Thinking ahead

[slvrphoenix]

So I have been wondering about lock down. For those with egg turners when it comes time for lock down. Do you take the eggs out and just lay them on there side? When I built my incubator I put a turner in it and set it up so I could just leave them in it during lock down. As you can see I have a wire platform at the same height. I planned on putting shelf liner down to cover everything. so the chicks have some where to stand but now I don't know. Tell me what you think?

 

[Cowgirl75446]

I take my turner out of my incubator on day 18, I just place the eggs on their side in the incubator. They will do fine.

 

[chickmanna]

Take out the turner for sure. You can also place the eggs, large end up like they were in the turner, into egg cartons. There are many threads on BYC to get info about egg carton hatching.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I take mine out and lay them on the side, but that is just personal preference. You'll find some people on this forum that think leaving them pointy side down in egg cartons or such is the only way to go, and others that adamantly think laying them on the side is the right way to do it. Both ways work.

My reasoning for taking the turner out is partly to make clean-up easier. They can make a mess when they hatch. Why leave the turner in there? It is just something else you have to clean. If there are electronics or mechanisms involved, that could get a bit touchy with water.

The other issue is how many sharp tight corners are there that little legs could get trapped in? With my turner there are quite a few. I don't see a lot on yours.

On the clean-up issue. Do you have a layer of plastic or something under everything that can be removed and either easily cleaned or disposed of. Mine has a piece of plastic that has the water reservoirs in it that covers the bottom. It is easy to take out and clean after the hatch is over. Just something to think about. That shelf liner may work for that.

Good luck!!!

 

[slvrphoenix]

Sounds like on the side they go. I will just take them out lay a piece of mesh over the turner then lay some liner down so there feet wont fall thru the mesh.`

 

[chickmanna]

Why not just take out the turner? Then it won't be exposed to hatch gunk at all (after a recent bad experience, I'm now paranoid about bator cleanliness..........thinking of all those nooks and crannies in a typical turner is making me twitch).