When to start lockdown if you don't know how far along eggs are?

[Hennyetta]

The title pretty much says it all... I had a hen abandon her nest (I don't know why I seem to have all the hens that stink at being broodies!!

) so I candled the eggs and found two that were developing. They were cold when I found them, but I put them in the incubator and checked later, and saw movement (yay!).

Is there any way to guess when to lock down when you don't know how long the eggs have already incubated?

 

[darkbluespace]

I would keep an eye on their development and raise humidity when they pip internally.

 

[Hennyetta]

That's about the only thing I can think of, too. I'm not sure my light is bright enough to tell when they've pipped internally or not, though.

 

[bobbi-j]

You could wait until they start rocking or peeping and then lock them down. At least then you'd know they're close.

 

[darkbluespace]

That's about the only thing I can think of, too. I'm not sure my light is bright enough to tell when they've pipped internally or not, though.

I got a good 16 LED flashlight for $4 and it is awesome! It is still hard to see into the darkest maran eggs but it worked for my peafowl eggs and chicken eggs and it was amazing with my duck eggs, I could see everything! For a few bucks, it was so worth it!