staggered hatches!?....HELP!?

[DirtCreature]

Is it possible to stagger hatches with one bator!?

I have IMPORTANT eggs coming in 3 days and they have to sit another 24 hours but i already have eggs in my bator!

What have i gotten myself into! AHHHH

Is this possible!? how would/have you do/ne it!?

 

[Lacrystol]

boy oh boy, your in a pickle, but not out of hope. I have been in this situation only I had a second incubator ready for those who didn't go into lockdown quite yet. HOWEVER, I can tell you I have tried as an experiment one time, (I do not suggest this for everyone), but I had a batch ready to go into lock down, I didn't change anything, I didn't raise the humidity nothing, just left it alone,kept everything as normal.. temp, humidity all stayed the same as if they were just starting. Surely enough all of them hatched. You can give them a shot but raising the humidity for those not yet ready to go into lockdown, you could possible drown them. If it was me, I would probably raise the humidity just a tab for those going into lockdown but keep an eye on them in case they have a hard time getting out.

Check out my link about this little project...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/517688/they-still-hatched-and-no-lockdown

 

[JBee449]

I'll be interested to see the replies from the pro's. We have a bunch of eggs in the bator right now (our first ever), but we staggered it, not understanding that you have to do things differently in the last three days. So now, we have some that are ready to hatch tomorrow, and others not ready to hatch until this weekend. We still have to turn those, which means opening up the incubator, but the ones that are hatching tomorrow are supposed to be on lock down. Also, the humidity is supposed to be different (a bit higher) in the last three days. I'm pretty sure we've royally messed up. That's what we get for not being clear on the entire process when we got started. Ugh.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I'll be anxiously awaiting replies on this too. I have one batch in the incubator, and my husband suggested throwing some more eggs in once these hatch. But I'm afraid that the eggs will be too old if we wait for the current batch to hatch before starting them, so I'm looking into maybe doing a staggered hatch with only one incubator myself. When I posted looking for tips I only got two responses, one pretty much saying that it wasn't possible without a second incubator or hatcher and one that recommended continuing to open the incubator to turn the second batch while the first one was supposed to be on lock down.

 

[DirtCreature]

thanks for this info! i might actually try this, the first batch isnt as important to me as the second would be. the first is Lavender orpington, blue cochin, and 2 lower quality BLRW. The second batch is high quality batch of 16 eggs, all BLRW (foley line).... so....

boy oh boy, your in a pickle, but not out of hope. I have been in this situation only I had a second incubator ready for those who didn't go into lockdown quite yet. HOWEVER, I can tell you I have tried as an experiment one time, (I do not suggest this for everyone), but I had a batch ready to go into lock down, I didn't change anything, I didn't raise the humidity nothing, just left it alone,kept everything as normal.. temp, humidity all stayed the same as if they were just starting. Surely enough all of them hatched. You can give them a shot but raising the humidity for those not yet ready to go into lockdown, you could possible drown them. If it was me, I would probably raise the humidity just a tab for those going into lockdown but keep an eye on them in case they have a hard time getting out.

Check out my link about this little project...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/517688/they-still-hatched-and-no-lockdown

 

[cmfarm]

I'll be anxiously awaiting replies on this too. I have one batch in the incubator, and my husband suggested throwing some more eggs in once these hatch. But I'm afraid that the eggs will be too old if we wait for the current batch to hatch before starting them, so I'm looking into maybe doing a staggered hatch with only one incubator myself. When I posted looking for tips I only got two responses, one pretty much saying that it wasn't possible without a second incubator or hatcher and one that recommended continuing to open the incubator to turn the second batch while the first one was supposed to be on lock down.

I believe you are refering to me as your second answer you got. Again I used to do this all the time. I would set eggs from my BCM chickens every week and whatever else I bought localy and would just open and turn them when needed. It didn't seem to effect them.

 

[chkinut]

I'll be anxiously awaiting replies on this too. I have one batch in the incubator, and my husband suggested throwing some more eggs in once these hatch. But I'm afraid that the eggs will be too old if we wait for the current batch to hatch before starting them, so I'm looking into maybe doing a staggered hatch with only one incubator myself. When I posted looking for tips I only got two responses, one pretty much saying that it wasn't possible without a second incubator or hatcher and one that recommended continuing to open the incubator to turn the second batch while the first one was supposed to be on lock down.

i have an interesting story. there's a man i know that i have hatched eggs for (this is the 2nd year i've hatched for him). well, when he brought me his eggs he said they were about a month old! my jaw almost dropped and i said "well they should be no older than 10 days for the best hatch rate"....but we gave it a go anyway and i have ALWAYS had great hatch rates with his eggs! of course they arn't shipped either. but i thought it was interesting.

 

[DirtCreature]

WOW

a month! holy macaroni

 

[ReikiStar]

i have an interesting story. there's a man i know that i have hatched eggs for (this is the 2nd year i've hatched for him). well, when he brought me his eggs he said they were about a month old! my jaw almost dropped and i said "well they should be no older than 10 days for the best hatch rate"....but we gave it a go anyway and i have ALWAYS had great hatch rates with his eggs! of course they arn't shipped either. but i thought it was interesting.

Did he have them refrigerated or kept in any way that he knew he was going to wait a month until he had them incubated?

 

[Darkjeweler]

I am doing my first ever hatch. I did not even think about the staggered issue. I put in 18 duck eggs and then 3 days later put in another 8. Since I am using an auto-turner in a Little Giant, I was just planning on taking out the rails from the older eggs and just let the newer eggs continue on the turner during lockdown.. Don't know if it will work, but I am going to give it a try... Actually, I have another 6 eggs I might toss in there today... Any hoo.. On day 3 I candled the first 18 eggs and I saw heart beatting in most of them... When I get home from work, I chek the temp on the baitor, take off the top and mist the eggs with a water bottle (to simulate a wet duck sitting on them after a swim).. Then I put the top back on and check the temp again after an hour to make sure it has stabilized. So far, this has been a no brainer.

Mike-