To turn or not to turn....

[JohnSally]

Hi!

I'm hoping you can help me with a little bit of advice. We are incubating eggs at the moment, not for the first time but equally I wouldn't class myself as an expert at all! Day 7 was Monday and I candled the eggs; all bar one are exactly as I would have expected for the age with veins and eye visible but the final one looks to be at least day 14 to me - 3/4 filling the shell with limbs visible and enlarged air pocket. We got the eggs from a local breeder so the only thing I can think is that one was partially incubated naturally and kept warm enough on the short journey home for us just to continue the incubation from where it was left! We haven't got a second incubator to move it to so I'm a little worried about contamination if it does hatch a week or so earlier than the others but also I'm not sure what to do about turning; should I try to guess when day 18 is from my limited knowledge and stop turning this one or keep turning incase I'm wrong?

Any help would be really appreciated

Sal x

 

[WalnutHill]

Once the clear space around the embryo is almost gone, stop turning. Let it hatch and dry in the incubator, but as you will need to provide a brooder for all the chicks, just set it up a little early.

Your little one will probably want a lot of attention once hatched and dried.

 

[JohnSally]

Thanks so much for your reply! I've had the humidity set at 45 but the air sacks looked a little small for 7 days on the others so I've turned it down. Do you think I should watch for the pips on the one I think is older, and then turn it up for the length of the hatch, turning it straight back down again once he's out - or do you think that could compromise the rest of the hatch? Thanks so much again, Sal x

 

[WalnutHill]

Thanks so much for your reply! I've had the humidity set at 45 but the air sacks looked a little small for 7 days on the others so I've turned it down. Do you think I should watch for the pips on the one I think is older, and then turn it up for the length of the hatch, turning it straight back down again once he's out - or do you think that could compromise the rest of the hatch? Thanks so much again, Sal x

I think that is a good approach. A short term rise in humidity, as long as it's coupled with good ventilation and temperature control, will have little to no effect on the others.