What to do when I get my eggs.

[audy5000g]

I ordered four different sets of eggs off of eBay. I got a little overzealous and now I have more eggs coming then I have room in the incubator.

Ugh

Anyway, some people are telling me that when I get the eggs… To unwrap them, to set them in egg carton and let them sit for 24 hours. Then put them in the incubator.

Another person says to unwrap them and put them in an egg carton at a slant for eight hours.

So I'm weighing in here. What do I do when I get my eggs and what if they come on different days? I think they were all sent out today!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I ordered four different sets of eggs off of eBay. I got a little overzealous and now I have more eggs coming then I have room in the incubator.

Ugh

Anyway, some people are telling me that when I get the eggs… To unwrap them, to set them in egg carton and let them sit for 24 hours. Then put them in the incubator.

Another person says to unwrap them and put them in an egg carton at a slant for eight hours.

So I'm weighing in here. What do I do when I get my eggs and what if they come on different days? I think they were all sent out today!

People treat shipped eggs differently. I believe what you do depends a lot on how the air cells look when you recieve them.

If the air cells are not detatched, but are wobbly, I would let them rest for 12 hours and then set them (in the incubator) upright in cut down cartons and not turn for 24 hours, then I would tilt 3xs a day for a couple days and see if the air cells have firmed back up. Once the air cells are firm, you can treat them as regular eggs.

If there are many detached air cells then its a harder call to make. Many people will set them (upright) and not turn for a couple days. Other's figure there's not much you can do for detached air cells and just commence with turning or tilting from the beginning. I've even seen people that will hold off turning for 4 days or more, (I wouldn't, but I've seen it.)

If you are luckily enough to have shipped eggs that have no air cell damage at all, you can incubate them normally.

I will say that I think either incubating them upright and tilting 3 xs a day or hand turning is much better on shipped eggs than automatic turners are.

As for getting them on different days, you can hold them for a couple days before setting. People usually collect eggs over a 7 day period for set before incubation, the only problem is that with shipped eggs, you don't really know how old the eggs were before they were shipped and you have to add the time they were in transit as well, so you don't want to "store" them too long before setting.

 

[audy5000g]

What do you mean by set them up right?

Also how do I check air cells? No clue what that means.

Sorry. Learning.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

What do you mean by set them up right?

Also how do I check air cells? No clue what that means.

Sorry. Learning.

There's basically two ways to incubate eggs, upright (either in cut down egg cartons or in an automatic turner such as the ones that you see for the styrofoam bators,) or laying down on their sides. When they are upright the fatter rounded side of the egg (air cell end) is up while the pointed, more narrow side is down.

You check the air cells by candling the eggs. When you shine a bright light down into the round end of the egg, you can see the air cell. The air cell will grow over the period of the incubation as the egg looses moisture. (This is why we control humidity, so that the egg looses the proper amount of moisture and the air cell can grow.) The air cell is where the chick should make it's internal pip as it gets ready to hatch.

The air cell should be attached and immovable in the top part of the egg. During shipment often the air cells are damaged and become dislodged/detached or become a little wobbly. A detached air cell will move when you turn the egg like a bubble in soda. A wobbly air cell will stay at the end it's supposed to be at but jiggle a little when the egg is moved.

Also shipped eggs often result in "saddle shaped" air cells. The air cells grow out on both sides causing a saddle shape.

Don't apologize for learning.

 

[audy5000g]

There's basically two ways to incubate eggs, upright (either in cut down egg cartons or in an automatic turner such as the ones that you see for the styrofoam bators,) or laying down on their sides.  When they are upright the fatter rounded side of the egg (air cell end) is up while the pointed, more narrow side is down.

You check the air cells by candling the eggs. When you shine a bright light down into the round end of the egg, you can see the air cell. The air cell will grow over the period of the incubation as the egg looses moisture. (This is why we control humidity, so that the egg looses the proper amount of moisture and the air cell can grow.) The air cell is where the chick should make it's internal pip as it gets ready to hatch.

The air cell should be attached and immovable in the top part of the egg. During shipment often the air cells are damaged and become dislodged/detached or become a little wobbly. A detached air cell will move when you turn the egg like a bubble in soda. A wobbly air cell will stay at the end it's supposed to be at but jiggle a little when the egg is moved.

Also shipped eggs often result in "saddle shaped" air cells. The air cells grow out on both sides causing a saddle shape.

Don't apologize for learning. 

Wow! That is awesome. I had NO clue.

I have the styrofoam type that turns auto.

Still trying to wrap my mind Around this.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Wow! That is awesome. I had NO clue.

I have the styrofoam type that turns auto.

Still trying to wrap my mind Around this.

I will leave you a couple links you may be interested in. One has to do with humidity and how to tell if the egg is loosing proper moisture and the other is a general hatching guide. The hatching guide is from a hands on perspective instead of a hands off perspective which is what a good share of your hatching guides are, but I am hands on, so I tend to favor hands on info. It does share philosophies from both though in comparision. I believe you find the method that you are comfortable with and that's what you do, whether it's hands on or hands off.

http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity
http://hatching411.weebly.com/

 

[audy5000g]

Great. Thanks

Off to check links.

 

[audy5000g]

Ok. Reading the first link. So good.

But what is lock down?

 

[FridayYet]

Lock down is the time when the chick gets ready to hatch. Usually around day 18, depending on the air cells, you stop turning the eggs and raise the humidity in the incubator.

 

[kdolly87]

Save!! I needed this info