Staggering a hatch

[houseodessey]

My neighbor gave me a dozen fertile eggs to hatch 2 Sundays ago. I started incubating them that day. He brought me another dozen this Monday. I've never had eggs set in the incubator at different times. Will putting the new eggs in tomorrow be a problem?

I didn't put them in Monday, thinking that the humidity during the hatch next Sunday would have drowned the new batch of chicks, as they'd be more developed. Is it safe to have eggs 1 week into development in during the other eggs hatch week? I hope this makes sense.

[cff]

I use a homemade "Sportsman" type incubator that has three levels of egg trays and a hatching tray. Most of the time I have eggs hatching weekly, staggering some by days or weeks without any problem.

I don't raise the humidity during the hatch - just try to keep it up high enough through out the hatch to keep chicks from getting stuck in the eggs.

[houseodessey]

Hmm. I just have a crappy hovabator but I stuck the other eggs in today after seeing your post. I'll just mist the ones hatching if they seem like they're having trouble. Thanks for the advice!

[bluelacedredhead]

House,
All I ever used was a Hovabator. 3 different models to be eggsact.
For the small hobbyist, they do a decent job.

CFF is correct. No sense in wasting fertile eggs and staggered hatches for the most part go well. For years, I did small settings of say 6 to 12 eggs a week, and incubated them in the same bator.

But I did move them to a different incubator on Day 18 for the last 3 days to hatch. Not only because of the humidity, but also, are you hand turning or are you using an automatic turner? What will you do when it's time to stop turning eggs? And when chicks start hatching the bator gets dirty quickly, gets baked on pretty quickly in that kind of heat. Not to mention that the hatchlings will climb all over the other eggs and bash them around pretty badly.

Can you get your hands on a used unit to use just as a hatcher? That's what I did initially when I started hatching every week. Bought a used hovabator for $25. No turner, just basic bator.
Just a suggestion.

[houseodessey]

And a good suggestion, at that. I am the automatic turner and the eggs are in separate containers so that I know which are which.

I was concerned about the mess/stench of not being able to thoroughly clean the bator for 2 weeks, while waiting for the second set of chicks.

I think my neighbor has an incubator that she uses in her science class sometimes. I'll ask to borrow it for the first hatch.

[bluelacedredhead]

Good Neighbour