Staggered hatch dates

[Gerty0630]

I made the rookie mistake of not putting all my eggs in the incubator on the same day. At the time I thought "what's the big deal?!" so now of course I've learned better however, in the meantime, I will need to find out the best route for hatching. 3 pekin duck eggs. Friday will be day 25 for egg 1 so I will need to place that egg in lockdown Friday. The next eggs day 25 are Saturday, and Sunday, so each are 1 day apart. Will it hurt anything if I, in theory, place them all in lockdown Friday, but continue turning the following two for their final days? Or should I just place them all into lockdown, no turning for the following 2, even though it will only be day 23 and 24 for them on Friday? Any help is appreciated

 

[Ridgerunner]

Don't beat yourself up too bad, that's how we learn. That's a real common mistake.

I don't hatch ducks, just chickens and on rare occasions turkey eggs. The main reasons you turn chicken eggs is that turning helps keep the yolk or developing chick from coming into contact with the porous inside of the egg shell where it can get stuck and it helps body parts form in the right places. With chicken eggs, a membrane has formed by two weeks that protects the chicks from coming into contact with the inside of the shell. It's the same membrane that can cause shrink-wrap if it dries out. Also, body parts have formed, they just need to finish growing. So you can stop turning chicken eggs after two weeks. The main reason we usually continue turning until lockdown is convenience, it is convenient to raise humidity and quit turning at the same time. I don't know when is the right time that you can stop turning duck eggs since the incubation period is longer, but I would stop turning and put them all in lockdown when you do the first one.

Good luck!

 

[Gerty0630]

Don't beat yourself up too bad, that's how we learn. That's a real common mistake.

I don't hatch ducks, just chickens and on rare occasions turkey eggs. The main reasons you turn chicken eggs is that turning helps keep the yolk or developing chick from coming into contact with the porous inside of the egg shell where it can get stuck and it helps body parts form in the right places. With chicken eggs, a membrane has formed by two weeks that protects the chicks from coming into contact with the inside of the shell. It's the same membrane that can cause shrink-wrap if it dries out. Also, body parts have formed, they just need to finish growing. So you can stop turning chicken eggs after two weeks. The main reason we usually continue turning until lockdown is convenience, it is convenient to raise humidity and quit turning at the same time. I don't know when is the right time that you can stop turning duck eggs since the incubation period is longer, but I would stop turning and put them all in lockdown when you do the first one.

Good luck!

Yes I was thinking it probably wouldn't be a huge deal if I locked them all down on the same day but everything can be so sensitive I just wanted to be sure since this is my first attempted hatch! That would be 1 day early for one egg, and 2 days early for the other. Thank you for your advice!

 

[Gerty0630]

@Cayuga momma @Miss Lydia @DuckyDonna i know you ladies have helped me on numerous posts. What are your opinions on this??

 

[Cayuga momma]

@Cayuga momma @Miss Lydia @DuckyDonna i know you ladies have helped me on numerous posts. What are your opinions on this??

Sorry I don't incubate, but maybe @WVduckchick can help

 

[Gerty0630]

Sorry I don't incubate, but maybe @WVduckchick can help

Im sorry! Thank you for the tag refferal lol

 

[Cayuga momma]

Im sorry! Thank you for the tag refferal lol

No problem at all.

 

[Tracyrobpopella]

I did the same thing so i placed the one on lock down do they dont move and just turned the incubater from the outside

 

[Miss Lydia]

@WVduckchick would be best at this I only use my ducks and chickens for incubating. @DuckyDonna has hatched in gator too!

 

[WVduckchick]

Yep, it’s fine to lock them all down together and stop turning. Personally, since it’s a 3 day span for the 3 eggs, I’d go on the middle egg’s day 25 and raise humidity that day. One day late for one egg, one day early for one egg.

Although....How big are your air cells? If they are already in the large range, I’d maybe go with the earlier date. If they could use a little more growing, wait another day.

So really it doesn’t matter all that much, given just a 3 day stagger