Question about staggering eggs...my 1st hatch attempt!

[NashChic]

Okay, so I'm truly a chicken addict now. I've been pestering my DH for weeks about wanting a bator. He built me a separate chicken tractor a month ago because he conceded to let me at least have silkies. We got 3 young silkies... one is crowing, so no silkie-bator there. The other 2 are too young to tell if they're pullets and I'm not gonna wait that long to find out if one is, THEN wait some more until it gets broody! Ha!

SOOOO, yesterday he said I could get a bator! YAAAAYYYYYYY!!!

I spent all day deciding on which one .... Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco is on it's way. Got the UPS tracking number in hand! Another YAYYYYYYYYYY!!

Now to my question... sorry, I just had to tell someone all the good stuff. Nobody around here cares...

I'm going to be ordering some eggs. (The point of hatching them myself is so I can get some other breeds besides what can be found around here.)

If I order from more than one person, and they come within a day or two of each other, can I continue to add them to the bator as they arrive?

And what's the most time you would allow them to be staggered like that? Just 1-2 days or could you have some that were 5-6 days behind the others?

I know the last few days are higher humidity and have to be locked down, so how would that work (IF it would work at all)?

Thanks! Sorry about all the blabbing. I'm just so excited I could jump out of my skin!!!!

 

[NashChic]

Anyone?

 

[Marlinchaser]

Try to get them to all arrive on the same date, or within a day or two of each other. Its best to not have chicks hatching at the same time as others are spose to still be turning. Have you considered getting another bator to use just as a hatcher?

Just dont tell DH that it was my idea.

 

[waibel zoo]

If you can get them all together, the better. Staggering gets tricky. If you have a separate bator for hatching then by all means stagger all you want. Otherwise one batch can wait for the other. Eggs don't start to drop off in quality untill 10 days.

 

[Garden Gal]

You could always just let the first group of eggs to arrive sit on the counter until the next day or so when the others arrive. If the first batch was fresh when mailed, this shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Ryu]

Staggering hatches without a second incubator that can be used for the higher humidity 18-21 incubation is nearly impossible. You would lose less chicks in the end if you let one shippment sit for an extra day in a cool place.

We bought the Brinsea Ova Easy. I didn't like it much at first, but it is growing on me. Plus you can hatch in the bottom while the eggs above are still being turned. I didn't think it would work--humidity issues, ect. We did it twice when we got backed up and it worked like a dream.

Anyway, my point is that without a second incubator, or a $$$ Cabinet incubator I wouldn't try to stagger.

Best of luck!

 

[NashChic]

Thanks so much for the info! It's my first time and I'm definitely not experienced enough to try something tricky! I'll keep all that in mind when I'm arranging shipping for my eggs.

I'm just so excited!

My Brinsea arrives tomorrow and I'll have to wait until next week for eggs, so I'm sure I'll be out of my mind 'til then looking at an empty bator

I was thinking about putting some store bought eggs in it for a couple days to test temp/humidity. I figured I could get a more accurate read with eggs (even if they're duds) than empty. Anybody ever tried that?

Thanks again!!

 

[Garden Gal]

It IS exciting hatching your first batch of eggs! You don't need to add regular eggs to test things. You just want to make sure the system is working properly. Good luck!

 

[Mom2Cool]

Nashchick when your eggs arrive they should have time to rest after shipping any way so they'll be sitting for a bit prior to being put into the bator... So if you've got eggs that come today you could have them sit & (while turning them) if eggs come the day after tomorrow you could allow them to rest for say 12 hrs. & then place them all at the same time into the bator. So I'm just saying you do have a small window of time for them to all arrive & get settled prior to setting them all at the same time...