?

My main concern is getting the humidity up at the proper time. Last candle at 14 days showed 18 eggs still active and since I lack experience to recognize a late quitter anyway....was planning to send all 18 into lockdown. Plus the 2 that I suspect quit around day 9. Neither smells so I figure they will make it through lockdown and I'll eggtopsy anything that doesn't hatch when it's all done.

 

[mandi427]

The day I set my eggs, it was around 1:30 pm in the afternoon by the time I got everyone set so they rolled smoothly and I reset for "go".
Today is day 18 and when I got up the turner was still on, however when I went out to feed this morning it auto shut off. I've been using mid-day as my mark for counting the days and had planned to candle this evening after it got dark outside, like I have been doing all along.

Should I -
A. Wait until later today to boost the humidity up? Wait until after candling to boost humidity since logic says I will loose all the humidity when I candle anyway?

B. Candle now? I can close blinds and it's cloudy this morning.
Or candle tonight when I can see best?

My main concern is getting the humidity up at the proper time. Last candle at 14 days showed 18 eggs still active and since I lack experience to recognize a late quitter anyway....was planning to send all 18 into lockdown. Plus the 2 that I suspect quit around day 9. Neither smells so I figure they will make it through lockdown and I'll eggtopsy anything that doesn't hatch when it's all done.

I'd go ahead and boost the humidity. Depending on how many and how fast you candle, you may not loose all the humidity, and you can always add a little more water after candling.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The day I set my eggs, it was around 1:30 pm in the afternoon by the time I got everyone set so they rolled smoothly and I reset for "go".
Today is day 18 and when I got up the turner was still on, however when I went out to feed this morning it auto shut off. I've been using mid-day as my mark for counting the days and had planned to candle this evening after it got dark outside, like I have been doing all along.

Should I -
A. Wait until later today to boost the humidity up? Wait until after candling to boost humidity since logic says I will loose all the humidity when I candle anyway?

B. Candle now? I can close blinds and it's cloudy this morning.
Or candle tonight when I can see best?

My main concern is getting the humidity up at the proper time. Last candle at 14 days showed 18 eggs still active and since I lack experience to recognize a late quitter anyway....was planning to send all 18 into lockdown. Plus the 2 that I suspect quit around day 9. Neither smells so I figure they will make it through lockdown and I'll eggtopsy anything that doesn't hatch when it's all done.

Wait to boost humidity until after you candle. It's really only important to have increased humidity once they're externally pipped or if the air cells are developing too quickly. Once you candle you should be able to determine if you need to wait an extra day or so to increase the humidity or go ahead and start increasing it now, based on air cell size. This is how I do it anyway.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The day I set my eggs, it was around 1:30 pm in the afternoon by the time I got everyone set so they rolled smoothly and I reset for "go".
Today is day 18 and when I got up the turner was still on, however when I went out to feed this morning it auto shut off. I've been using mid-day as my mark for counting the days and had planned to candle this evening after it got dark outside, like I have been doing all along.

Should I -
A. Wait until later today to boost the humidity up? Wait until after candling to boost humidity since logic says I will loose all the humidity when I candle anyway?

B. Candle now? I can close blinds and it's cloudy this morning.
Or candle tonight when I can see best?

My main concern is getting the humidity up at the proper time. Last candle at 14 days showed 18 eggs still active and since I lack experience to recognize a late quitter anyway....was planning to send all 18 into lockdown. Plus the 2 that I suspect quit around day 9. Neither smells so I figure they will make it through lockdown and I'll eggtopsy anything that doesn't hatch when it's all done.

EDIT to add - "lockdown" is to stop turning and increase humidity at the same time because it's easier for those newer to incubating to just do it all at once (yes, typically day 18) but realistically you can actually stop turning as early as day 14 with no detrimental effects and you can increase humidity as late as the first external pip in a case where the air cells appear to be too small and you want to give the eggs more time to lose additional water weight.

 

[FortCluck]

EDIT to add - "lockdown" is to stop turning and increase humidity at the same time because it's easier for those newer to incubating to just do it all at once (yes, typically day 18) but realistically you can actually stop turning as early as day 14 with no detrimental effects and you can increase humidity as late as the first external pip in a case where the air cells appear to be too small and you want to give the eggs more time to lose additional water weight.

I stop turning at day 14 and start lockdown then. It’s easier for me that way.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Ok, that makes sense. The air cells seem to be on target, though I will have a better sense after I candle, which I'll wait until tonight to do since I'm still using the candler on the bator, not a separate or better light.
The turner is still in and I'll remove it when I candle, but the tuner light has switched to off.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Ok, that makes sense. The air cells seem to be on target, though I will have a better sense after I candle, which I'll wait until tonight to do since I'm still using the candler on the bator, not a separate or better light.
The turner is still in and I'll remove it when I candle, but the tuner light has switched to off.

It's no longer turning once the light switches off on the NR360 so there's no harm in leaving it in until you candle. Just make sure to take it out before they start hatching because they will get stuck.

 

[Sciencekathryn]

So I woke up to a crash at 4:30 am and frantic peeping.
Walk into the living room to see my cat has completely flipped the incubator over and all the eggs on the floor. One chick had apparently hatched and was screaming bloody murder at this turn of events.

I hustled it into the brooder and secured the rest of the eggs in the incubator behind a bathroom door, safe from kitty explorations. I had two more hatch soon after so fingers crossed that the little peepers remain ok after their early life adventure. They're itty bitty, from my bantam ameraucana's eggs, so excited to see how they look when they grow up.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

So I woke up to a crash at 4:30 am and frantic peeping.
Walk into the living room to see my cat has completely flipped the incubator over and all the eggs on the floor. One chick had apparently hatched and was screaming bloody murder at this turn of events.

I hustled it into the brooder and secured the rest of the eggs in the incubator behind a bathroom door, safe from kitty explorations. I had two more hatch soon after so fingers crossed that the little peepers remain ok after their early life adventure. They're itty bitty, from my bantam ameraucana's eggs, so excited to see how they look when they grow up.View attachment 2186846

Yikes! My heart would have stopped! I'm glad you were there to save the day!