The Journey of Hatching

[Easter Chicks]

Okay, so I am a relatively new chicken owner. So far, we've been having very back chicken luck. Our first batch wasn't wrapped very well, and so many broke in the mail. They were also left in the mail box. We got three out of twenty eggs. The second batch gave us nine out of twenty eggs. Then, ten out of the twelve were eaten by a fox (because we left them outside with no one home. We now know better. :/ and one of the survivors just died from, possibly, a heart attack. Both survivors are/were roosters, so the last one, Louise, will be going to a new home as soon as we find him one.

BUT. Today, it seems that our luck has turned. This time, we ordered 30 eggs from a new breeder to account for cracked eggs, infertility, etc. Except that they were packaged really well and we now have 35 eggs. Not a single one broke.

Here is the issue. Our incubator is a Brinsea. It can hold only twenty eggs. I've seen people honeycomb them and fit in about 28. Can you stack eggs? I read that you can so long as it isn't a still-air incubator, which ours is not. Do any of you have experience stacking eggs? I'd hate to have to pick and choose.

Also, if you want to see cute chick pictures, then stick around for the three weeks. I'll post pictures of the mega wrapping job as well as the eggs, maybe tomorrow when I can take clearer pictures.

 

[JetCat]

i stack incubate quail eggs all the time in trays on automatic turners. stacking in your instance would make manual turning a more tedious job but it'll work just fine without any issues till hatch time, maybe by then you'd have a little more room after removing any infertiles and quitters.

 

[Easter Chicks]

i stack incubate quail eggs all the time in trays on automatic turners. stacking in your instance would make manual turning a more tedious job but it'll work just fine without any issues till hatch time, maybe by then you'd have a little more room after removing any infertiles and quitters.

Well, we have done our best! We managed to fit in all 35.



No doubt, there will be some infertiles and some who just don't make it, which, as you said, we'll remove.

 

[kuchchicks]

Nice variety of eggs!

You did a great job packing your eggs in. My only suggestion would be to rotate which eggs are stacked and which eggs are not. Until you candle and find out which are clears, it will give all of your eggs a chance at equal temp, bator positioning (which may have a slight unknown variation that who knows how it will affect the eggs). I do this when I have more eggs than my turner will hold. I can usually fit a few extra on the sides that then need turned by hand. I switch out which eggs get hand turned and which eggs are in the turner and where they are located each time I turn them so that the eggs all get equal time in the prime locations.

Then on days 7, 14, and lockdown I would pull out clears and quitters to make room for the

 

[JetCat]

Well, we have done our best! We managed to fit in all 35.



No doubt, there will be some infertiles and some who just don't make it, which, as you said, we'll remove.

Looks good, nice job!!

best of luck with the hatch!

 

[Easter Chicks]

Looks good, nice job!!

best of luck with the hatch!

Thank you!!

 

[Easter Chicks]

Nice variety of eggs!

You did a great job packing your eggs in. My only suggestion would be to rotate which eggs are stacked and which eggs are not. Until you candle and find out which are clears, it will give all of your eggs a chance at equal temp, bator positioning (which may have a slight unknown variation that who knows how it will affect the eggs). I do this when I have more eggs than my turner will hold. I can usually fit a few extra on the sides that then need turned by hand. I switch out which eggs get hand turned and which eggs are in the turner and where they are located each time I turn them so that the eggs all get equal time in the prime locations.

Then on days 7, 14, and lockdown I would pull out clears and quitters to make room for the

Thank you!

Good advice. I'll do that.

 

[Easter Chicks]

Well, it seems like everything's going well, so far. We candled the eggs tonight, and so far, we have 26 possibly 27 eggs (one might be a blood ring, but we put it back just in case.) All three of the eggs that were on top are doing well. We got a new, incredibly bright flashlight, and it was very obvious which ones were developing. I can't wait!