So much for the "Rules" of hatching

[Vicki B.]

So I bought a small incubator and ordered some jersey giant eggs through the mail. Day one I stuck one of my Easter eggs in with the mail order eggs. After 5 days no sign of life in the jersey's the Easter egg developing normally.Had a hen setting on an assortment of different eggs when some of them hatched the others were just starting out so I put them in the incubator. I thought I could tell from candling that those eggs were behind in age compared to my Easter egg. SURPRISE this morning I find a chick fully hatched I have been turning the egg and did not see any pip last night and the humidity was not high as it should be for hatching.So no lock down no increased humidity and the chick pipped and zipped in 8 hours completely unseen. Thought it was interesting since I am so worried about the end period and doing everything right I was going against all the hatching protocol and have a bright healthy red chick!

 

[JeanR]

I have never practiced "lockdown", I want to know position of each chick in each egg. To be sure, opened and closed incubator (several sizes) briefly, but kept candling some eggs up to hatch. Need to know your hen or incubator and have accurate thermometer/hygrometers. Hens are easiest--they keep the right temp and humidity! And they get off the nest to eat and poop right up to hatch (and sometimes get off briefly during hatch). Experience is still the best teacher, but I admit, sometimes teachers make mistakes! Good luck.

 

[Lemonade72]

As far as rules for hatching I learned those do not seem to be written in stone, even when using a Sportsman 1502, an R-Com(my FAVORITE) and a Brinsea Octagon Eco with cradle turner for incubators, so humidity and temperature could be better regulated (which I check with a wet bulb thermometer and multiple Hygrometers) I still frequently have eggs hatch to perfectly healthy chicks as late as 24 days... I buy eggs off ebay which has its good and bad considerations alone, but still average 50% hatch if I wasn't scammed ( in my opinion) to begin with... but splitting the eggs between the incubators to also determine if one is better or worse then the others and now just to hedge my bets in case one incubator loses power or something... and see if different breeds seem better in one type of incubator.... Seramas DEFINATELY Seem to prefer one brand of incubator...
Abut when hatching eggs, opening the eggs that seemed to develop and then didn't hatch, while very gross even to someone with a "strong" stomach taught me a lot... I have a book called "Hatching and Brooding your Own Chicks" by Gail Damerow that shows what an egg looks like on each day of development and I try to determine when the egg stopped and it has the reasons eggs might stop at certain points... I tried informing ebay sellers of my success realizing shipped eggs often do poorly but those sellers vary so widely in how they ship eggs even though they don't guarantee the hatch rate I assumed they cared how the eggs did... I can tell you they DO NOT... but I kept track of the eggs and the sellers I got them from and my success with each ...and that made a HUGE difference as often ebay sellers sell different breeds of eggs, and it seems like if one breed they sell does poorly, all breeds of eggs they sell do poorly (so it must be something with that seller in my opinion and I quit wasting my money with them, no matter what they sold)

But it seems as with all things, Mother Nature does what she wants... and has a "wicked curve ball" when you think you know what to expect....

 

[Vicki B.]

As far as rules for hatching I learned those do not seem to be written in stone, even when using a Sportsman 1502, an R-Com(my FAVORITE) and a Brinsea Octagon Eco with cradle turner for incubators, so humidity and temperature could be better regulated (which I check with a wet bulb thermometer and multiple Hygrometers) I still frequently have eggs hatch to perfectly healthy chicks as late as 24 days... I buy eggs off ebay which has its good and bad considerations alone, but still average 50% hatch if I wasn't scammed ( in my opinion) to begin with... but splitting the eggs between the incubators to also determine if one is better or worse then the others and now just to hedge my bets in case one incubator loses power or something... and see if different breeds seem better in one type of incubator.... Seramas DEFINATELY Seem to prefer one brand of incubator...
Abut when hatching eggs, opening the eggs that seemed to develop and then didn't hatch, while very gross even to someone with a "strong" stomach taught me a lot... I have a book called "Hatching and Brooding your Own Chicks" by Gail Damerow that shows what an egg looks like on each day of development and I try to determine when the egg stopped and it has the reasons eggs might stop at certain points... I tried informing ebay sellers of my success realizing shipped eggs often do poorly but those sellers vary so widely in how they ship eggs even though they don't guarantee the hatch rate I assumed they cared how the eggs did... I can tell you they DO NOT... but I kept track of the eggs and the sellers I got them from and my success with each ...and that made a HUGE difference as often ebay sellers sell different breeds of eggs, and it seems like if one breed they sell does poorly, all breeds of eggs they sell do poorly (so it must be something with that seller in my opinion and I quit wasting my money with them, no matter what they sold)

But it seems as with all things, Mother Nature does what she wants... and has a "wicked curve ball" when you think you know what to expect....

 

[Vicki B.]

Can you post your recommended sellers from E-Bay or is that not permitted here?