Wobbling Eggs d-4

[Nath.S]

I have a question... today is D-4 and the eggs are wobbling in the incubator. Should I increase humidity and stop the automatic turning???

 

[oregonkat]

Unsure of what D-4 means? If your eggs are moving and are expected to hatch any day now, then yes, stop the turner and increase humidity.

 

[Nath.S]

Unsure of what D-4 means? If your eggs are moving and are expected to hatch any day now, then yes, stop the turner and increase humidity.

4 days to go, so now we’re day 17. I will stop the turner and increase the humidity! So excited!!!

 

[oregonkat]

Day 17 is early for seeing egg movement, are you sure you have your day count right? What is your humidity now?

 

[Nath.S]

Day 17 is early for seeing egg movement, are you sure you have your day count right? What is your humidity now?

Yes I’m sure. I received my eggs on Wednesday and I did put them in the incubator at noon. Humidity was 45% and temperatures 37,5°C/100°F. Now I did put it at 65% and lowered the temperature at 37°C/98,5°F. I was chocked when I saw them moving!!!

 

[oregonkat]

It will be interesting to see if they hatch a day early. Usually the temp. for a forced air incubator, which is what I assume you are using, is 99.5 but I doubt that 1/2 a degree would make that much difference. My incubations go between 99 and 100 degs. too and hatch pretty much right on time. Sounds like it's all on track for a good hatch. Please post your results with some pics of your little ones. We do love pictures!! Good luck!

 

[Nath.S]

@oregonkat
I will! They are still wobbling. We are all amazed by it.
And yes we use a forced air incubator, the rCom 20, it has a clear cover so we can see everything. I’m really pleased with it!
We noticed they were moving right after we candled them. We took the empties away and now we still have 13 marans eggs waiting to hatch

 

[oregonkat]

13 marans eggs waiting to hatch

Ok, careful here with the humidity. Marans hatch much better with lower humidity due to the thickness of the shell. Maybe keep your hatching humidity in the 50's at least until the first pip and see where you are from there.

 

[Nath.S]

Ok, careful here with the humidity. Marans hatch much better with lower humidity due to the thickness of the shell.

I did read somewhere that the higher humidity helped them to hatch?
But I did lower it to 50%. 2 have piped just now. What do I have to do next? Wait until the others pip and put the humidity at 65% or higher it now?

 

[oregonkat]

If you have pips, you can raise it and watch drying of the membrane, which will turn a sort of parchment brown if the humidity is too low. Once the hatchlings start to arrive the humidity will jump on its own because they are so wet. Good luck, this is the BEST part!! Are the pips in pretty much the right place on the eggs?

BTW, the reason that Marans do better in a lower humidity incubation is that because they are so thick, they have a tougher time LOSING moisture to increase the size of the air cell. This causes the hatchlings to grow too big in the shell and then they cannot turn to the correct position for hatching and can drown due to too much moisture still being in the egg.