Lockdown day?!

[TheMightyRooster]

Hi all!
So I hatched out 11 eggs from 14 in my Brinsea maxi II advance. However when I was reading through the instructions on the incubator and watching the Brinsea videos on YouTube they say to go into lockdown 2 days before hatching. I’ve always believed it was 3 days before (so lockdown on day 18) which is what I did. The chicks all seemed to hatch on day 20 apart from one who hatched on day 21. I know 21 days is an approximate time for hatching but what is the correct lockdown day? I’ve only ever seen it to be 3 days before lockdown and how much of a difference can 1 day make?
Many thanks.

 

[MGG]

Hi all!
So I hatched out 11 eggs from 14 in my Brinsea maxi II advance. However when I was reading through the instructions on the incubator and watching the Brinsea videos on YouTube they say to go into lockdown 2 days before hatching. I’ve always believed it was 3 days before (so lockdown on day 18) which is what I did. The chicks all seemed to hatch on day 20 apart from one who hatched on day 21. I know 21 days is an approximate time for hatching but what is the correct lockdown day? I’ve only ever seen it to be 3 days before lockdown and how much of a difference can 1 day make?
Many thanks.

That's a great hatch rate!
2 days is incorrect, it should be 3 days.
It's always best to lockdown earlier when in doubt, never later. I've locked down chicken eggs on day 14/15 even before. No issues at all. Turning is really the most important in the first week. After the first week, the embryo is creating enough movement that it won't stick to the shell. However, turning after day 7 is good to promote a healthy vein network. I would never stop turning as early as day 7 of course though.
Locking down late really interferes with the hatching process and can disorient the chick. They get into hatching position on day 18 usually, and if you turn them after that it will mess up their positioning. Then you could get malpositioned chicks, or late term deaths. You will probably have to assist as well.
I know that there's some people who have accidentally left the turner on and never "locked down", and the chicks managed to hatch while in the turner and being turned, but that is not good conditions and you'll most likely have a poorer hatch.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I know 21 days is an approximate time for hatching but what is the correct lockdown day?

You are correct, 21 days is just an approximation. It's not that unusual for eggs to external pip more than 48 hours early. They can also be quite late. I've had some even hatch two full days early under a broody hen. It's not just incubators running a little warm or cold that affects hatch time.

To me the timing of lockdown is to get the humidity up before they external pip to minimize the chance of shrink-wrap. Since they can easily external pip or even hatch two full days before the 21 days, I'll stay with three days.

Turning is very important early on in incubation but they don't need to be turned after 14 days. If you have an automatic turner that you can remove (some are built in) I want the turner out during hatch to make clean-up easier and so a baby chick cant get a head, wing, or leg caught in a sharp corner. It's convenient to do everything you need to do so you can switch from incubating mode to hatching mode at the same time. Other than raising humidity before the first one external pips the timing for any of this isn't that critical.

 

[TheMightyRooster]

That's a great hatch rate!
2 days is incorrect, it should be 3 days.
It's always best to lockdown earlier when in doubt, never later. I've locked down chicken eggs on day 14/15 even before. No issues at all. Turning is really the most important in the first week. After the first week, the embryo is creating enough movement that it won't stick to the shell. However, turning after day 7 is good to promote a healthy vein network. I would never stop turning as early as day 7 of course though.
Locking down late really interferes with the hatching process and can disorient the chick. They get into hatching position on day 18 usually, and if you turn them after that it will mess up their positioning. Then you could get malpositioned chicks, or late term deaths. You will probably have to assist as well.
I know that there's some people who have accidentally left the turner on and never "locked down", and the chicks managed to hatch while in the turner and being turned, but that is not good conditions and you'll most likely have a poorer hatch.

Many thanks for your reply. Yeah I was really happy with my hatch rate. This was my first ever attempt aswell, and yeah I’m going to stick to the lockdown on day 18 rule. Just wasn’t too sure since Brinsea kept saying 2 days before hatching day to lockdown :/

 

[TheMightyRooster]

You are correct, 21 days is just an approximation. It's not that unusual for eggs to external pip more than 48 hours early. They can also be quite late. I've had some even hatch two full days early under a broody hen. It's not just incubators running a little warm or cold that affects hatch time.

To me the timing of lockdown is to get the humidity up before they external pip to minimize the chance of shrink-wrap. Since they can easily external pip or even hatch two full days before the 21 days, I'll stay with three days.

Turning is very important early on in incubation but they don't need to be turned after 14 days. If you have an automatic turner that you can remove (some are built in) I want the turner out during hatch to make clean-up easier and so a baby chick cant get a head, wing, or leg caught in a sharp corner. It's convenient to do everything you need to do so you can switch from incubating mode to hatching mode at the same time. Other than raising humidity before the first one external pips the timing for any of this isn't that critical.

Many thanks for your reply. I was slightly worried when they started hatching out slightly earlier as I thought maybe I should have done lockdown 2 days before but they all came out healthily so was pleased.