Staggered hatch Questions

[ethingtonart]

Okay, so a couple of my hens went broody and that was fine I was willing to let them sit on eggs for a little while, but when I brought the eggs inside to be put in the incubator I realized that they had let the other hens continue to lay in the nesting boxes they were sitting in. So now I have eggs that range in age from 2 to 12 days of incubation time in my incubator.

So, I know that I will need a second incubator for hatching. But I am having trouble figuring out just how far along some of these little guys are, so I am not sure when to move them from the incubator to the "hatcher". Arrg! So first question, Is there a day that would be better than another to identify the age of these embryos? Some sort of tell tale sign? The early ones have been pretty easy to id, up to day 4 seems to be very clear, and I have hatched a couple of times before, so I am pretty familiar with candling...

Also, this will most likely be a continuous stream sort of situation, so if I am moving eggs from one incubator to another for lockdown, what sort of age range can I safely include? Should I try to sneak them in as needed unless chicks have pipped in the hatcher?

What a mess, right!? Next time I will mark the eggs from day one, and check every day to make sure they haven't collected more. Geez.

 

[Skip]

Brooding the chicks all together will probably be fine. If not, just separate the ones that are being picked on. Lots of people do staggered hatchings. Just take 'em out as they hatch.

Congrats on broody hens, and chicks!

 

[drdoolittle]

This is so funny, as I have the same problem! 1 of my bantam hens went broody and was sitting on just a couple of eggs, and I stuck about 6 BO eggs under her. Well, the next day I went out to the coop, and there were a few more eggs under her.

The day after that, there was another broody hen in the same box, and even MORE eggs!

So, now I have no idea how many eggs are under them, but I think the earliest they will hatch is April 17. Can't wait to see what all I have----I know there are at least 2 EE eggs, and some of the bantam hens' own eggs, along with the original BO eggs.

 

[ethingtonart]

Seriously! They were tag teaming me!

Good thing I have some friends who want chicks.

I'm gonna have to read up on the staggered hatch thing. I am going out to get a second incubator today so I can sort these babies out. Oh geez, I just realized that I have to also get an additional thermometer and hygrometer too. Uhg.

 

[thunderwagn]

I do staggered hatches and brood all my chix together. I add new chix each week. I usually have a cut off age of about 3 weeks or so. Once chix hit that mark, I move them to a bigger brooder area. If they are still relatively small and not causing any problems I leave em. I think it makes adding new chix really easy as the older ones basically get them eating and drinking really good.

 

[Riffecreek]

as far as knowing when to move them, watch for them to pip... When they do, move them to the hatcher