Staggered bator dates...

[hurricanearran]

My boyfriend got the bator going while I was out of town a couple weeks ago. Just candled the eggs and of the 48 only three weren't fertilized. Will be a good haul!

However, instead of collecting the eggs for several days and then filling the bator on a fixed date, he added them as he collected them over several days!!! I have 6-7 eggs dated each day from the 14th of Jan thru to the 18th. Obviously there's nothing I can do now.

Lock down won't be possible now as I'll have to continue to turn the eggs which are a few days behind the others. Any thoughts or advice? Is not turning the eggs with later start dates the lesser of two evils than breaking lockdown?

 

[julieleonard]

I have done the same thing multiple dates what do I do now?

 

[soldonold]

I searched for "staggered hatches" and one answer was:

How do you handle turning with a staggered hatch? Answer: I don't bother until I remove chicks after 36 hours. Or I place them ( newer eggs) very close to the vent and stick a straw and just roll them a bit. Never had more than 6 that were to hatch in the future.

Normally I don't bother turning them at all after lockdown (the ones that are staggered). I haven't had any issues.

She says the added humidity for the lockdown of the earlier ones didn't seem to hurt the later ones.

Hope this helps --

I did the same thing my first hatch and then started worrying, and I went and bought a used cheap cheep incubator for a hatcher

 

[texaschickmom]

My advice is to buy another incubator and use as a hatcher.

 

[Overoberyl]

My advice is to buy another incubator and use as a hatcher.

Agree! I would definitely NOT try to hatch and incubate in the same bator, unless you are using a cabinet style which has enough space for different humidities...I have killed many eggs by having the humidity too high during incubation (eventually I figured it out), and I would not risk the ones that are still cooking. Get another bator for lockdown and you can run staggered hatches without risking any.

 

[hurricanearran]

Thanks for the input. Unfortunately, I live in the middle of no where, so buying was not an option and it was far too late to order anything on time. I have been so immersed in the hatch over the last few days and everything has been going reasonably well until today. Now the eggs that were put in on the last two days are pipping but appear to be getting stuck and either suffocating or... I don't know. I'm at odds as to what I should do... Very frustrated and am defo feeling annoyed that the staggered start date thing ever happened. Not my choice! Everything was so wildly successful for the first two days of hatching that I know conditions were perfect in the bator and had all the eggs been put in on the same time, we would have had a 100% hatch. We've lost at least four already and I'm not optimistic about the last 15 eggs in the bator

 

[Overoberyl]

What is the humidity in there right now?

 

[hurricanearran]

For the first three batches (14th,15th & 16th). I kept the humidity between 55-60%. Now I have left only the batches dated the 17th and 18th so I raised the humidity to 70-75%. There was one last night that I was sure wasn't going to live but I've just checked and she hatched! All things considered, despite having to break lock-down, we've still been successful. We've hatched 20 so far and there are still 12 or so left to go. We've only lost 3 now so it's not so bad I guess. Lots of new pips this morning...
The hardest part has been dragging out the process of anxiously watching the hatch from a 48 hour process to one that's lasting several days! My life has been on hold all week!

 

[hurricanearran]

Just as a matter of interest... the hatch is complete!

We started with 42 eggs. Six weren't fertilized and were removed. We lost 4 due to the humidity issues in the final days. The chicks pipped and then drowned in the sticky fluids from inside the shell Knowing what I was looking for, I was able to save the final two who would have suffered the same fate. They are in the incubator drying out as I type this and are recovering well. No apparent deformities.

Just under 90% success (of the fertilized eggs) considering the total disregard for "lock-down". All things considered, it could have been much worse.

 

[Overoberyl]

Just as a matter of interest... the hatch is complete!

We started with 42 eggs. Six weren't fertilized and were removed. We lost 4 due to the humidity issues in the final days. The chicks pipped and then drowned in the sticky fluids from inside the shell Knowing what I was looking for, I was able to save the final two who would have suffered the same fate. They are in the incubator drying out as I type this and are recovering well. No apparent deformities.

Just under 90% success (of the fertilized eggs) considering the total disregard for "lock-down". All things considered, it could have been much worse.

Glad you got a good number of chicks to hatch. Definitely easier with a second bator, but given the circumstances you did the best you could! Just for future, if you have drowned chicks, it's most likely due to high humidity during the first part of incubation. That buildup of fluid takes time to accumulate and wouldn't have been caused by high humidity in just the last few days. The humidity should be 50% or higher during lockdown to prevent the newly exposed membranes from drying out, but if it's that high during the first 18 days, that's most likely what caused them to drown. It's really hard to save stuck chicks because as soon as that gunk gets exposed to air, even humid air, it turns into shellack, congrats on saving those, I know that is a pia to deal with.