Red Plugs in or out and When? I am doing something wrong.

[1Pammylou]

Okay, I have to large holes on the top of my incubators. When do I take the plugs out during the incubation period? My first hatch was my best hatch when I didn't know what I was doing, dry incubation and dry hatch, can't remember if plugs were in or out) All of them hatched perfectly, but since then, I am having decreased luck with my hatchings. I have cleaned the Incubator every time, and I have only a few eggs Pip and today the one that was hatching just quit after zipping most of the way around the shell, the shell came off but the membrane stayed intact, it seemed hard and rubbery. I had not opened the hatcher. I moved them from one incubator to another on Day 18. They didn't hatch until Day 24. One that started hatching after this one hatched fine. I candled these eggs and all were fertile. Hatch rate has been terrible lately. Humidity has been 25-30 percent day 1-18 and 50-75 percent on day 19 forward.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Plugs out on lockdown.

 

[blucoondawg]

You are hatching with similar method to what I do as far as humidity goes, though I like to keep my humidity high in lockdown, more toward the 75 than the 50, that lower end humidity could cause your membranes to toughen. I have read that it can be beneficial to leave the plugs in for the first 10 days it will allow some carbon dioxide build up and make the chicks tougher and more hearty but who knows how true that is, I use my plugs as a way to regulate humidity, remove them if I need to loose humidity and add one or both back in if I need to raise humidity until later in the hatch, then I just remove them both. Last hatch at least 1 was out almost the entire time

 

[1Pammylou]

Okay Thank You.