When to lockdown? This might help U.

[paddock36]

I saw this on another thread posted and thought it could be very useful. It let's you know what temp. and humidity should be for the type of eggs you put in your incubator and when to go to lockdown. All you do is put in the date and type of eggs and it tells you the rest. I thought others might be interested.

http://homesteadapps.com/app/free/hatchchart/hatchturnscheentry.php

 

[7L Farm]

Nice!! Thanks for posting!! No more confusion.

 

[paddock36]

I thought someone might be interested in this. I personally have no problem with chicken eggs but have never hatched duck eggs, so I would have no clue.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is good info but I do have a couple of problems with it. First, you have to determine what day 1 is. The way I read that chart for chickens, they are going to mess you up. I don't do ducks so I can't comment on those.

An egg does not have 24 hours of development 2 seconds after it is set in the incubator. It takes 24 hours for it to have a day's worth of development. That chart will have you locking down after 17 days of development, not 18 days. That is not right.

That chart might have people thinking they should hatch a day earlier than they will. For example, if you start eggs on the 10th day of a month that has 31 days, it shows the last day as the 30th. The 30th is the start of the 21st day of development, not the end of 21 days of development. Hatch should be on the 31st.

The other problem I see with it is the humidities they show. Humidity is a controversial item on this forum because different humidities work for different people. I'm sure the humidities they show work for some people, but they are too high for me. It does reinforce the idea that humidity shoudl go up fpr lockdown, but you will find people on here that keep the same humidity through out the incubation/hatching process. That boggles my mind, but evidently it works for them. That just shows you how controversial it can be.

The format of the chart is good, but on the chicken side, remove the first day of lockdown and keep turning them an extra day, and add one more line to the botton and call that "Hatch". Also substitute the humidities that work for you. Then it should work.

Remember with chickens, the day of the week you start the eggs is the day of the week they should hatch. If you set them on a Saturday, they should hatch on a Saturday.

 

[lorrir]

Thanks for the chart. I see from this chart lockdown is actually four days and not three. That would explain why I sometimes have chicks hatching on the day I start lockdown. I count out three weeks and then back count back three days. I put eggs in the bator this morning. I usually use the egg turner but have more than 36 eggs going in. I figured after I candled I would lose some and be able to use the turner again.

This chart is going on the wall over the bator tonite.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Yeah, it took me a while to figure this one out by myself. D'oh!

 

[happydog]

That's a nifty chart, thanks for posting it.

 

[paddock36]

I'm glad someone can use it. I saw it on another post but don't remember which one so I can't take credit but after I saved it on my own computer I thought it might help someone else too...