When I move my eggs from incubator to the lockdown incubator on day 18 because I do staggered hatches, I put them in a cardboard egg carton with the top lid cut off, I have heard it keeps it cleaner in the bator and also keeps them upright like they are the first 18 days. I am having batch hatch rates and they eggs do great up until lockdown. My humid and temp are fine, but could them in the egg carton not let them get humid or the right temp since half the egg (the bottom) is covered by cardboard??!! I guess I can just lay them in the lockdown bator on the wore floor, but that's my other ?, if incubated large end up for the first 18 days, if I lay them down on there side for lockdown will that effect them hatching like positioning inside and will cause for a bad hatch rate? Any help is appreciated. Thank you
No, it's best in my opinion if you lay them on their sides on the bottum of the incubator. Egg cartons can make it very hard for the chick to hatch somtimes. It will NOT effect them if they have been in the egg carton all this time.
I would never ever use an egg carton again for hatching. I used one with my first hatch (styrofoam) and had a chick hatch with fluid on it. It got out of it's egg and laid across the egg carton and dried onto it in a terrible position . It probably took me close to 30 minutes to get him off of it. When I did his neck was crooked (it stayed in the position it had dried on) and it never ate or drank and died despite me syringe feeding it and giving it polyviasol . Sorry for the strong feelings but I recommend no egg carton.
