Susan Skylark
Songster
With our summer trip schedule this year I’ve got to plan hatches around when we are gone, not just for incubation but I don’t want my bird sitter to have to mess with brooder chicks either. But can you hatch eggs if you are gone for a week but have a stable incubator? Yes, things can happen and I’m realistic about the possible results (complete disaster) but how cool would it be to leave eggs in the incubator and come home and be 3 days until lockdown! I’ve got two little incubators, both seem reliable as far as turning and temp, one has a water bottle (70% humidity) and the other does not (25% humidity), I’ve had very successful hatches at both extremes so won’t worry about that. I’ve divided 21 quail eggs semi evenly between the incubators and will run them for three days before we go just to make sure both are working consistently, after that they are on their own for a week, I’ll candle day 12 when we get back and go into lockdown day 14 for an average hatch day of 16/17. One thing I’m really curious about is the effect of daily opening the lid and handling eggs (for candling) on hatch rates, mostly as far as fresh air and ‘extra’ turning goes and if that might be a factor in good hatch rates? I also rotate my eggs within the incubator to nullify hot or cold spots so I get a pretty short hatch window, I’m expecting this hatch to be much more spread out, to say nothing of a possible failed auto turner, power outage, heat fluctuation, aberrant humidity…I’ll keep you posted!
