Ordered too many eggs!

[DeannaOR]

I have two incubators, one is going right now. I made a mistake and ordered more eggs than I have room for in my open incubator. The eggs running right now won't be done until the 23rd. The eggs I ordered will be here Wednesday or Thursday.
What is a staggered hatch?
Any ideas how I can manage this?

I can candle and pull the eggs that are not developing which will free up space...but what about the raised humidity during lockdown...turning...all of that?

Help!

 

[Quyen Le]

What incubator do you have? How many eggs did you order? I usually put them all in without egg turner for 5 days to turn by hand then candle and choose the good ones to stay and pull out the bad ones then put them on egg turner.

 

[DeannaOR]

I have a Hovabator 1588 with auto turner and the other one is the same but an older model.
48 plus whatever extras they send. And I have a feeling one of them sent a lot of extras. I thought I only ordered 3 dozen =(

 

[DeannaOR]

How many times a day do you have to turn?

 

[cochins1088]

You should hand turn 3 times a day. I'm not sure which model I have, but I also have a hova bator. Does your's have the fan for forced air? I tried doing something similar, I had way to many eggs so I cut up egg cartons so that I only had a bunch of connected rings, I then placed the eggs in the cartons to maxamise the space. I was sure it was going to work, I fit about 60 eggs in there nicely with room around the edges and a between cartons even though the max was suposedly 42 eggs. I was so excited cause just think of all the chicks, but I quickly lost it. I have the still air model and the air flow wasn't good enough with so many eggs, so I had a tempature spike of 107 killing what I had, at least it was only day 4. I truly believe you could get away with this if you have a forced air model with the fan, but thats just something to think about. Also I would not try the staggered hatch. I was forced into the situation once and it was not easy and it can be harmful to development. If you have the forced fan, I would cut up a few cartons and put them in, but if it's still air, I would simply put maybe 30 in max and just simply not use the other eggs. It's better to have 28 or so of the 30 hatch rather than shove them all in and have 20 of the 40 hatch.

 

[DeannaOR]

I do have forced air..both of them. I don't even know what a staggered hatch is! LOL...I was asking.
Maybe I''l do the hand turning until my other incubator frees up. My guys son will be home so he can do the afternoon turn. I cannot believe I did this!

 

[SierraView]

I have 2 hovabator 1588 and I use one as a hatcher. You can double stack them on the turner. Unplug the turner for few days then plug it in. The eggs on top won't turn very well so I rotate them to the bottom maybe once a day if i think about it. Candle at day 5 you will have some you can toss to free up room. I stagger my hatches least 5 days apart, this gives me time for lock down, hatching and cleaning the incubator.

 

[DeannaOR]

I have 2 hovabator 1588 and I use one as a hatcher. You can double stack them on the turner. Unplug the turner for few days then plug it in. The eggs on top won't turn very well so I rotate them to the bottom maybe once a day if i think about it. Candle at day 5 you will have some you can toss to free up room. I stagger my hatches least 5 days apart, this gives me time for lock down, hatching and cleaning the incubator.

Can you explain why I should unplug the turner for a couple days...I'm not sure I understand. When I plug it back in..won't the eggs rub on each other and cause damage?

 

[suki'smom]

I've had several batches have 80 percent hatch with only one turn per day in my still air hovabator. Just my input

 

[DeannaOR]

I've had several batches have 80 percent hatch with only one turn per day in my still air hovabator. Just my input

Thanks Suki'smom...I appreciate all input.