So lets go through the "lockdown" process

[Keenonf]

I'm a first time hatcher and i'm on day eight. I've been wondering about the lockdown process and was hoping my BYC beathren would help me understand. Remember the lifes of baby chicks is in your hands!


1 I know that my humidity levels are suppose to be jacked up but exactly how much?

2 As the word "lockdown" implies, I'm i to wait until all my eggs have hatched then take them out or can I take a few out if there just sitting there. I know that they can stay alive for 3 days without food or water but I'd rather get them out ASAP unless that means murdering the rest lol.

3. What day should I begin lockdown? 18, 19, 20?

4 I know i take out the eggturner and let them lay on there side. Do i still turn them manually?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Remember the lives of baby chicks is in your hands...

 

[nittanyxi]

Ok, here goes. I'm a first time hatcher. waiting for my last two to hatch right now. I already have 10 chicks. It was a rocky road for me and I didn't expect any of them to hatch because of all the temp spikes and drops I had. I finally got to a point where I said whatever happens happens and then things got a lot easier.

If your temps fluxuate don't flip out. Mine went from 92 to 104 over the entire hatch. I suspect that most of the time though the average temp was between 99.5 and 101.5.

I was flippiing out over my humidity levels. then I read something about a dry hatch (sorry I don't know where I saw it) I took all the water out of my incubator and opened the vents to let the humidity of my room enter the incubator. I strived to keep the humidity between 25-40% between day 1 and 17. I only added water (and not a lot) when the humidity got close to 25.

On day 18 I took out the egg turner, candeled the eggs for the last time and laid them on their sides on the floor of the incubator. I filled the water trays and closed the incubator. shoot for a humidity level of 60-65. when it would get down to 58-59 I would add just a little more water through one of the holes in the incubator. Never open it after lock down or you let the humidity out.

If you do have to open your incubator for some reason during lock down it is important not to do it if any eggs have pips in them. that can shrink wrap the chick. After my first batch of chicks had hatched I let them all in there until there were no more pips and then took them out and made sure the humidity went back up again. (be careful, pips can be on the bottom of the egg)

Hope this helps. I'm a beginner so I don't know a lot. this is what worked for me. I know it got a lot easier when I just stopped worrying about things. As a general rule it is best not to open the incubator once you have locked it down.

 

[mayberrygirl]

1 I know that my humidity levels are suppose to be jacked up but exactly how much? I went to 65% and had shrink wrap issues, so I will be going to 75% this go round

2 As the word "lockdown" implies, I'm i to wait until all my eggs have hatched then take them out or can I take a few out if there just sitting there. I know that they can stay alive for 3 days without food or water but I'd rather get them out ASAP unless that means murdering the rest lol.I had 4 in lockdown - took them out when they were 12 hours old - 2 {only because they were playing hacky sack with the other eggs} then 1 {it was getting in the fan} then the last was my shrink wrapped underdeveloped chick - I did have a humidity drop over night before I opened the bator at all, so getting the others out (fast) was not my issue

3. What day should I begin lockdown? 18, 19, 20?18

4 I know i take out the eggturner and let them lay on there side. Do i still turn them manually? NO - no turning after lockdown - they need to get into position to hatch, turning costs them energy they need to break out of the egg

 

[lavacaw]

I have 7 eggs in a Brinsea mini that are due Sunday. Last night (Thursday) I had a pip. I got a pitcher of water and a basket and working as rapidly as possible, removed all the eggs so I could remove the turner...filled the reservoir, plopped in the liner I had cut earlier and replaced the eggs and the lid. Whole process probably took less than one minute. About an hour ago it finally hatched. Not so much as a pip from the other six. I will not open it again unless I need to remove this one because the others take too long. Breathe...expect the unexpected that you have prepared for and all will be fine. Let Mother Nature do her thang!

 

[nittanyxi]

I think the humidity level that works for each person also has something to do with the climate you live in. dry vs. humid. You can get a lot of conflicting opinions. the humidity level that works for me in PA may not work for somone in AZ.