Egg carton question

[ThreeLittleCritters]

Today I set eggs. It's my first time using an incubator. I was planning on placing the eggs in egg cartons and just tilting the carton as my method of turning. However, my carton is really flimsy after cutting the bottoms out and filling it with eggs. I put a couple of big legos under one end and only the first 4 eggs seemed to have a change (and even then it wasn't very noticeable). The opposite end (the end without legos) didn't move at all. I'm worried that this won't be an effective way to turn the eggs. Am I missing an important trick that makes egg cartons better for turning eggs?

I would just tilt the entire incubator but I have some shipped eggs that I'm not turning right now so that air cells can work out their issues (some odd shapes, some detached and rolling).

And one more question re egg cartons. If they're tilted as a way to turn the eggs, won't some eggs be closer to the heat source than the others? Will this have any impact on eggs?

 

[wlhtx]

This is my first time using an egg carton too, so I'm curious if anyone chimes in with a tried and true way of doing it - but, I was going to say that, as for some of the eggs being closer to the heat source, what I'm doing is, instead of moving the Legos (I'm using wooden building blocks ) to the other side, I'm turning the whole carton around so that the eggs flip position in the bator. That way the same egg is not always too close. Does that make sense?

 

[Aacre]

I use the carton with holes cut out the bottom, etc. It is flimsy, and what I do is do what you mentioned about tilting the whole incubator, but since you can't because of the shipped eggs.. Might I suggest that you use something other than legos? If you have access to some 1" PVC pipe, this works very well to sit the carton on, since it can fit nicely between the rows of eggs. Or use a skinny, long piece of styrofoam (aprroximately 1" tall). You can get creative and find numerous things to use, you just have to be sure that it's long enough to support all of one side of the carton otherwise the ends will sag and not be at the right angle. I hope this helps you a little bit.

Are you using one of the cardboard type egg cartons or the thin styrofoam ones?

 

[Fred's Hens]

I use the egg carton method in both my home made foam box and my Brinsea Octo. In both cases, the entire incubator gets titled. It works very well. I don't particularly like reaching into the incubator and do a lot of messing around or turning.

I also rest shipped eggs in a cool place for two days, prior to setting. No turning. When I do set them in the incubator, I don't start tilting the incubator back and forth until day 2. It's worked fairly well.

 

[lazy gardener]

Fred. I'm setting 28 eggs tomorrow. My incubator is a home made, forced air, 14 x 14". The eggs will be taking up all of the available space in the incubator. I was considering tilting the whole incubator as well. When you tilt, I'm assuming that you tilt from all 4 directions? How much do you raise an end when you are tilting? I'll be using cardboard cartons. I don't cut the bottoms out. But I will be also rotating the cartons and moving their position in the incubator so that all of the eggs rotate through the warmest section of the bator. When you give your shipped eggs a 2 day rest period, what is the oldest egg that you set? Have you noticed much difference between hatch success of an egg that is 7 days old vs. an egg that is 10 - 12 days old? Thanks.

 

[ThreeLittleCritters]

I use the carton with holes cut out the bottom, etc. It is flimsy, and what I do is do what you mentioned about tilting the whole incubator, but since you can't because of the shipped eggs.. Might I suggest that you use something other than legos? If you have access to some 1" PVC pipe, this works very well to sit the carton on, since it can fit nicely between the rows of eggs. Or use a skinny, long piece of styrofoam (aprroximately 1" tall). You can get creative and find numerous things to use, you just have to be sure that it's long enough to support all of one side of the carton otherwise the ends will sag and not be at the right angle. I hope this helps you a little bit.

Are you using one of the cardboard type egg cartons or the thin styrofoam ones?

We have tons of extra PVC pipe! What a great idea! I'm using styrofoam. I worried that the cardboard would get yucky with the humidity. I took them out of the carton when I tried to turn them, so it should be easy to rig up the PVC and then put them back in. Thank you!

 

[ThreeLittleCritters]

I use the egg carton method in both my home made foam box and my Brinsea Octo. In both cases, the entire incubator gets titled. It works very well. I don't particularly like reaching into the incubator and do a lot of messing around or turning.

I also rest shipped eggs in a cool place for two days, prior to setting. No turning. When I do set them in the incubator, I don't start tilting the incubator back and forth until day 2. It's worked fairly well.

I let the shipped eggs rest for 24 hours before putting them in the incubator. Some have rolling air cells, some are misshapen, and others seem fine. How long should I hold off on turning? I've read that you shouldn't wait at all or up to 10 days. Seems like everybody does it a little differently. Do you let them hatch in a carton or lay flat?

The sooner I can turn the shipped eggs, the sooner I can just tilt the entire incubator and not have to open it for turning. That automatic egg turner keeps looking better and better!

 

[ThreeLittleCritters]

This is my first time using an egg carton too, so I'm curious if anyone chimes in with a tried and true way of doing it - but, I was going to say that, as for some of the eggs being closer to the heat source, what I'm doing is, instead of moving the Legos (I'm using wooden building blocks

) to the other side, I'm turning the whole carton around so that the eggs flip position in the bator. That way the same egg is not always too close. Does that make sense?

That sounds like a good idea. This incubating thing is more complicated than I expected!

 

[Fred's Hens]

People develop their own methods. Whatever you find effective. I find that my system works for me. It's all compromises. Shipped eggs equals= sit still in cool place for two days. Set in incubator, do not turn until day 2. That's as complicated as I wish to make it.

As for incubating in the upright position, it has had better results, for me. That's key. For me. Yes, I leave them in the egg cartons for hatching. I would not want to lay down eggs just before hatch and possibly confuse the chicks who are positioning themselves for hatch.

Again, this is my method. I also like to incubate at very low humidity. Some call it the "dry method". Actually, that means 30-35% for me. I don't push the high humidity until day 19. I also don't believe in high heat the last three days. I turn the heat down to 98.5. The eggs themselves generate a lot of heat the last 6 days. This is the time I think a lot of folks may be "losing" their chicks. A bit cooler temps seems to help with many issues.

 

[lazy gardener]

WHLTX: That's what I did last spring with my test hatch of 6 eggs. This batch will be putting the bator to the real test, as I will be stuffing it to capacity. Not only did I rotate the carton, but I also turned the eggs 90 degrees at least once per day so that they were getting tipped in all directions. And, just to complicate matters a bit more, I shuffled them around in the carton as well. It seems like my bator will be too heavy to comfortably tilt, unless I have it on a sturdy piece of plywood.