Last time I asked, you were hatching quail. Have you left the turner in place in the NR360 for hatching? I honestly believe at least one of Mally's eggs was developing. The only thing I can think of happening is that the chicks knocked it around a lot after they hatched. Sadly with the egg being so dark, I can't see much of anything in the egg. I don't know if it needs or needed assistance. I guess it's a possibility that I set it along with this other CCL. I have made so many mistakes during this entire time I've been trying to incubate eggs. I feel so bad for any chicks that needed my help or that I accidentally drowned but raising the humidity too much before I should have. Now that I know how easy it is to lose track of the date the egg was set, I write the date on every egg now, as I'm putting it into the incubator. I was tracing air cells but I had so many that were awful, I stopped. I would like to keep up with weight and air cell to gauge humidity at some point. Next time, I will also trace the air cells as I candle right before lockdown. I feel like that would be very helpful. I do feel like I'm not incubating with enough humidity because the air cells seem large. It's normally around 25%. Anything else that you feel is important that I'm not doing? I'm always so nervous as I candle right before lockdown. I will be a bit shaky because I feel like need to rush but I'm worried that I'll break an egg or that it'll cool off too much while I'm holding it. I worry about opening and closing the incubator and temp/humidity fluctuations because I am taking each egg out and putting it back individually. There are so many things that I have learned, thank to you. I seriously appreciate you and your time and knowledge shared with me, so very much. I am so grateful for you
Yes, I hatched 11 quail successfully in the turner. The actual turner was unplugged of course though. I don't know that it would work for chickens though, since their eggs are a fair amount bigger. What day are Mally's eggs on? Any shadowing or activity in the air cell? If you think your humidity is too ow you could up it to 35-40%. That's what I usually incubate chickens at. I like the 38% range the best. I never did the weighing thing, that's too confusing for me
I trace air cells, and make sure they're big enough. I like to err on the them being bigger side, just to be safe. I don't like too small ones, since that usually means too high humidity, and too high humidity also equals really big chicks that are unable to turn to zip.
Don't worry about the eggs at all when candling at lockdown. They are much more hot?cold tolerant at that stage and can cool off for several hours and be just fine. They're better at surviving spikes too. Just keep that in mind, and be very careful not to drop them. I get shaky sometimes too, especially at at the worst moments and with valuable eggs, lol. I did drop an egg once, day 17, during candling. I was unable to save it. Now I only hold the eggs low, and over a couch or soft pillow/blanket.
When I candle the eggs whether it's lockdown or not (unless there are external pips) I remove the whole lid and sit it next to the incubator. Then I candle each egg. I usually do about 20 seconds for each egg. Then I mist the eggs lightly and put the lid back on, making sure it's lined up. It doesn't matter if the temp or humidity fluctuates for a minute or two while it restabilizes. Maybe don't do this more than once or twice a day though. The NR does great at quickly stabilizing temp and humidity though.
You're doing really well. I know I've said it before, but there's a major learning curve with hatching. I think it's funny what lengths we go to try and mimic a hen. All they do is sit there, and their hatch rates are better half the time, lol.
