Q. T. If it's 1/4" mesh, you'll be fine. I covered mine with waffle shelf liner, then ended up covering that with paper towel. Not sure it was the right thing to do b/c it held a lot of moisture and got really nasty at the end. One of the last chicks to hatch just died tonight, I think from peritonitis. (I'm sure the nastiness in the incubator contributed to it.) The other assisted hatch, a little female is doing fine, in spite of her petite size. She seems to be a feisty thing. Because she was brought back from the brink of death, I've named her Phoenix.
Today has been quite the day. I got the 17 chicks I'd ordered: 4 Dom, 3 RCBL, 10 Pioneers. When I went to the hardware store to pick them up, they were clustered under the light... or as close as they could get to it, since they only had 2 lights for 4 bins, and they were way too high. The poor chicks were standing on their tip toes trying to get a little heat... and screaming their little hearts out. 2 of them were comatose and hypothermic. I scooped up as many as I could hold in my hands to try to warm them up while waiting for an employee to address my needs. They didn't seem to have a clue that the chicks needed a specific temperature... "They have a heat lamp..." as if a lamp hanging 3 feet above them is going to do much good. Not a thermometer in sight. So, after they dropped the lamp, I went out for coffee to cool my jets, and came back. The little dom was still comatose. So, I waffled back and forth about bringing her home... Didn't want to pay for a dead chick. In the end, they did not charge me for her. She can keep her eyes open, and can stand up, but still not eating or drinking. If she survives, she'll be Phoenix #2. The Doms are really poor representations of the breed. On a bright
I think I'm all done dealing with hardware stores. In the future, I'll be ordering direct, or hatching my own. OK, rant over!