Staggering hatches in gqf 1502 digital sportsman

[CaseyV]

I am not new to hatching but I am new to cabinet incubators.

I will be setting coturnix eggs on 6/27 then I will be adding new Hampshire and lavender orpington eggs about a week later.

Would the humidity harm the chicken eggs when I lock down the quail?

my incubator has the hatch tray at the bottom.

Thanks!

 

[GitaBooks]

High humidity can cause problems in chickens, such as remaining wet after hatching. Some people, when they stagger hatch, will move chicks three days before hatching into a hatching incubator.
If the eggs are at high humidity early in development I don't know if it would harm them or not.

I hope this helps. Best of luck!

 

[Buck77]

What works for me is to fill the water pan when I move eggs to the hatching tray and then just let the water run out and fill it again when I move my next set of eggs to the hatching tray. I also use a humidifier pad in the water pan. It works well for me but may not for you.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

What works for me is to fill the water pan when I move eggs to the hatching tray and then just let the water run out and fill it again when I move my next set of eggs to the hatching tray. I also use a humidifier pad in the water pan. It works well for me but may not for you.

What works is to increase the humidity before hatching begins. If moisture was not a necessary ingredient to getting born, then human and other fetuses would not be nurtured in an amniotic fluid sack that ruptures when birth begins, in effect greasing the skids to help us to easily find our way into this world.

An egg is in effect a chickens' womb. In a cabinet type forced air incubator like a GQF, humidity was never a problem for me. Perhaps this is because of the greater air volume and adjustable multi level air vents but then again I am not a fertile chicken egg so what do I know. Relative humidity of 90% is not too much humidity when eggs start hatching. In a plastic incubator i would think that humidity is hard to maintain because the incubator body looses more heat to the air creating cold spots, resulting in water condensing on the inside. And remember that the wet bulb reading will be lower in a forced air incubator just like a breeze from a ceiling fan feels cold when you come out of of a hot shower because of increased evaporation cooling.

The reason imho that the GQF has 3 incubation trays is so you can set a new tray of eggs each week and then move the oldest tray too the bottom hatching, or non-turning tray on day 18. If this is expected to work with an incubator full of chicken eggs, i don't see why it won't work with a mix of quail and hen eggs.

 

[CaseyV]

What works is to increase the humidity before hatching begins. If moisture was not a necessary ingredient to getting born, then human and other fetuses would not be nurtured in an amniotic fluid sack that ruptures when birth begins, in effect greasing the skids to help us to easily find our way into this world.  

An egg is in effect a chickens' womb.  In a cabinet type forced air incubator like a GQF, humidity was never a problem for me.  Perhaps this is because of the greater air volume and adjustable multi level air vents but then again I am not a fertile chicken egg so what do I know.  Relative humidity of 90% is not too much humidity when eggs start hatching.  In a plastic incubator i would think that humidity is hard to maintain because the incubator body looses more heat to the air creating cold spots, resulting in water condensing on the inside.  And remember that the wet bulb reading will be lower in a forced air incubator just like a breeze from a ceiling fan feels cold when you come out of of a hot shower because of increased evaporation cooling.

The reason imho that the GQF has 3 incubation trays is so you can set a new tray of eggs each week and then move the oldest tray too the bottom hatching, or non-turning tray on day 18.  If this is expected to work with an incubator full of chicken eggs, i don't see why it won't work with a mix of quail and hen eggs.

Thank you everyone for the input.

 

[TNBielefelder]

Thank you everyone for the input.

I realize this post is very old but how did this incubator and incubation method work out for you?