Incubation of Hatching Eggs

Handling Your Hatching Eggs

• When your eggs arrive, be sure to handle them with exceptional care. It is very important to allow the eggs to settle for 12 to 24 hours before placing in the incubator. If you are setting eggs that are not shipped, try and obtain the freshest possible quality fertile eggs available.

• If you are collecting eggs from your own flock, be sure to keep the nesting boxes as clean and dry as possible. Collect the eggs as soon as possible each day as well as several times each day so that your eggs will not become too cold or too hot..  

• Avoid eggs with thin or cracked shells as these eggs experience difficulty with maintaining the proper moisture need to hatch, and can allow the penetration of bacteria and other disease causing organisms.

• DO NOT WASH your eggs unless absolutely necessary. If your have to wash your eggs make sure the cloth is only damp and the water is warmer that the egg itself. Using warmer water allows the egg to sweat the dirt out of the pores where if you use a colder cloth you will seal the dirt in the pores. Try just using a dry cloth if possible. Never Soak your eggs in water as the temperature difference can allow bacteria to enter the egg through the pores..  

• Do not incubate sanded eggs.

• Make sure your eggs are completely dry before storing them. Try to store them in a paper egg carton, or egg flats. Never store eggs in a styrofoam egg carton as this can cause the eggs to sweat and allow bacteria to enter. Store the eggs with the pointy end down and the blunt end up and slant them at a 35 to 45 degree angle. Propping one end of your egg carton up with a small piece of a 2X4 wood board, and then switching the board to the other end each day works just fine.
• The eggs should be stored between 55 and 60 degrees F and a humidity of 70 to 75 percent is optimal. Never allow the humidity to drop lower than 40 percent as this will dry out your egg and result in a poor hatch rate.
• Do not store any collected eggs for longer than 14 days as hatching declines significantly. It is best to set eggs that were laid less than 7 days ago. After 3 weeks of storage, your hatch rate drops to almost 0. 
• Be sure to allow eggs to warm to between 70-80 degrees before placing in the incubator.

Incubation Of Your Eggs

• Several things regarding incubation require close supervision; temperature, humidity, turning and ventilation. Temperature is the most important, with humidity being next in line. The optimal temperature for most eggs is 100°F with a relative humidity of 60 percent. Oxygen concentrations should be above 20% and air movement past the egg should be 12 cubit feet per minute.
•  There are 2 types of incubators most commonly used. Out of the two listed below, the easiest to maintain is the forced-air incubators. Still-air incubators are difficult to maintain temperature and humidity.
• Incubators that have built in fans to circulate the air or more commonly referred to as forced –air incubators.
• Incubators that have no fan built in more commonly known as still-air incubators.
• Incubators with the built in fan (forced-air) should be set at a temperature of 99 to 99.5°F with a relative humidity of 60 to 65%
• Incubators without the fan (still-air) should maintain a temperature of 100 to 101°F with a relative humidity of 60 – 65%
• Both incubators should increase relative humidity during the last 3 days of incubation or hatch time.

Setting Up Your Incubator

Locate a place for your incubator where it will remain undisturbed for a month or more depending on the type of eggs you are setting. It should be located in a draft free location out of sunlight, and where the room temperature will remain relatively constant.

• Allow 12 to 24 hours to adjust the temperature to hold a constant 101°F for still air incubators and 99°- 100°F for forced air incubators. It is best to take the temperature readings at egg height, away from the heat source. It is also recommended that 2 thermometers be used to verify temperature. Variance of  1° over a 21 day period can seriously impair embryo growth.
• Once eggs are set in the incubator, temperature should be maintained between 99° and 100°F. It can vary from 97° to 102°F. Hatch rate will drop significantly if temperature is allowed to drop below 96°F or rises above 103°F for a number of hours. Allowing the eggs to become overheated is more critical than allowing the eggs to cool. If the incubator is allowed to run at 105°F for 15 minutes, there will serious consequences to the embryo. However allowing the temperature to drop to 95° for 3 or 4 hours will only result in a late hatch or slow the chick’s metabolic rate.
• Once the eggs are set, the temperature in the incubator will drop. Do not adjust the temperature up as you could end up cooking your eggs. Allow the eggs to warm for the first 7 to 9 hours to the proper temperature of 99°-100°F.

Power outages and how to deal with them

• Should you experience a power outage, do not panic. the hatch can be saved if the outage does not last too long. You will need to keep the eggs as warm as possible and there are a few ways you can do this.
• Cover the incubator with a blanket or quilt to hold in the heat.
• If the power continues to be off for a prolonged period of time, you can get a large box to place over the incubator. Inside the box place a couple of lit candles to keep the temperature above 90°F. Be sure they are not too close to the incubator or box and there is at least 1 foot clearance from the top of the candles to the top of the box. The best ones are the ones in a glass jar or votive holder.
• Eggs have been known to hatch after surviving temperatures of  below 90°F for 18 hours.
• After the outage, continue incubation, and candle your eggs 4 to 6 days later. If after 6 days you do not see any signs of development or life, you should then scrap the hatch. Generally a power outage can cause late hatchings by a few days and it is possible to loose 40 to 50% of the hatch.

Turning Your Eggs

• Eggs set in an incubator without an automatic turner should be turned at least 3 times a day by ½ turn. The best way to keep track of this is to take a regular pencil mark an X on one side and an O on the opposite side. When you set your eggs in the incubator you should have all X’s up. Then on your scheduled turn you will want to have all of the O’s up, repeating this so the eggs are turned 3 times daily. This keeps the embryo from settling in the egg and allowing it to attach to one side or the other of the shell’s membrane.
• Be sure to stop turning the eggs 3 days prior to hatch, and make sure your humidity is increased and maintained to the desired level for the eggs you are hatching.

Breed

Relative Humidity for Hatching

After incubation regardless of the type of incubator you use, you will need to clean and sanitize it thoroughly. After each hatch remove and wash all hatching trays, water pans screens. Remove any shells and other debris and wash well in soapy water. Clean the inside floor of the incubator with soapy water. Wipe down cleaned surfaces with a damp cloth soaked in quaternary ammonium, Clorox or other disinfectant solution.

Happy Hatching