/ Register

  1. If this is your first time on BYC, we suggest you start with one of these three options:
    Raising Chickens Chicken Coops Join BYC
    If you're already a member of our community, click here to login & click here to learn what's new!

When to do lockdown

Discussion in 'Incubating & Hatching Eggs' started by littlels, Nov 13, 2011.

Most Liked Posts
  1. Nov 13, 2011 #1
    littlels

    littlels Chillin' With My Peeps

    121
    1
    91
    Oct 27, 2011
    Tomorrow is supposed to be lockdown and now I'm stressing beyond belief since this is our first hatching.

    1. We put the eggs in initially about 2:00 the first day. So do we do lockdown at 2:00 tomorrow or doesn't that part matter as much?

    2. My husband just informed me that he added an egg the next morning after we had already set the first bunch of eggs. Is that a problem if lockdown for the rest of them is tomorrow? Would it be okay just to take all of them out of the turner and then that one just wouldn't get turned that extra 12 hours that it missed? Is the humidity increase going to be a problem for him? I know which egg it is and when candled it looks the same as the other eggs.

    What to do...oh what to do!?!?
     
  3. Nov 13, 2011 #2
    loanwizard

    loanwizard Chillin' With My Peeps

    1,328
    60
    178
    Aug 22, 2011
    Coshocton, Ohio- 3 Years Ckns
    Just lock them down and relax. A hen isn't that exact either. it will be fine.
     
  5. Nov 14, 2011 #3
    Gypsy07

    Gypsy07 Chillin' With My Peeps

    2,286
    25
    193
    Feb 4, 2010
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Yeah, really you can lockdown safely any time from day 17 to day 19 and it won't make much difference. As for the 'late' egg, you might find that the noise of the other chicks hatching will prompt it to pop out at the same time as all the others. Any time I've added one egg to a batch on the second day, it has always hatched a day early with all the others...
     
  7. Nov 14, 2011 #4
    OldChurchEggery1

    OldChurchEggery1 Chillin' With My Peeps

    616
    25
    138
    Sep 27, 2011
    Virginia
    I found I got a better hatch by stopping the turner on day 19 rather than 18. I'm not sure why but I figure since chickens can't count, it's probably okay.
     

BackYard Chickens is proudly sponsored by