I have a Hova-Bator 1588 incubator. I have incubated several rounds of chics through it since I got it 4 years ago. My question, and the thing that seems to change with every incubation is what I do when I turn off my turner. I've simply turned it off and left it in the incubator. (hatches were good, but babies were tripping over it a lot.) I've taken the turner out and let the eggs lay in the bator on their own. (again hatches were good, but then babies knocked around the other eggs that hadn't hatched yet when they started walking, and messed up a few that had pipped) I've taken egg cartons and cut the bottoms out so that air can circulate through and placed the eggs in these when i take the turner out. (this has become my usual as it seems to have the best results) so the question is what does everyone else do? what works best for you? any help is appreciated!!
I’ve also got an old model 1588 with turner. I take mine out and lay the eggs flat. I haven’t had a problem because of the chicks crawling around but that’s just my opinion. I certainly don’t see anything wrong with what you are doing. The reasons I take it out is partly to make clean-up easier and partly to make sure there are not any corners or tight places a chick could get a leg, wing, or neck stuck. I’ve never had one get stuck but I’ve always taken it out. I don't know how likely it is that inbe could get stuck but it just seems a reasonable precaution to take.
I had my hubby make me this... (3/4" high, plenty of air circulation, eggs still have a slight angle, and chicks can be around the eggs without rolling or bumping.) We are also working on another idea with PVC. Can post pics when we are done.
I would say that it depends on where your eggs are from. If they are your hen's eggs, or purchased locally from a farm (non-shipped) then I would lay them on their side for hatch, with the large side of the air cell facing up. If they are shipped eggs, some folks lay them on their side, and some keep them upright. If they were shipped and arrived damaged, usually with detached air cells (the air cell rolls around inside the egg) then it is extra important to leave them upright for hatch, I usually use a carton with the bottoms cut out. I have left them in the turner before, with it upright and off, and that worked ok. I had a LOT of eggs in the incubator (40ish) basically full, so they just climbed over all the eggs. When I had just 2doz, I used egg cartons, since 9of 12 and 10 of 12 made it to lockdown, so I had 19 eggs in a bator that holds 42. I liked using the egg cartons, because it opened up the floorspace all around the cartons, so the chicks had a race track they could walk around the outer perimeter of the incubator without walking all over the eggs.
