What to do when

[Newchics]

Hello all. Have a few questions.

I have two sets of incubating eggs. The first 4 we received Saturday Sept 20th. The second set we received Sept 24 (the following Wednesday).


Being that they are close to the 21 day mark do I take them out of the turner now, add water with sponges and let them all set in the incubator to see what happens? I'm not sure when to take them out of the turner, when to take the vent plugs out, when to add water, etc. I can barley see in the eggs. Any advise would be great!

Thanks in advance for responses

 

[Pyxis]

Hello there! Are you stagger hatching? Meaning do your eggs have two different due dates? Traditionally you take the eggs out of the turner on the 18th day and put them into lockdown - a time when you don't touch them, leave the incubator closed, remove the plugs to allow extra oxygen for the hatching chicks, and boost the humidity to around 60%. This might be harder for you if you have a staggered hatch and don't have a second incubator, as the second set of eggs still needs to be turned and have a lower humidity so that the air cells can develop correctly.

 

[Newchics]

Yes but it wasn't originally planned that way. We had different eggs from two different people some started to develop and others didn't. As we went along tossed the clears and kept others. We have about 13 total developing. 4 we got sept 21 and are totally dark inside. The others 10 of them are mixed full and some still see veins. The 4 that are due this weekend I'm concerned about. I only have one incubator. How can I take those 4 out and keep them alive? Will a container with lid, set inside a bowl of water with a heat lamp work for the next few days? A make shift incubator until I can get another one. I didn't realize how everything comes together with hatching. I'm hooked and will get another incubator but not by this weekend. Stores are too far away in the country where I'm at

 

[Pyxis]

You might be able to manage with everyone inside one incubator if you remove the turner and just pop the incubator open very quickly to hand turn the ones that still need it, and use a spray bottle to spray inside after to get the humidity right back up. A couple days of excess humidity shouldn't hurt the younger eggs if their air cells are looking pretty good.

 

[laura8700]

We have a couple of duck eggs in with our chicks and the new hatches seem to be turning the remaining eggs just fine. They are rolling them all over the place .

 

[Newchics]

I'm so excited for my daughter. I was so worried about taking them off the turner and look a pip tonight. It is close to the large end of the egg so hope its ok.