Just had my best hatch by mistake!!!

[yinepu]

Quote:
To answer your questions:

1-- What should the humidity be? Say my room is around 40% the inside of the incubator should be??? whatever it needs to be to keep the air cell growth or weight loss on track. So there is NO magic number that will work in every single location.. you have to see what the eggs need in YOUR incubator. And it can vary from hatch to hatch.. so monitor the air cells (or weight loss if you cannot view the air cells)

2--What temp should the incubator be?? Room temp is about 68.
still air or forced air?.. what kind of eggs? for chickens a still air needs a temp of 101.5 ºF measured at the top of the eggs
a forced air needs to have a temp of 99.5 ºF
Different birds can require different temperatures.. and always use a GOOD thermometer .. do not trust the one that comes with the incubator.

3--How often should I turn the eggs? the average chicken hen turns her eggs about 96 times a day (yes.. someone did a study on it). Most people will turn them 3 to 5 times a day if they are hand turning.. moving the eggs back and forth (in a rocking type motion) rather than rolling them over and over in the same direction each time they are turned.

4--Should the eggs be in a carton or should they just lay down and be rolled over?.that depends. Chicken eggs from your birds do fine laying on their sides. Shipped eggs do better if they are stood up on the pointy end with the large end of the egg at the top. Emu eggs should be incubated on their sides regardless of if they are shipped or not.. goose and duck eggs hatch better on their sides.. though if they are shipped they do need to be incubated upright for the first several days then gently moved to a 45 º angle as incubation progresses. Parrot eggs hatch better for me on their sides as well.

5--When day 18 comes should I stop turning the eggs or keep turning until they pip? The day to stop turning varies among species.. for chickens it would be 18 days.. So you can either stop turning or wait for internal pip on chicken eggs. It doesn't matter too much with them.. however if I were incubating them on their sides for the last few days i would lay them down which ever way they wanted to settle.. then place them back into the incubator the same way. Emu eggs should be turned until the egg "sounds".. I also continue to turn duck and goose eggs until they internally pip.

As a note. For chickens the day to stop turning isn't as important as when to start turning them. Lets say you will be out of town when the eggs are due to hatch and do not want the auto turner to continue running.. and it's 5 days before the hatch date,. You CAN stop turning chicken eggs a few days early and it won't hurt them any.

6--If I incubate in cartons should they be removed before they are do to hatch? It's not necessary for chicken eggs .. especially if you don't have room in the incubator to lay the eggs down. So long as the eggs have lost enough weight (the bottoms were cut out of the cartons before incubation to allow for proper air flow and weight loss) they can hatch just fine right in the cartons. However if you have the room to lay them down.. AND plan to incubate again in those same cartons (styro cartons come to mind) then clean up will be easier if you remove the eggs from the carton so as to not get the cartons dirtier from hatching fluids. I would not incubate in cardboard cartons over and over again because they can not be cleaned easily and can harbor a lot of nasty bacteria. However it's acceptable to clean styro cartons with an antibacterial cleanser and reuse them if you don't have access to new ones.

7--If I go by the air cells, when should I add humidity to the incubator? When you see that the air cells are getting too large too quickly.. and at internal pip (or for the last few days) depending on species.
For turkey eggs I always raise the humidity plus drop the incubator / hatcher temp by 1 degree at hatch. I do the same for duck and goose eggs. Emu eggs do not require "lockdown" so all ratite eggs always hatch dry unless weight loss called for an increase in humidity during incubation.


as a note.. if all your chicks are hatching at the wrong end of the egg.. are you incubating them with the pointy end UP?.. because the pointy end of the egg (non air cell end of the egg) should be pointed DOWN when incubating eggs on their ends.. if in doubt (with more rounded eggs) check for air cells and make sure the air cell is facing UP

 

[luvblues7]

i have been hatching like this for a a long while (50+ years though i turn eggs by hand)

And every time I try to tell some people that you CAN get 100% hatch rates by ignoring "lockdown" with incubating.. and YES even hatching DRY it can work .. they ignore me or come back with "well so and so said it HAS to be this way"

the pure facts are that your home humidity was fine for hatching dry (air cells or weight loss should be your guide to humidity anyway and NOT a hygrometer)

Once the chicks begin to hatch the humidity rises on it's own naturally

THINK ABOUT IT.. a broody hen does NOT go into "lockdown" she doesn't go out and dip her behind in water three days before hatch. Even here in Texas (where our local humidity usually runs around 16% in the summer) I have seen hens get off the nest with pipped eggs and go for a drink or something to eat.. leaving pipped eggs without the humidity from her body and yet those eggs STILL HATCH FINE


Yinepu,
I PM you yesterday. Just wanted to tell you that I put a little rice in the Reptipro over night, turned a small area heater on in the room where I have my incubator set up, opened the door several times and the air cell on my eggs was better this morning. Not great, but better. Tomorrow & Friday is hatch day so I am not putting any water in tonight either and hopfully a few will hatch. I have 8 BLRW eggs that I want to hatch Soooo bad. Just wanted to thank you for your help and the encouragement that you gave me. It's so nice when people are willing to share their knowledge and experiences with others.

 

[TAMMACLEAN]

To answer your questions:

1-- What should the humidity be? Say my room is around 40% the inside of the incubator should be??? whatever it needs to be to keep the air cell growth or weight loss on track. So there is NO magic number that will work in every single location.. you have to see what the eggs need in YOUR incubator. And it can vary from hatch to hatch.. so monitor the air cells (or weight loss if you cannot view the air cells)

2--What temp should the incubator be?? Room temp is about 68.
still air or forced air?.. what kind of eggs? for chickens a still air needs a temp of 101.5 ºF measured at the top of the eggs
a forced air needs to have a temp of 99.5 ºF
Different birds can require different temperatures.. and always use a GOOD thermometer .. do not trust the one that comes with the incubator.

3--How often should I turn the eggs? the average chicken hen turns her eggs about 96 times a day (yes.. someone did a study on it). Most people will turn them 3 to 5 times a day if they are hand turning.. moving the eggs back and forth (in a rocking type motion) rather than rolling them over and over in the same direction each time they are turned.

4--Should the eggs be in a carton or should they just lay down and be rolled over?.that depends. Chicken eggs from your birds do fine laying on their sides. Shipped eggs do better if they are stood up on the pointy end with the large end of the egg at the top. Emu eggs should be incubated on their sides regardless of if they are shipped or not.. goose and duck eggs hatch better on their sides.. though if they are shipped they do need to be incubated upright for the first several days then gently moved to a 45 º angle as incubation progresses. Parrot eggs hatch better for me on their sides as well.

5--When day 18 comes should I stop turning the eggs or keep turning until they pip? The day to stop turning varies among species.. for chickens it would be 18 days.. So you can either stop turning or wait for internal pip on chicken eggs. It doesn't matter too much with them.. however if I were incubating them on their sides for the last few days i would lay them down which ever way they wanted to settle.. then place them back into the incubator the same way. Emu eggs should be turned until the egg "sounds".. I also continue to turn duck and goose eggs until they internally pip.

As a note. For chickens the day to stop turning isn't as important as when to start turning them. Lets say you will be out of town when the eggs are due to hatch and do not want the auto turner to continue running.. and it's 5 days before the hatch date,. You CAN stop turning chicken eggs a few days early and it won't hurt them any.

6--If I incubate in cartons should they be removed before they are do to hatch? It's not necessary for chicken eggs .. especially if you don't have room in the incubator to lay the eggs down. So long as the eggs have lost enough weight (the bottoms were cut out of the cartons before incubation to allow for proper air flow and weight loss) they can hatch just fine right in the cartons. However if you have the room to lay them down.. AND plan to incubate again in those same cartons (styro cartons come to mind) then clean up will be easier if you remove the eggs from the carton so as to not get the cartons dirtier from hatching fluids. I would not incubate in cardboard cartons over and over again because they can not be cleaned easily and can harbor a lot of nasty bacteria. However it's acceptable to clean styro cartons with an antibacterial cleanser and reuse them if you don't have access to new ones.

7--If I go by the air cells, when should I add humidity to the incubator? When you see that the air cells are getting too large too quickly.. and at internal pip (or for the last few days) depending on species.
For turkey eggs I always raise the humidity plus drop the incubator / hatcher temp by 1 degree at hatch. I do the same for duck and goose eggs. Emu eggs do not require "lockdown" so all ratite eggs always hatch dry unless weight loss called for an increase in humidity during incubation.


as a note.. if all your chicks are hatching at the wrong end of the egg.. are you incubating them with the pointy end UP?.. because the pointy end of the egg (non air cell end of the egg) should be pointed DOWN when incubating eggs on their ends.. if in doubt (with more rounded eggs) check for air cells and make sure the air cell is facing UP

Thank you very much! They are chicken eggs and I do store them pointy end down. I actually tell my kids to put ALL the eggs pointy end down. Even the ones we eat, I figure it's a good a habit to get into. I think I will try doing both. Some eggs in cartons and some laying down. Thank you for all the help!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Need to remember all this information. Thanks for sharing yinepu