Turning eggs during lockdown

[Cloverr39]

I have 19/25 eggs going into lockdown today and the other 6 still have a week to go. For now I just open the incubator real quick and turn them 4 times a day. I have alarms set on my phone every 3,5h. My question is when the eggs start piping is it still safe to turn my 6 eggs or are the hatching chicks more important and they'll be fine not being turned for the 2-3 days while chicks hatch? The 6 eggs go into lockdown on the 25th.

Also I all eggs have the air sacks on the end of the egg while one egg has it horizontally on half the egg. Does that one have any chance at hatching?

 

[Artichoke Lover]

You should not turn them during lockdown. Part of those last 3 days is stopping the turning so the chicks can move themselves into hatch position with the turning disrupting them.

As for the detached and damaged air cells. They may or may not cause issues but if the chick is still alive prior to lockdown it has a chance. It may end up needing extra help though.

Wishing you luck with your hatch!

 

[Cloverr39]

You should not turn them during lockdown. Part of those last 3 days is stopping the turning so the chicks can move themselves into hatch position with the turning disrupting them.

As for the detached and damaged air cells. They may or may not cause issues but if the chick is still alive prior to lockdown it has a chance. It may end up needing extra help though.

Wishing you luck with your hatch!

Oh no, I'm not touching the ones in lockdown. I was asking about the 6 that only go into lockdown next week. Is it safe to turn those while other eggs in the incubator are hatching?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Yes you can still turn the earlier ones but after you see the external pip on any of the older ones don’t open the bator the eggs should be fine
One thing to keep in mind with staggered hatches is humidity and turning are not the same at different stages.
I have 2 incubators I use one for lockdown and the other for incubating if I’m doing a staggered hatch

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Oh no, I'm not touching the ones in lockdown. I was asking about the 6 that only go into lockdown next week. Is it safe to turn those while other eggs in the incubator are hatching?

Sorry I misunderstood. I hadn’t had my coffee yet lol. But yes it’s safe to turn the others just don’t keep the incubator open longer than absolutely necessary and don’t open it while there’s an external pip.

 

[MyCozyCritters]

Oh no, I opened the incubator to turn off the turner and after I did I noticed that there was a pip in one of them! The baby is still moving to get out and I closed it as soon as I noticed, but will this damage the hatching of this baby and the others? Oh gee, I am so sorry!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Oh no, I opened the incubator to turn off the turner and after I did I noticed that there was a pip in one of them! The baby is still moving to get out and I closed it as soon as I noticed, but will this damage the hatching of this baby and the others? Oh gee, I am so sorry!

No it should be fine
When the school was hatching my eggs I went to meet the teacher to do lock down day 25
Pulled all the eggs out to pull out the Turner and there was one with external pip. We got the Turner out , added water and put eggs back
Baby hatched the next day no problem

 

[Ridgerunner]

Oh no, I opened the incubator to turn off the turner and after I did I noticed that there was a pip in one of them! The baby is still moving to get out and I closed it as soon as I noticed, but will this damage the hatching of this baby and the others? Oh gee, I am so sorry!

It is possible to cause shrink wrap by opening the incubator after an egg has pipped. Possible, but not likely. You probably did no harm. It's one of those things that could possibly cause harm so we try to avoid it but it not an automatic death sentence. Just keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

 

[MyCozyCritters]

What if it does cause the one to be shrink wrapped? How long should I wait to see if it does. I put a wet washcloth in there and more water and haven't opened it anymore. The pip is still like it was, no change, but I can't really see it through the incubator to see if it's moving. Thanks for the help!<3

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Often they will make a second crack or pip Beside the first one about 8-12 hours later
Then they zip 24-48 hours after first pip
Each baby does their own thing
I had one this round with a small crack I tried to cover when I noticed the air cell growing faster then the others. By the end at Lock down it was huge. That baby external pip then zipped 8 hours later. I was like what the heck
But I realized he was probably internal pipped much longer then most as he had plenty of air so no rush to external
I have had other with smaller air cells make the external pip then take 36-40 hours.
All depends on air cell and baby
Keep us posted and pictures of baby would be awesome