Poll! What would YOU do?

[familypendragon]

I started with 14 Heritage Barred Plymouth Rock eggs shipped from Tennessee to Texas and now have 7 good eggs on day 13. My previous batch of shipped eggs was a certifiable train wreck with 9 dying partially or fully hatched in horrible ways. So I am gun shy and trying to be most cautious. I am dry hatching which gives a humidity of about 30% on average in my forced air bator. I have been hand turning in cartons. I will be going into early lockdown on day 16 - transferring all good eggs after candling them into a separate hatcher. It is an LG still air. I plan to keep the vents open with the temp at 99-100. I will add no water until day 18, when I will bump it up to 65% humidity. But I have seen so many conflicting opinions on whether I should lay them down or hatch them upright I wanted to take a poll Feel free please to add any other advise you think might help me. Thank you!

 

[lizanne]

If the air cell is "fixed" (not moving around) I lay them down for hatch. In my mind it gives them a better chance if they are mal-positioned. You are better able to see a pip that is not in the air cell if they are laying down.

 

[cochins1088]

Just out of curiosity, have you been weighing the eggs?

 

[familypendragon]

Just out of curiosity, have you been weighing the eggs?

No I have not tried that yet, but its usually very obvious that the air cells are growing well. Why do you ask?

 

[familypendragon]

If the air cell is "fixed" (not moving around) I lay them down for hatch.  In my mind it gives them a better chance if they are mal-positioned.  You are better able to see a pip that is not in the air cell if they are laying down.

Thanks, I will check them when I candle to see if the air cells move or not!

 

[jenbell83]

i had 20 eggs shipped to me. 4 were cracked so im pretty sure they were tossed around. i threw one out cause it didnt grow. so i have 15 growing on day 21 now..ducks... and after about day 12 i realized one was cracked but its also still alive. and ive been turning them by hand and will keep them upright in the egg carton until its time to stop turning. then i will lay them on their side. its my first big batch of eggs so im surprised they are still alive..lol. guess ill see by how many hatch.

 

[familypendragon]

i had 20 eggs shipped to me. 4 were cracked so im pretty sure they were tossed around. i threw one out cause it didnt grow. so i have 15 growing on day 21 now..ducks... and after about day 12 i realized one was cracked but its also still alive. and ive been turning them by hand and will keep them upright in the egg carton until its time to stop turning. then i will lay them on their side. its my first big batch of eggs so im surprised they are still alive..lol. guess ill see by how many hatch.

Lots of luck! Do you know about the melted wax trick for cracks? I haven't tried it yet but its worked for others.

 

[jenbell83]

I read about it. so i took a q tip and rubbedit on. lighty so you wouldnt even see it. and not sure if it helped..lol but it didnt hurt. its still alive. but a couple of the eggs i have are showing some black spots i cant find any info on.??? not sure what it is

 

[cochins1088]

Quote: I just thought that I'd mention it since you are trying to improve your hatch rate. It is the most accurate way to ensure correct humidity. I never do dry hatches on shipped eggs, it simply doesn't work for me. The air cells usually end up developing too much. Eggs that have less than perfect air cells can be very difficult to judge air cell development, there fore it's best to weigh them.

I admit that I don't really weigh my chickens eggs. I hatch fairly often and it takes quite a bit of time to keep tracks of the weights, but if you're willing to put the time into it, then weigh them. I always weigh eggs that are important to me such as goose eggs or certain shipped eggs.

It's just something that you may want to try for your next batch. I hope your hatch goes well!

 

[cochins1088]

I also want to mention that the reason I voted for the 4th one is because if you hatch in a carton, you won't be able to see the "wrong end pippers" very well. Shipped eggs often seem to be prone to mal-positions including "wrong end pippers".

I have only hatched in a carton once before, and though the hatch went ok, I believe that they do better on their sides with the dip facing upwards.