lock down calculation

[NY Coturnix]

I realize this is pretty basic math but I've had such bad luck I'm doubting everything I do. I started my incubator (coturnix quail) on Tuesday 8/4 at around 6 PM. It was after supper and I had collected that days eggs to include. I keep going back and forth as to if I should lock it down tonight or tomorrow. I get mixed up on the 14 or 15 day rule.

 

[R2elk]

I realize this is pretty basic math but I've had such bad luck I'm doubting everything I do. I started my incubator (coturnix quail) on Tuesday 8/4 at around 6 PM. It was after supper and I had collected that days eggs to include. I keep going back and forth as to if I should lock it down tonight or tomorrow. I get mixed up on the 14 or 15 day rule.

It does not need to be that precise. You can lockdown either day and it will be fine.

 

[FloorCandy]

I’ve been trying slightly different lockdown times. My first hatch was set at 9pm. I locked down on day 15 at 9pm. That hatch had a few eggs that pipped in weird positions. That example would be the same as you locking down today at 6pm. So last time I thought, maybe a few hours less turning will help them orient straighter, so I locked down at maybe 3pm. That hatch had about the same percent of malpositioned chicks. This hatch I will lock down a few hours earlier and see if it makes a difference, next time I’ll try the other direction, and turn them a few hours longer if there’s no change. My incubator turns them every hour or two, so for people who only turn a few times a day it probably won’t make much difference.

 

[NY Coturnix]

Thank you both for your responses.

 

[Fenrisulfr]

I try to keep it simple. I am turning 14 days and start lock-down at the 15th day, which means it is always the same weekday as the start of incubation.

So in your example, if I start incubation Tuesday the 4th of Aug., Tuesday the 18th would be lock-down, same time of day as incubation start.

But as wrote before, it isn't so important to hit an exact minute for lock-down. Important is, that the early hatchers do not hatch while turning, so a bit more early is better than too late, in my opinion.

 

[Sammi_0411]

17 days lockdown will be this thursday and due next monday good luck mine hatched couple days late this monday i managed to get 33 quails out of 38 eggs lol, pls keep us updated
Sam xx

 

[NY Coturnix]

I try to keep it simple. I am turning 14 days and start lock-down at the 15th day, which means it is always the same weekday as the start of incubation.

So in your example, if I start incubation Tuesday the 4th of Aug., Tuesday the 18th would be lock-down, same time of day as incubation start.

But as wrote before, it isn't so important to hit an exact minute for lock-down. Important is, that the early hatchers do not hatch while turning, so a bit more early is better than too late, in my opinion.

Thank you. That make sense. I'm always counting days and get mixed up on the do you count start day and if I did it late in the day to I count the start day the next day. Locking down the same day as you started just 2 weeks later...never thought of it that way

 

[als77]

I’ve been trying slightly different lockdown times. My first hatch was set at 9pm. I locked down on day 15 at 9pm. That hatch had a few eggs that pipped in weird positions. That example would be the same as you locking down today at 6pm. So last time I thought, maybe a few hours less turning will help them orient straighter, so I locked down at maybe 3pm. That hatch had about the same percent of malpositioned chicks. This hatch I will lock down a few hours earlier and see if it makes a difference, next time I’ll try the other direction, and turn them a few hours longer if there’s no change. My incubator turns them every hour or two, so for people who only turn a few times a day it probably won’t make much difference.

Do you have an update on this? If you still remember the results of that hatch

I got the advice of "lock-down on day 14, i.e the weekday after you set them", but then I realized that day 14 is the same weekday as you set them (day 1 starts after 24 hours, so day 14 starts after 14x24 hours. I set mine on Saturday 30th at 1.30PM, so day 14 will start on Saturday 13th at 1.30PM), so now I'm confused

From what I read it doesn't matter too much, but I discovered that my horrible incubator has a major cold-spot so I think 1/4 of my eggs might have had a slighly high temperature, 1/4 close to ideal, and 1/2 way below - so I might have both early and late hatchers (if any at all)

 

[FloorCandy]

Do you have an update on this? If you still remember the results of that hatch

I got the advice of "lock-down on day 14, i.e the weekday after you set them", but then I realized that day 14 is the same weekday as you set them (day 1 starts after 24 hours, so day 14 starts after 14x24 hours. I set mine on Saturday 30th at 1.30PM, so day 14 will start on Saturday 13th at 1.30PM), so now I'm confused

From what I read it doesn't matter too much, but I discovered that my horrible incubator has a major cold-spot so I think 1/4 of my eggs might have had a slighly high temperature, 1/4 close to ideal, and 1/2 way below - so I might have both early and late hatchers (if any at all)

I lockdown on the same weekday I set, so if I set Saturday, I lock down 2 saturdays later, and hatch is 3 days later like clockwork. I have found that locking down a bit earlier in the day than you set them seems to give the best results, but not a tremendous difference. If your bator has hot/cold spots, I would swap the eggs around like every other day, or install a fan, many people use little pc fans, be sure to put it out of reach or have something preventing them from sticking their beaks and feet in the fan area.

 

[als77]

I lockdown on the same weekday I set, so if I set Saturday, I lock down 2 saturdays later, and hatch is 3 days later like clockwork. I have found that locking down a bit earlier in the day than you set them seems to give the best results, but not a tremendous difference. If your bator has hot/cold spots, I would swap the eggs around like every other day, or install a fan, many people use little pc fans, be sure to put it out of reach or have something preventing them from sticking their beaks and feet in the fan area.

Thanks. Guess I'll go for same weekday

I did get the advice of swapping the eggs around, but it had already been a full week so the embrios in the cold spot might have died already so I decided to not mess around; Better to give the potentially still viable eggs a chance than risking to kill all (the difference was a steady 1.1-1.4C/2-2.5F between the cold and hot spot - double when I tried using the styrofoam it came with ). I did discover that putting my sweater over the lid reduced the difference down to ca 0.5C/0.9F, so if those in the cold spot still were viable they might still have a chance (but hatch later I would assume).

Not much ventilation in my incubator either (four holes in the bottom, pluss one tube in the top/side for adding water). Doesn't sound much, but at least the bator is meant for 24 chicken (or even duck?) eggs, so plenty of room for 24 quail (well, 23 after removing one infertile one). Hopefully that will be enough oxygen for them (assuming any are still alive).