I am in a bit of a pickle. When my silkies go broody I just let them sit on their eggs and whip up a batch of chickies without me having to do anything, so the last time i used my bator was over a year ago. Well, one of my chickens decided to quit on her eggs who-knows how many days in, so i cleaned up my bator and put em in. Well, even despite mommy hen not sitting on them for half a day, all is swell except for the fact i have no clue how old the eggs are. I candled them, and they could be anywhere from probably 16-20 days. I can't even remember when i put them in the incubator, but it would have to have been before the 9th. probably. i can post pictures of one of them candled, if that would help.. but i really just need to know when would be a good time to start lockdown. You bust up the humidity and don't turn the eggs during that time, right? is it even called lockdown ??Lol
It's called lockdown and probably won't hurt to kick up humidity a little earlier if you don't know how long they've been growing. Also, I would slow down turning but continue to do so perhaps a 1/4 turn twice a day so if they're getting ready to pip they won't be too disoriented. I hatched eggs that weren't turned after the first week.
