Preparing Bantam Eggs in Still Air LG (uptd: pic of eggs and cartons)

[SpunkyChicken]

These BBS Bantam Orp eggs will be arriving next week, so I wanted to make sure I have everything down. Admittedly, they probably weren't the best choice for my first hatch in over 10 years, especially in a still air LG. But I'm going for it. The incubator will be in a room with a stable temperature, so I hope we can keep the temp and humidity stable inside the bator as well. I've done lots of reading on these forums, but just for good measure, if anyone could look over this info and answer any additional questions I have, that would be awesome!

Day 1 to 17, 35-40% humidity
Day 18 to 21, 55-60% humidity

The eggs are going to be incubated about 2 hours from the seacoast at about 500 feet above sea level, so I THINK these humidity levels would be adequate for my location. The eggs were LAID about 6 hours from the coast at about 1000 feet above sea level, about 10 hours southwest of me, if that counts for anything. I read nearly all 28 pages of that Humidity thread in case you couldn't tell, haha.

The temperature should be 101F for a still air bator, right? And the sensor should be at the height of the top of the eggs? I have one of those 12-dollar Accurite thermometer/hygrometers. We are planning to calibrate tonight using the modeling clay/medical thermometer method for the temp and the saltwater mug method for the humidity.

On day 18, I read about standing the eggs big end up in an egg carton to prepare the chicks for hatching. Is this a widely recommended method?

And one more thing - what should I clean my incubator with? I don't feel safe using bleach since it's a styrofoam bator. I've read about Brinsea's Incubation Disinfectant, which sounds pretty good. It sounds as though you can spray it directly on the eggs without hurting them? Not that I would do that, but I would feel much safer sanitizing my bator with something like that rather than with bleach.

Any additional advice on hatching BBS bantam orp eggs (I hear they are more difficult to handle than other eggs) would be greatly appreciated! I'm so excited for next week!!

 

[gabrielle1976]

My only advice would be make shure your bator is up to 100-101 or so degrees for at least 24 hours befor you put in the eggs. You may want to check the temp at night and in the morning and the after noon to note temp changes.(They shouldnt have to be corrected for so keep youre fingers away from the knob.) my LG still air runs a degree or so cooler latein the evening and can go up a degree or so in the afternoon when its been nice an warm out all day . I think its fine.
If youre getting shipped eggs I recomend the carton method as shipped eggs tend to have problems with there air cells being lose and stuff and keep ing the egg in a carton helps .
Remmber when you put the eggs in the temp will drop. DO NOT adjust the temp to fix this . It is simply becase the eggs are cooler then the bator so they have to get up to temp.
Also remmber shipped eggs esspecally should sit for at least 12 hours at room temp befor going in the bator.

GOOD LUCK....

 

[SpunkyChicken]

Thank you for the response! It makes sense that the egg carton method works well for shipped eggs, but do you recommend using the carton from day 1 onward rather than day 18 onward? I read in another thread that you just have to put a block of wood under one (long) side of the carton, then alternate it a few times a day rather than turning the eggs (I don't have an automatic turner). Would you recommend I do that, or just introduce the carton at day 18 for hatching?

Also, what should I use to sanitize the carton with? I couldn't get ahold of that Brinsea Incubation Disinfectant and need to clean the incubator tonight, so I purchased an oxygen cleaner consisting of sodium precarbonate and sodium carbonate (a.k.a. a generic Oxyclean). Is this safe on styrofoam? It's a stain remover but everything else at the store sounded too harsh. I can't really find information on cleaning styrofoam online, except Wifezilla who mentioned using Oxyclean in another thread. I just don't know what type of incubator she was referring to. Then of course further down in the thread someone mentioned peroxide for cleaning styrofoam lol, wish I had remembered that when I was at the store...

Anyway, I'll prolly go ahead and try to clean the styrofoam with it in 20 minutes or so if no one objects; I'm just a little nervous, you know... first hatch and everything. No idea what we used to clean the incubator 10 years ago, if anything at all; I was just a kid!

 

[gabrielle1976]

if you dont have a turner I would put the eggs in the carton from day one. Remmber to cut of the top of the carton and cut a small hole in the bottom of eatch littl egg recptical in the carton so they can get temp humidty whatever.
I didnt disenfect my cartons I just cut them down and used them , I was afraid of the any cleaner I used would stay inside the paper and harm the eggs.
I tilt the whole bator but tilting eatch makes more sense I have kinda a tight fit in my poor little LG so I kinda have to tilt the whole thing.
when I clean my LG after this batch I will use dilitued bleach sulotion , bleach is harsh but I figure Ill use the same strengh mix you use on baby bottles and such and it should be safe.

 

[NancyDz]

I use bleach all the time on my styrofoam bater, never had any problems. Just make sure you rinse it off. I use mix a capful of bleach with water in a spray bottle, spray it down , let it sit for 10 minutes then rinse it off and air dry. I did 4 hatches last year and on my second this year.


Nancy

 

[SpunkyChicken]

Thank you for the advice guys, you've been really helpful!

I've run into two major problems though... one, the eggs were supposed to be shipped out today, but instead, they ARRIVED today! First thing in the morning! That means they've been sitting around somewhere all weekend, grrr..... Also, we calibrated the hygrometer and it read 64 degrees, so hopefully it's safe to add 11 degrees to that (I had no idea the room was almost 50% humidity naturally). However, when attempting to calibrate the thermometer, it appears that the temperature inside the incubator won't exceed 88 degrees! I know the thermometer isn't off by THAT much. Since the LG is 13 years old, the only idea I have is to buy a new one. What do you guys think? I don't want to leave those eggs in the box another night, but I also wanted to have a couple days to make sure the incubator was an accurate, steady temp, so I'm kinda wigging out here! Haha, with the way things always go for me I should have expected this!

 

[SpunkyChicken]

Alright, we solved the temp issue in the bator. Now the challenge is trying to get it to the perfect temperature. That little knob is SO touchy. I also unpacked the eggs and all arrived intact, including 3 extras! The only thing that worries me is that they were in a styrofoam carton wrapped in small newspaper squares rather than loose in the box with bubble wrap, so hopefully they didn't get jiggled around too much (the carton itself was secured in the center of the box with a ton of newspaper surrounding it).

I'm planning to put the eggs in the bater in about 3-4 hours - I think they've had enough time to settle since they've been standing upright in the package all along. I cut up some egg cartons to put them in; do you think I should still cut the cartons down or does this look fine? They're bantam eggs so I don't want them to fall out or anything!

 

[Nicola]

Quote:
how do u do the egg carton method? what way do u put the eggs in (pics)

 

[SpunkyChicken]

You place the eggs in the carton big side up, then you place something beneath the carton on the long side (or beneath the bator) so the eggs tilt to one side. Then you place your object beneath the other side next time you want to "turn" the eggs so they tilt the opposite way. I've decided to prop up the whole bator since the top row of eggs will be too close to the heating element if I prop up the cartons themselves. What I'm using is one of those AT&T boxes that cell phones come in, haha. I had used the end of the lid of an egg carton to prop up the cartons inside the incubator though. Anything that will tilt the eggs far enough without falling out of the carton would work, I'd imagine. This is my first time doing it though, and I only decided to do it last night.

 

[Nicola]

Quote:
like a wooden wedge door stop? and it would be great to see a pic scince i am a visual learner lol