Question about early hatch & staggered hatch

[LilQtBear]

I have seen a few posts about early hatches and that made me think. I'm doing my very first hatch and the bator I'm borrowing has 2 "resivours" one I keep filled untillock down then fill both. Now both wouldn't be filled IF I had early hatch, then when it starts to hatch your not suppsed to lift lid? Any enlightment on this?

2.) Now I've tried to search but haven't found much.. I have ordered shipped eggs 12+ but y bator only holds 10, can I hold onto the extras and use as replacement as needed? What about lock down for first eggs and humidity and turning? If the others are not read for lockdown like 1st egg, can't open due to 1st one hatching but others should still be getting turned?

any help? Suggestions? Comments?

 

[mstricer]

1. On day 18 you fill both. You shouldn't have anyone hatch before that.
2. If you can stack them they will fit but you will have to candle at day seven and remove fuss. You can't hold eggs, especially if they are shipped usually only good for 10 days. Good luck Michele

 

[bobbieschicks]

Quote:
First, wait until you get your eggs to worry about room for them - as there may be less then 12 that survive the shipping. If you get more you may be able to squeeze them in the bator as you will likely have to toss some on the third day in the incubator. On Day 3 you can gently take them out and look at them with a flashlight to candle and get rid of any that are not fertile or not developing (they are completely clear inside). That will free up room in your incubator.

You'll put all your eggs into the bator at the same time - so they will most likely hatch within the same period. As far as stragglers - since most of your chicks will hatch within the 3 day period (Day 18-Day21) they can survive in the incubator in lockdown without additional food/water. But if you have an early hatcher - you can pull them out - just keep your humidity level high enough and do it quickly. I wouldn't pull any hatched chicks if there are any chicks pipped from their shell as it could cause those chicks to not be able to hatch. Hatching can take a long time or a quick time.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse

 

[Gypsy07]

The advice so far is good. But if you're new to incubating, I'd suggest leaving it till day 7 to candle and decide who's developing and who's not. If you're not sure what you're looking for, 7 days of development makes it less of a guessing game! Yes, if you can squeeze 12 eggs in your bator go for it. Stacking them on top of each other is okay for the first week. Then you can candle them all and remove any that aren't developing, to make more room for the rest. If you can't fit 12 in, candle them all carefully before you start. Check for faint hairline cracks, loose aircells etc. If you HAVE to discard any at the start, make sure it's the not-so-good ones!

If you're worried about early hatchers and what do do with your humidity, you could set up your bator with a small pipe or a straw running through an airvent and down into the second trough. That way if you did see an early pip, you could use a funnel and get water into the trough without opening the lid of the bator. A lot of people on here have things like that set up in their bator so they can add water without opening the lid. You probably won't need to use it, but it'll set your mind at rest.

You CAN set eggs on different days and have them hatch out on different days. This is called a staggered hatch. It's more complicated because you end up with some eggs in lockdown and others still needing turned, some eggs needing high humidity and others needing it low. There aren't any definite ways of how to do it properly, but most people who do staggered hatches manage to work out how to break the standard 'rules' of hatching and ways of compromising so as to do minimum harm to each set of eggs. You CAN get quite good results with staggered hatches, IF you know what you're doing. But it's a good idea to figure out how to do basic incubations first before you start trying out stuff like that. Like, if you've only had a few driving lessons it would be silly to jump in a Ferrari and head for a race track, know what I'm saying?

 

[LilQtBear]

THANKS SO MUCH! M

I didn't even THINK of stacking them at first that helps a lot...

Um

I don't have a humidity gage thing....this incubator just has a thermometer in it and instructions say to add more water day 18. But I think I've got it covered...found another post on here how all eggs are different and you can listen and candle for changes indicating "its time" so I think I will just put the one egg into lockdown in the morning after doin one last turn and I already added the extra water. Here's hopin

 

[LilQtBear]

Oh and...eek....

I haven't received my shipped eggs yet....poor things! They were sent from GA on 11th waitin here in oregon..

Really hoping I don't have too many to toss at first