What day is lockdown?

[FarmsteadOn4thStreet]

So I started my eggs on January 2nd at 1pm, is today (January 20) lockdown or do I start lockdown tomorrow?
hatching barnyard mixes

 

[nuthatched]

Tomorrow, the first day incubating doesn't count, day 2 is day one. Good luck on your hatch!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Today is DAY 18 for you and you can lock down now or tomorrow. I usually lock down DAY 19. Everyone has their own tweaks to hatching. Good luck with your hatch!

 

[Ridgerunner]

An egg does not have a day's worth of development until it has been incubated 24 hours. That's why you say "one" the day after you set them when you are counting. An easy way to check counting for the 21 days is that the day of the week you set them is the day of the week the 21 days are up. If you set them on a Sunday the 21 days is up on a Sunday. So your 21 days are up on Sunday January 23. That kind of counting is easy: one week, two weeks, three weeks. The18 days requires more thinking but yes, since you started them the 2nd, the 18 days is up today, the 20th.

The 21 days for hatch is just a target. Whether under a broody hen or in an incubator it's not that unusual for an egg to pip and hatch a couple of days early or late. That's why we lock down after 18 days for chicken eggs. In lockdown we prepare for hatch. We remove turners or stop turning, maybe candle for the last time, and raise the humidity. Prepare the incubator for hatch.

The reason we raise the humidity it to reduce the chances of the chick to shrink wrap after it pips. Since an egg can pip a couple of days early we lockdown and raise the humidity before that happens. There is no other magic about Day 18 for lockdown, just to get it done before first pip.

After a few hatches, if you develop confidence your first pip is always Day 20 or later you can put off lockdown if you wish. Nothing wrong with that. But for your first few hatches with that incubator and with your eggs, I'd suggest you follow the guidelines.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

 

[Tonyroo]

I start mine on the 17th day, cause I don't want to handle them when they're completing there growth cycle.

 

[FarmsteadOn4thStreet]

An egg does not have a day's worth of development until it has been incubated 24 hours. That's why you say "one" the day after you set them when you are counting. An easy way to check counting for the 21 days is that the day of the week you set them is the day of the week the 21 days are up. If you set them on a Sunday the 21 days is up on a Sunday. So your 21 days are up on Sunday January 23. That kind of counting is easy: one week, two weeks, three weeks. The18 days requires more thinking but yes, since you started them the 2nd, the 18 days is up today, the 20th.

The 21 days for hatch is just a target. Whether under a broody hen or in an incubator it's not that unusual for an egg to pip and hatch a couple of days early or late. That's why we lock down after 18 days for chicken eggs. In lockdown we prepare for hatch. We remove turners or stop turning, maybe candle for the last time, and raise the humidity. Prepare the incubator for hatch.

The reason we raise the humidity it to reduce the chances of the chick to shrink wrap after it pips. Since an egg can pip a couple of days early we lockdown and raise the humidity before that happens. There is no other magic about Day 18 for lockdown, just to get it done before first pip.

After a few hatches, if you develop confidence your first pip is always Day 20 or later you can put off lockdown if you wish. Nothing wrong with that. But for your first few hatches with that incubator and with your eggs, I'd suggest you follow the guidelines.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

My incubator isn’t the greatest at holding the humidity at a steady rate (add water and humidity spikes, few hours later humidity is low) and the only way to add water is by opening it up. In this case should I wait till tomorrow or still plan to lockdown today?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I know it's a day late but I'll respond anyway.

What incubator do you have? Do you have a link so I can see what it looks like and how you add water? It sound like you may be getting some areas wet when you add water and it takes a while for that to evaporate. You will get a humidity spike until that extra water evaporates and the humidity stabilizes. The wet surface area is what controls humidity. I use taped together accordion straws and a syringe to add water through a vent on mine.

During lockdown a humidity spike will not hurt anything. The risk is that the humidity will be too dry when an egg pips, not that it will be too high. The humidity will probably spike anyway when eggs start hatching and release a lot of moisture. No big deal.

Personally I'd have stayed on schedule because you aren't experiences with that incubator. You don't know yet if you tend to get early hatches with it or your eggs. But if none pipped before you raised the humidity there is no real risk in being a bit late just like there is no big risk in being a bit early. Even if you did get a pip it's unlikely that that chick will shrink wrap. They usually don't but I don't like to take risks I don't have too.

I know it's easier said than done but try to relax a little. Even after going through several, hatch is still an exciting time. At this stage there is not really much you can do to help and there are things you can do to hurt. It sounds like you are in pretty good shape.