Verify my Final Incubation Plan PLEASE!!

[Phionex Man]

Hello! Please look over my plan and give me some suggestions and headers Thanks!





Candling: Days: 7,12,18


Egg turning: Lay eggs on the side with the eggs in the morning (start 6:00 AM) Then turn three times: 11:00 AM. 4:00 PM, 9:00 PM--- Then again at 6:00 AM
(They will be laying sideways on an egg carton)


Temperature: Thermostat set to 99.5 Degrees F. Thermostat Powerd by 12VDC Power Supply...



Humidity: 25%-55% Dry incubation... Reason: Regular Incubation is 45-55% and Dry Incubation is 20-35% So it would make sense to do that... Right?



Ventilation: 8 holes (Helps with Temp Control and Ventilation...) Plus maybe fan...


Heating: 40W light (Plus aluminum foil to protect the eggs from direct heat)




LOCKDOWN PLAN!


1. Keep lid closed
2. If i use a fan keep it on
3. Lay eggs on side on chicken wire
4. Keep vent holes unpluged
5. WAIT :/



Thanks for reading please help!

 

[Flutterbee]

Everything looks great, I would candle on day 7, 10, 15, and 18 but that's just me! Best of luck!

 

[dheltzel]

I bump the humidity as high as possible at lockdown and drop the temp by a degree. I also turn off the fan just as the first eggs are pipping. Since doing these things I have no more shrink-wrapped chicks, and pretty much every chick that pips hatched without help. I got these ideas for the Porter Turkey site. Turkeys are a bit more challenging to hatch than chickens, so I figured following the turkey plan would be optimal.

 

[darkbluespace]

I bump the humidity as high as possible at lockdown and drop the temp by a degree. I also turn off the fan just as the first eggs are pipping. Since doing these things I have no more shrink-wrapped chicks, and pretty much every chick that pips hatched without help. I got these ideas for the Porter Turkey site. Turkeys are a bit more challenging to hatch than chickens, so I figured following the turkey plan would be optimal.

Hmmm, I am going to try turning off my fan with my hatch next week and see how it goes. It makes sense that so much air movement wouldn't help after pipping and could cause drying. I will try this with the Seramas that I am about to set, I hear they can dry out easily while hatching. Thanks for sharing this!

 

[vehve]

I would maybe not place the eggs on the chicken wire during lock down. The hatched chicks might have problems moving on the wire, and before the chicks start hatching, the eggs won't roll around since you won't be touching the incubator. When they start hatching, I don't see a problem with a hatched chick moving an egg around a bit, for us it just seemed to cheer the others on.

 

[dheltzel]

Good observation regarding the "chicken wire", be sure they can't get their feet stuck. I put the eggs into cheap, shallow plastic baskets from the dollar store, with a lining of rubberized shelf liner (though paper towels would work as well). That contains the mess and still gives them a no-slip surface to stand on until I get them out.

 

[dheltzel]

Hmmm, I am going to try turning off my fan with my hatch next week and see how it goes. It makes sense that so much air movement wouldn't help after pipping and could cause drying. I will try this with the Seramas that I am about to set, I hear they can dry out easily while hatching. Thanks for sharing this!

Check out this page: http://www.porterturkeys.com/egghatchingtips.htm
Also, look up Sally Sunshine's article on this site about incubation. Both of those changed my mind about a lot of my old practices and improved my hatches. Yesterday, chick number 574 hatched from my incubator (for this calender year). I had a lot that did not hatch, still do have infertile ones and quitters, but the really heartbreaking, "almost made it out, but died trying" are very rare now.

I use a styro hovabator for hatching and it doesn't keep the temps as well as my Sportsman, but during lockdown I don't believe that temps are as critical, remember that "a minute" after hatching, they are fine getting boxed up and shipped for 2 days with nothing but body heat. So, they are producing a lot of their own heat prior to hatching as well, The temps in my hatcher fluctuate between 97 and 99, but there is some error in the thermometer readings, especially once the fan is off. After reading about turkey eggs, I deliberately keep the temps slightly low to compensate for the high humidity. Once hatching starts in still air, the humidity often reads 99% (only 2 digits, could be 100) and I get condensation on the plastic windows. When I remove the chicks, they are never fluffy, but dry off quickly in the brooder under a lamp. Some people will claim that is way too high, but I feel much better about opening the hatcher to remove chicks if I know the humidity is "too high" anyway, and that I should add some fresh air. I still try to reduce the openings of course, but it's really necessary to let the late bloomers stay after the main batch has made it out.

 

[Griffin Nest]

Looks good! I would only add 2 vent holes, 8 sounds too many. Other than that it looks great! Testing the thermostat is another thing. You want the range to be AT MOST between 98.8 and 100.2.

 

[spotsplus]

Looks good but on the humidity you have quite a range there- I prefer to go with a 50% humidity right up to lock down.

 

[Phionex Man]

but wouldnt it be ok? Because Regular incubation is 45-55% and dry incubation is 25-35% Wouldnt it be okay?