When does day 1 actually start?

[DFCottage]

Eggs were set at 7pm on February 19th. Does day 1 begin 24 hours from that point, so lockdown for me would be at
7pm this Thursday? Or would it be Wednesday?

It's my first hatch so I'm trying to make sure I do it right!

 

[nivtup]

"They" say if you set them in the morning count that as day one. If you set them in the evening, count the next day at day one.

Now,

My advice, don't worry too much.

One day or another doesn't really matter all that much, there is a fair amount of latitude.

Keep things within the lines and you will have a good hatch.

 

[pkw]

I actually count the next day as day one. I add 21 days onto what the day I set my eggs. I couldn't remember if I set my eggs on Feb 13th or Feb 14th so I actually locked down after turning the eggs one last time Wednesday night. Good thing I did. By the early morning hours Saturday my chicks starting pipping and hatching.. My husband got up yesterday waking me up too all excited because we had babies.

 

[chkinut]

i just count the time that i put them in as day one. for example, the eggs in my bator now, i set them on Feb 18th at 1pm....well, on Feb 19th at 1pm i considered them to be just starting day 2.

 

[DFCottage]

Thank you very much. I think I'll move everyone over to the hatcher on wednesday night or Thursday morning. I'm so excited! Out of 23 I set I've got 15 developing. 1 was a quitter, the rest didn't look fertile. But they were shipped eggs from CA to VA, so I can't complain.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you set them at 7 p.m. on Saturday February 19, lockdown should be at 7 p.m. on Ash Wednesday, March 9th. Hatch should be Saturday March 12th. If you start them on on a Saturday, they should hatch on a Saturday.

Check my post in this thread for an explanation of how to count. It seems like it should be simple, and it really is, but a lot of people get confused on this. An egg does not have 24 hours worth of development one second after it is put in the incubator. It takes a full day at incubation temperatures to get a day's worth of development.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=319371

I agree it is not absolutely necessary to hit it exactly on the dot, but I consider it good practice to try to get it right.