Towel, paper, ???

[Mikeeeeeeeeee]

I have 11 mutt banties and one Speckled Hamburg in the bator.
Hovabator with a fan.
The 1/4" wire floor disturbs me. It seems like the eggs can roll around on it far too easily. What can I do to make them be able to hold still?

A towel, or a paper towel?

 

[gumpsgirl]

Try the egg carton method. I LOVED it! You will just put the eggs in paper egg cartons, pointy side down. They will hatch in the cartons also, leaving much less clean up to do.

 

[Mikeeeeeeeeee]

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Like with the little end straight down?
Or just at a angle down?

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

You first cut out holes in the bottom of the carton, so the eggs can get air. Also, I prefer to use a paper carton. Then you place the eggs in the carton, big end up. From now on, I will be hatching all of my chicks in egg cartons. They get out of the egg faster, and the egg doesnt roll around when another chick hits it, causing the chick to have to reposition him/herself.

 

[justinszoo]

I use the grippy shelf liner. Works great and only costs a buck a roll.

 

[UrbanMama]

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Me too...good stuff!

 

[ladybug4ut1]

Me too and works wonderful and no problems with legs..........

 

[rizq]

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I found that my chicks seemed to have a lot of trouble getting out of the egg when hatched in the carton. They'd be stuck like the school geek in the garbage can ... butt stuck, feet and wings flailing. I had some other issues, so I ended up moving most of them to the floor when I had to open the hatcher anyway. Once they were on their side, they popped right out. I still use the carton for days 1-18, but have been laying the eggs on the floor to hatch. Maybe I was doing something wrong? Or maybe it was just because of the other troubles I had that they had a harder time. But the popped right out once I moved them.

I want to get some of that shelf liner. Seems like it too would contain most of the mess and make the hatcher easier to clean. Between hatching, how much they eat, and how messy they are when they eat, I have decided that I don't have chickens ... I have feathered pigs

I am a feathered pig farmer!

 

[gumpsgirl]

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That's really strange! Mine have never really had that much problem getting out. Sure they had to work at it, but I never saw that anyone couldn't get out in the end. I LOVE the egg carton method!

The shelf liner is also wonderful! I use that along with the egg cartons. My first hatch I only used the egg cartons and somehow a chick got caught on the sharp edge of the wire, so the next time I made sure to use the shelf liner and it worked like a charm!

Mikeeeeeeeeee - Sorry I didn't get back with you until now. It looks like SundownWaterfowl answered that question for you though. Pointy end down, fat end up! No angle, just straight up and down. Here's a couple of pics of one of my hatches using the egg cartons. The eggs stay in the turner until day 18 and then I transfer them to the paper cartons on day 18, when I bump the humidity. SundownWaterfowl said to cut holes in the bottoms of the cartons, but I've never personally done that. I might try that next spring when I hatch, but I've never done it before and my hatches all went pretty well. Just FYI!

 

[swtangel321]

I use the non slid liner also, works like a charm.