now that my eggs have arrived, someone local told me that i should wait before putting them into the incubator and let them sit in a certain position. what's the story on this? blunt end up or down? and for how long?
Big end up. If you have a turner, put them in large end up when you incubate also. Some say to let them rest for a few hours to overnight. I don't know if it makes much difference. A bigger concern would be whether you can store them at the right temp and humidity outside the incubator. I drop mine right in, but it won't hurt to let them rest large end up for up to 6 hours, in my opinion. But, since they are going to be large end up in the incubator for three weeks, I don't see the point.
They should set for 24 hours with the large end up to allow the air cell to stabilize and return to its correct position. I would candle em before incubation to make sure they have not been scrambled.
They should be small end down, and for at least 12 hours, to allow the air cell to get back to the correct position. And if you are using an egg turner, they should go in small end down also.
If you are having trouble determining which end is the flat end, Go in a dark room and hold a lit flashlight up to the egg. You should see a little bubble. That is the fat end that goes up.