Question???

[mullers3acers]

How many times a day should I turn the eggs in the incubator?

 

[what was i thinking]

i just had to ask that the other night. they said min. of three.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I like to turn the eggs odd numbers of times, I do 3 times a day, some do 5. My hours to turn vary, but usually around these times, 8 a.m., 2 or 3 p.m. and 11 at night.

 

[mullers3acers]

If you know the dates on which the eggs were layed can you still keep putting more eggs in the bator?

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I date the eggs I want to incubate up to 10 days here at home for my bators. If I'm shipping out eggs to someone I use the freshest dates so they will go out and be delivered in a 5 to 7 day time frame. That what you mean?

I don't keep putting more eggs in a bator, date your eggs up to 10 days and store in a cool spot and turn them or tilt the cartons 3 times a day to help keep them healthy. When you have the amount of eggs you want then put them in all at once.

I do not do staggered hatches, I don't use the hatchers. meaning you can stagger a hatch and take the ones on the evenings 18 and put them in a hatcher to finish hatching out.

 

[mullers3acers]

what % should the humity be at?

 

[Tuffoldhen]

You want to keep your humidity in the 40 to 50 % range for the first 18 days, if it goes lower don't worry. You don't want a high humidity tho, so if that happens just take water back out of the bator.

The last 3 days of incubation you want the range to be 60 to 70%. When the chicks start pipping and hatching the humidity will go up naturally so don't worry.

 

[mullers3acers]

These questions may seem stupid but I have been trying to hatch eggs with broody hens and have had no luck. So going back to the bater but only did that once.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Your questions are not stupid, everyone has been in your shoes when trying to learn about hatching. It's perfectly normal to have alot of questions. Everyone here will try to help you start in the right direction.

 

[mobe_45]

Quote:
My automatic turner turns four tims a day. Hand turning no less than 3x. do not turn at all for last three days. This allows the chick inside to get in position to pip.
Also, most will agree to not help a chick pip out. You may lose a couple this way but they are almost always defective in some way and don't grow well. I learned this the hard way by helping some out in my first 2 hatches. Every one died or had a major deformity thet they died from later.