If your eggs are arriving within the same week (5 days), you could put the first arrivals "on ice," so to speak. If you have a Coleman cooler or styrofoam box, put in some ice packs, then put in a folded towel, then put eggs in an egg carton on top of towel. Put a thermometer in there on top of egg carton and try to maintain the temps in the mid-50's (you may have to change packs twice a day...but figure fresh packs daily). Prop one end of the cooler up on a book and alternate to the other end every 8 hours (kind of a lame turner, if you will, so yolks don't get stuck).
When your second batch of eggs arrives, place them in an egg carton on the counter. At this point bring out chillin' eggs and place on the counter, too, in their carton. Let both sit 8-12 hours. This brings the chilled eggs to room temp and allows the jostled air spaces and bubbles to get back in the proper position (up top) on the shipped eggs. Depending on your candler, candle before putting in bator to make sure you don't have any scrambled ones. Put in preheated bator. Candle at 7-10 days for viability.
Sometimes shipped eggs have compromised the egg membrane. You'll realize this when you see some really wonky air space in later development... instead of being nice and straight or rounded, it will look rather like a stock market graph with zigs and zags. Provided the embryo is kicking, believe it or not these eggs will develop and hatch! A suggestion, though, would be to hatch in an egg carton to keep the air space right-side up otherwise your chick might drown by pipping too low (which still could happen with a separated air space if it's really deep, but chicks are pretty good with trying to be in the right place at the right time given a chance).
IF you're going to do a staggered hatch and lockdown while incubating and using an auto-turner, PLEASE configure your turner to only have racks every other space...otherwise hatching chicks might get their little necks stuck between racks. (While cute, hatchlings they aren't the most intelligent nor graceful)
Good luck!
but the thermostat is different from the thermometer. The mercury thermometer you are talking about just tells you what the temp is. It doesn't regulate it (ie turn the heat source on and off when needed). The thermostat is what turns the power on and off for you when the temp goes above or below where you've set it. You have a more elaborate thermostat controlling your furnace at home.
