Okay to Add Later Hatchers to Earlier Hatchers?

[chicksgalore]

Just wondering how potentially safe this would be to add new starter eggs to ones already in the bator. I realize the humidity would be very high for 3 days--would that be too harmful to the ones just starting out?

 

[BaronRenfrew]

Eggs? no problem: I'll set eggs each week in the bator. I use a separate unit as a hatcher. Never had a problem

 

[hinkjc]

That's the key. As long as you have a separate unit to use as a hatcher, it works out fine. It is not recommended to incubate and hatch in the same incubator various aged eggs.

 

[Akane]

If you have only one incubator it's not a good idea. What happens when it comes time to raise humidity and stop turning some eggs but you still have to turn the others? You can't open the bator during hatch to turn the others so the only way would be if you had a turner that only took up part of the bator and was completely safe for the chicks while running around after hatching.

With 2 bators it's easier but there still is some timing involved. My quail hatch went a day late and I needed to set my EE eggs for hatching because they were on day 18 but I didn't want to open the hatcher until the quail were done and I couldn't clean it either. I ended up raising humidity a little in my incubator, waiting for the last quail to hatch on day 19 for the EE eggs, giving the bator a quick clean, and slipping in the EE eggs before day 19 ended. I've got 7 pips on 14 eggs now. I'll have the same happening for button eggs soon because I have one batch due within 4days of the other so the timing will be close.