Staggered hatch: **UPDATE** All finished. Final results on page 5

[Gypsy07]

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Oh, how horrible! What a shame. No wonder you wanted to hatch out as many as possible. I hope it works out well for you.

 

[critterranch]

duck eggs need 75 85 humdity for lockdown and hatching was wondering if its too much for chicken eggs in there. i will be opening to hand turn the rest of the eggs to start until lockdown for the rest.

any one else do this with one incubtor? and staggered. i usually dont do that much of a stagger. with both chicken and duck eggs.

 

[Gypsy07]

So I've got some eggs in lockdown in egg cartons for hatching, and some still in the early stages of incubation on the turning rails. The eggs in the carton are sitting on top of the rails and just moving side to side but not turning. I didn't want to have to remember to turn the early stage eggs by hand and I thought this would work and would mean I didn't have to open the bator through lockdown.

Well...

I've just realised that any chicks that hatch would be getting rolled around on the turning rails every hour! How on earth could I not have thought of that before now? D'oh! So that's obviously no good. I think what I'm going to do is put all the eggs in cartons. Then for turning the ones that still need it, I can just tip the carton side to side. That'll be much quicker than individually turning each egg over, so I'll be able to get the bator door shut much quicker. Off to rearrange my bator right now...

 

[Gypsy07]

Well, I'm delighted to report that my staggered hatch has got off to a fabulous start. Yesterday was day 21 for my first three eggs and day 20 for another one. Late on in the day I noticed two pips. Went off to work at night, came back at 8am to two chicks out and two eggs rocking and zipping. Two hours later I have all four chicks out and looking good. The last two zipped fast and muscled their way out no problem. All yolks absorbed perfectly and no blood in the shells so obviously the incubation went well, despite having temperature and humidity issues the whole time.

Since I removed the turners at the start of lockdown, I've been having to open the bator a few times a day to turn the other eggs. I was worried about possibly having to open and turn while peeps were in the middle of pipping and zipping, so to compensate I had kept my humidity at 85-90% for the last two days, to minimise the risks of shrink-wrapping anybody. And it has worked a charm.

So here's what my bator currently looks like:

These four hatched upright in a carton, the first time I've ever tried that. I took the carton out as soon as the fourth chick hatched, cause there was almost no floor space in there. The two eggs in the back left corner are currently on days 19 and 17. The six eggs in the back right corner being slept all over are on day 6. They were lying on turning rails for three days then for lockdown I stuck them in a carton so I could just tip it side to side for speedy turning. The carton was balanced on an upturned yoghurt pot for a 45 degree tilt, but I took it out this morning incase the chicks managed to knock it off and squish themselves. I'm going to replace it as soon as I get them into the brooder, which will be just as soon as the latest hatchee has dried off and fluffed up.

 

[Highlander]

That one sleeping on top of the cartons is adorable! Congratulations!

 

[Gypsy07]

Aw, thanks! He does look rather comical, doesn't he.
I think I'm best pleased with the little one in the front corner though.
I've always rather admired the 'chipmunk with mascara' look. LOL!

 

[critterranch]

what kind of incubator do you have? i think i will bump up my humdity like you did for lock down. i was thinking it was too high for my chicks but i have to find a medium for my ducks and chicks. my lockdown start on monday. congrats on the good hatch.

 

[Pascal PicklePants]

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Are you sure she's sleeping? It looks to me like she's plotting her escape?

 

[Gypsy07]

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Thank you! I've still got another eight eggs in the bator though. I *should* have one more hatching out on Sunday 30th and another on Tuesday 1st, and then it'll be nearly two weeks more for the last 6. I'm really not too sure about them. Just candled (they're on day 6) and I couldn't see anything. The first lot were really obvious by day 6. I'm feeling a bit dubious about them now...

My bator is an unusual make my boyfriend bought for me on eBay. It's stickered Lincu Avitec Top Hatch but I'm not sure if that's the company who makes it or the company who sells it. They're Spanish anyway. It's got an auto turner that rolls the eggs every hour and space underneath for putting shallow dishes of water. It was a surprise Christmas present so I didn't have the opportunity to drop any heavy hints about RComs or Brinseas. Ahem. It works fine but it's very hard to clean out properly due to the way it's designed.

What day(s) are your various eggs at now? I know ducks take about 28 days, right? If you're going to have to be opening the bator during your 1st lockdown then I'd say yeah, bump your humidity up. Even with it above 85% my chicks were still fluffed up and dry within a couple of hours of hatching. I don't think it's ideal for the other eggs at all but I intend to run the rest of that hatch up to the last lockdown at a slightly lower humidity than normal to try and compensate. I usually weigh eggs to determine moisture loss but I stupidly forgot to do it for those last six. Guess I'll just have to squint at air sacs this time...

As for plotting escape - they're all trying to peck their way right through the perspex now! They're VERY active already.

 

[Gypsy07]

Critter: I just looked back at your eggs and setting dates you posted already. If I'm working things out right, your first 10 duck eggs are going into lockdown on Monday, hoping to hatch on Thursday, and your 12 Ameraucana eggs are due to go into lockdown on Wednesday, hoping to hatch on Saturday. That's fairly close together so maybe easier on the chicken eggs than what I had to do with some eggs only on days 3-6 for the 1st lockdown. Are you planning to hatch in cartons or lying flat?