The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[flocktastic]

I moved to cartons after I had a chick that had pipped the egg die from being kicked around the bator.  My hatch rates improved since moving to cartons, and it contains the mess more.  No more egg soccer, but the chicks do climb all over the unhatched eggs.  I have lost one chick in a carton that pipped the wrong way and I didn't know it until it was too late.

I'm trying to decide what to do for this first hatch since I lock down tomorrow evening - I can either do a carton or lay them down on a nonslip rubber pad in there...I'm just turn and can't decide what to do!

I've got a hovabator...

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Ok...question - for seasoned hatchers - do you prefer hatching in a carton or laying the eggs down on their sides in the bator?

Why do you prefer your chosen method?

(Not meant to be a debate - just want to know more about both methods, success rates, etc...)

I do both and like both methods. Cartons are easy to monitor eggs, when they pip etc. Also as Happy Chooks says clean up is that bit easier. I only lay them down if I've not been able to help myself and the incubator is full at lockdown. If I do a smaller hatch I will use cartons. My EHAL eggs that I have in now have funky air cells so they will go into cartons tomorrow for lockdown.

They get out just fine and it keeps more order in the incubator which I like

 

[flocktastic]

I do both and like both methods. Cartons are easy to monitor eggs, when they pip etc. Also as Happy Chooks says clean up is that bit easier. I only lay them down if I've not been able to help myself and the incubator is full at lockdown. If I do a smaller hatch I will use cartons. My EHAL eggs that I have in now have funky air cells so they will go into cartons tomorrow for lockdown.

They get out just fine and it keeps more order in the incubator which I like

My bator should be pretty full...minimum of 37 eggs...some have normal air cells (my eggs and local eggs) but I have some shipped eggs that still have some super wonky saddle shaped air cells - what's the best bet for the saddle shaped ones? Perhaps I could put them in a carton and leave the rest laying on their sides that have normal AC's...?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

My bator should be pretty full...minimum of 37 eggs...some have normal air cells (my eggs and local eggs) but I have some shipped eggs that still have some super wonky saddle shaped air cells - what's the best bet for the saddle shaped ones? Perhaps I could put them in a carton and leave the rest laying on their sides that have normal AC's...?

Sounds a good plan to me
I would def put the wonky ones in cartons. I've had good results with cartons and wonky air cells. Even managed a 100% hatch with 12 eggs I got through the post with wonky air cells.

 

[flocktastic]

Sounds a good plan to me
I would def put the wonky ones in cartons. I've had good results with cartons and wonky air cells. Even managed a 100% hatch with 12 eggs I got through the post with wonky air cells.

Thank you! I just make sure the air cell end is up in the carton, correct?

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Hi Sally & Mike, update on the EHAL, 15/17 went into lockdown. All I could see was AC & blackness. Fingers crossed that I will have some chicks in a few days e

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Thank you! I just make sure the air cell end is up in the carton, correct?

Yep, fat end of the egg up

Hi Sally & Mike, update on the EHAL, 15/17 went into lockdown. All I could see was AC & blackness. Fingers crossed that I will have some chicks in a few days e

Good luck Lisa

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Thank you! I just make sure the air cell end is up in the carton, correct?

Yep, fat end of the egg up

Hi Sally & Mike, update on the EHAL, 15/17 went into lockdown. All I could see was AC & blackness. Fingers crossed that I will have some chicks in a few days e

Good luck Lisa

Thank you York

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Thank you! I just make sure the air cell end is up in the carton, correct?

Yep, fat end of the egg up

Hi Sally & Mike, update on the EHAL, 15/17 went into lockdown. All I could see was AC & blackness. Fingers crossed that I will have some chicks in a few days e

Good luck Lisa

What day are your Polish eggs on Hun?

 

[RattleCan]

Try hatching in the egg carton to see if you like it or not.

I hatch in cartons or a rack. I to cut the top down for air flow.

My current hatching batch is in egg cartons, I decided to keep them in the cartons for lockdown since their air cells were bad. The first two chicks that have hatched didn't have any problems getting out and I suppose the mess was contained, so I will probably stick these HAL eggs in cartons too. Thanks for the input

I prefer cartons, but you can do it either way. Make absolutely sure the air sac is up.

Will do! I'll try the egg cartons with them.

I moved to cartons after I had a chick that had pipped the egg die from being kicked around the bator. My hatch rates improved since moving to cartons, and it contains the mess more. No more egg soccer, but the chicks do climb all over the unhatched eggs. I have lost one chick in a carton that pipped the wrong way and I didn't know it until it was too late.

I have 4 eggs due to hatch today. Two were already hatched and out of the eggs this morning when I woke up (well, one was, the other snuck out about 30 minutes after when I checked again). I kept these eggs in a carton throughout incubation since the air cells were bad after shipping and left them in the cartons at lockdown since a couple were still a bit saddle shaped at day 18. I honestly wasn't certain on two of the eggs which side of the saddle was supposed to be angled up, and I believe these are the two eggs that haven't hatched yet. All four chicks were kicking at lockdown, the first two hatched already, but these other two haven't even pipped yet from what I can see. I'm wondering if I guessed wrong and they're pipping on the opposite side of the saddle air cell than I thought. They're in a refrigerator style incubator so I can't really see the other side of the eggs to see if there's a pip. I'm wondering if I should peek in to investigate if I don't see any action by this evening (It's about day 20.5 for them right now, it'll be day 21 officially this evening). Hopefully I won't have this problem at all with the HAL eggs since they're in a foam bator and I can look in from the top to see pips.