Mixing incubating methods?

[Riocotesei]

Hi all, I have somes questions before I get to day 18. Heres my basic info:
I have a LG still air, brand new. It's been holding temps very well (at least I think) at 99.5-100.8 and the hum. has stayed 40-46%
I put the eggs in on the 1st and I'm going to candle on the 7th. I have been hand turning my 33 eggs 3 times a day. They are in there laying on their sides right on the wire flooring.
Now I've heard of some putting their eggs in paper cartons and using it for the last 3 days as a helper with hatching. I have a 30 egg paper carton flat that I can use for this purpose.
I'd like to hear everones opinons if I should do that with my eggs. Since they have been on their sides would it be bad to put them in the carton "bottoms up" on the last 3 days? I don't want to risk anything and I think things are going very well as a beginner. Any thoughts, comments, or opinons on this would be great.

Thanks!

 

[Katy]

I use an egg carton the last 3 days and my hatch rates have improved greatly since I started doing it that way last winter. I'm not sure what you mean by bottoms up....you want to put them in the cartons big end up...so I hope you're calling the big end the bottom.

I don't use a still air, but I believe you want your temps a little higher than what you're running it at.

 

[deerman]

I would keep doing the same, with a still air check temp. at the top of eggs 101. Thats why still air you should not mixes eggs of breeds,or type.

 

[Riocotesei]

It was my choice to be cheap and get still air.

I have a themometer on top of the eggs and it's reading 101, and I have a acu-rite meat one hanging in there and its saying 102 then I have a springfield hum/temp combo saying 100 right now.
Bottoms up does mean the big end facing up, sorry for the confusion. I don't plan on hatching anything other than chicks and I'm not staggering hatches. In a couple months I want to get a really good incubator since I'll have the money.

So I have one for keeping it the same, and another for using the cartons.
Anyone else?

 

[Akane]

I put my last hatch in cartons right before I left for 4 days on day 17. I was hoping if one hatched early that it would keep it from knocking all the others around for a day before I got home. Came back on day 21 and had 6 out of 9 hatch with only one slight problem. The last one had been trying to hatch for 2 days and was too tired to push the top off it's egg. I lifted the top off, it popped out, and it's fine now. In a still air you do have to turn the temp down just a little when you move them to the cartons. The temp in a still air is layered so the higher up the eggs are the hotter they get. I just watched it over a couple hours though and had it adjusted correctly before I left.

Here are pics and vids of my 2nd hatch:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/aqh88/chickens/incubator/2nd hatch/

I cut the cartons down because I was hatching very small bantam eggs. If you watch the vids in order you can see one pop out of it's egg in the carton. It actually took about 3hrs from the first clip to the last one.

 

[Riocotesei]

Should I, if I choose to use that method, cut the bottom off as well? They would breath better if it was right?

 

[Katy]

I don't do anything to the carton except cut the lid off. I just hatched 8 of 9 earlier this week with them in the carton. My last hatch before this a couple of months ago was 11 out of 11 so you can see why I'm sold on doing it this way.

 

[Riocotesei]

Hmm...I'm very tempted! I might just try it. Oh, and... Because I'm crazy and impatient I candled early! Yay! Anywho, All seem to be growing but 3 and I put ? Marks on them just to make sure. When I candle again. I'm soo excited! I didn't think it would work out like it has!

 

[Akane]

Most people don't cut the bottoms out. If it weren't for the eggs not fitting well I probably wouldn't have bothered. However I did wonder if it might help a chick that pipped at the wrong end survive long enough to be assisted out of the egg or at least the egg laid down on it's side so it could try to finish hatching. That's the only real downside to the cartons. If they pip wrong. It's not common though and I think setting the eggs like that makes it even less common that they'll pip at the wrong end. Chicks that pip at the narrow end are less likely to hatch even if they aren't in a carton.

 

[deerman]

Most if not all large incubators Eggs are removed the last 3 days. From turning trays. Placed in hatchers and always laid flat in the hatching tray.

No need to place in cartons, and it will change how high the eggs are. Still air you are moving them to a hotter area.