Ok, I got my eggs, REALLY happy with them, from Tater Chicken, and I am resting them for 24 hours and plan to put them in the incubator tomorrow morning. Um--they are at room temperature. Is this right? I guess it is a little late to ask, since there they are, but I wanted to know anyway. I hope I am doing it right. I hatched, or actually failed to hatch, quite a few eggs last year, and this year I want to do it right. I did have one really great hatch at the end of the year, almost 100% I think, maybe one or two didn't make it, but most did, so I think I have it down but still, worry worry worry...
Yes, the main thing is to get them to room temp, at least, before putting them in the bator so you don't get condensation drops on the eggs. They say also that if aircells are loose, letting them sit still helps to stabilize them. That said, I have put mine right in the bator if they weren't cold to the touch. I have also waited 4-12 hours, but I don't think I've ever waited the entire 24. Good luck!!
Thank you for explaining about the condensation. I never knew the reason you were supposed to let them rest. Catherine
Well, it's not the only reason, but it's a pretty good one, I think. I've seen posts where someone set cold eggs and they were freaking out over all the sweating eggs in the bator.
24 HOURS!!! Ack! Mine were opened and have been sitting out for just shy of 2 and I am having to sit on my hands. I know I'm not going to make it more than 4...
Someone on here just told me that they should be no older than 7-10 days at the most when they enter the bator. Just another factor to consider. My eggies just arrived today and one of my hens JUST SO HAPPENED to go broody for the first time on the same day!!! My bator is set up and running and I have my hygrometer here and now what do you know.....A BROODY MAMA offering to do all the work for me!!! Today has been SOOO EXCITING!! If she's still feelin her broodiness by tomorrow those egg babies are going right under her! Nothing like the real thing!!! God has a GREAT sense of humor!!! After countless hrs. of research on incubating eggs!!! What's the odds of this all happening on the same day! Blessings,Keri
Hey, Keri, I don't know how many eggs you have, but if you have a bunch, why don't you put some in the incubator anyway? Since you did all that research, and you have the incubator and all. You never know with hens. Unless she is an experienced broody that you have faith in, she just MIGHT decide to call it quits. Remember 'Horton Hatches the Egg'? Sighed Maizie, a lazy bird,hatching an egg, "I'm tired, and I'm bored, and there's KINKS in my leg"... Just a thought of course, and your hen may do just fine. Come to think of it, she couldn't possibly do any worse than I did when I was first starting out. Catherine
You could certainly give a broody some eggs, but if she is an untried one, well, maybe only a few. I know which girls I can trust to do well with a clutch of eggs and which ones I can't let sit because at some point after the eggs hatch, the chicks are in mortal danger.
