Lockdown? guinea eggs

[georgia531]

Hello everyone.. this is my first post so forgive me if this is a frequent question. I have been reading the forums everyday, and there is so much useful information. I have a dozen guinea eggs incubating with an automatic turner. (styrofoam still air incubator) Today is day 25. I am on the fence about removing the turner. I have tried not to disturb the eggs too much, I have had to lift out the turner to add water, but have been careful to do it quickly. I have tried candeling several times, but again, didnt want to disturb the eggs too much. These were shipped eggs that I had let settle for 12 hours. Most look very dark, with several looking like they contain "quitters".
I am really nervous now, as I am not sure about removing the turner and adding a sponge to up the humidity. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[lutz123]

My first time too, so take anything I say with a grain of salt.

I pulled my turner out and did lockdown at day 23 - that seemed to be what alot of folks did because so many hatch at day 26.

Definitely put a sponge in. It's easy if you can put a sponge in and squirt hot water through a vent hole with a syringe and a straw (McD's works best!). I had trouble with my humidity and the best thing I did was put a humidifier in the room.

I also saw the suggestion to take it in a hot steamy bathroom if you need to open the bator.

I am using microfiber cloth diaper inserts for humidity. When I did lockdown I put a sopping wet microfiber pad in a mug in the microwave and heated it until I could hardly hold it. When I put it in the humidity shot up instantly. I have 2 in there and haven't added any water in a couple of days. It rose yesterday to almost 75 so I pulled out the other vent plug. Unfortunately I checked this morning and the temp was down to 97! (Again, newbie alert - guess it was the vent plug that dropped the temp!)

I'm setting 20+ more guinea eggs this week and will try again. This time, out of 12 to start with, I had 7 not do anything but showed a blastodisc, 1 that quit early, and 4 remaining. I only saw movement in 2 of those when I candled at lockdown.

Good luck!

 

[georgia531]

Thanks, I am leary of the adding water from the outside, (straw).. im afraid of spilling the water over the eggs. i used to incubate alot about 17 years ago, and never knew about humidity, ect.. and always had pretty good luck. my biggest problem was i had to "help".. never realizing its not the best thing to do.. cant remember any problems w/ it.... this is my first try w/ guineas, i want to raise some so badly, however, i dont think i will go w/ shipped eggs again. too many variables w/ post office handling. Any other advice greatly appreciated.

 

[georgia531]

OK.. well i dove in and removed the egg turner, added some water to the troughs, and added a piece of sponge, but humidity not rising too much. i think i need a different kind of sponge. i used the dishwashing ones with the green scratchy bottom, ( i cut the bottom off) but think i better add a washrag. which is worse, opening the incubator again, or not adding a different sponge? please help. i am feeling doomed for some reason.

 

[lutz123]

Is the humidity not at 65% or so? I haven't had much trouble with humidity dipping too much if I opened it, but it depends on your house I'm sure. I picked the microfiber because it holds so much water and has seemed to stay consistent as far as moisture release. Good luck - I'm sure it will be fine. But yes, do whatever it takes to add that moisture. When I heated up that soaking wet pad in the microwave, the bator was instantly up to 80% from 35% - and was very warm. I propped it open for a few minutes to let some escape (and was able to do a quick candle). Now that I'm at day 26 the eggs seem to be increasing humidity themselves.

I wish I had more to offer, but being a newbie, I really don't...but I do know it's nice to have a response!

 

[georgia531]

i used the other half of the sponge, and closed both vents, it has gotten to 59%. i am afraid to open it again to add anything else, i dont want to let the temp dip again at this point. maybe i will add a better sponge tonight. trying to go by my guts at this point.

 

[georgia531]

i finally got the humidity to 65%... then i downloaded an E book on guineas and it said to have the humidity at 80% last 3 days.

 

[taprock]

I'm not sure how your incubator is set up. You said styrofoam cooler. At lockdown I could not get humidity high enough either and I didn't want to keep opening. My husband poked a hole through the cooler, added a hose so that I could add water to a sponge with out opening. Yes we did all of that during lockdown and still managed a 70% hatch rate. We actually put a second hole in to suck out excess water that filled the bottom tray too full. That hole we just duct taped over. Styrofoam is very forgiving! Good luck with your keets, I haven't had the nerve to try them yet.

 

[georgia531]

I added wet paper towels all around the edges and candled the eggs and put them in the middle. i had one clear egg that i threw away.. 2 looked like "quitters" the eggs were fertile but compared to the others which were black except for the air cell, they quit awhile back. so i have 9 that are black except for the air cell.. i am worried though, as i saw no movement. i did it pretty quickly though. i am hoping for the best. The incubator is a still air "cheapo" stryofoam incubator from tractor supply. i used one years ago and had good luck, with no knowledge of humidity at all. i want these guineas so bad.. hopefully there will be chicks soon.

 

[lutz123]

Wishing you the best. Take a look at the hints for LG incubators. Mine has been pretty steady once I figured it out. It sounds like yours has done great so far! If the eggs are far enough from the vent holes you don't need to worry about spilling water with a straw or fishtank airline and a syringe. Also, I found that I needed to keep the second (red) venthole covered in order to maintain humidity at the first part of lockdown.