The Poultry Keeper

tammy68 · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:05 pm Post subject: How do I lay my eggs?

I have just bought some eggs to put in my new incubator but I am unsure how to lay the eggs out inside. In the picture online it looks as though they are up on end, but on the one I borrowed there were little indents to lay the eggs in on their sides. Also, it has no settings, just a thermometer so do I just switch it on and then adjust it to the right temp by trial and error? If so, how long does it take to get to the right temp? It has some metal wires to make sections to put the eggs in, but also there are 2 black plastic slats and I don't know what they are for. Confused

Any ideas? Anything else I need to know? Oh, the incubator is the Octagon 20.
I have bought some Plymouth Rock Bantam eggs, some Barnevelders and some Lavender Araucana eggs from ebay. They arrived yesterday and have been resting now for 24 hours.

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3022 Location: Monmouthshire

Put water in one of the containers in the yellow bit, and put on the lid, and switch on. See the air vent is set at the half way point. I have the black dividers which fit the slots in the basket, but I believe the bars now supplied do the same thing. You fit them so that the eggs are held in place, but not tightly. Whether you have them upright or lying down is up to you, both ways work, but you can get more eggs in upright! The incubator needs to be at about 37.4C and holding steady before you put the eggs in. Once it is, remove the lid, put in the basket containing the eggs, replace the lid, and go away for a few hours. Only then check that the temperature is back to more or less where it should be.

tammy68 · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:30 pm Post subject:

Thank you Henwife, and if I put them upright, is it with the pointed ends downwards?

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

you can lay them down or stand em up ,pointy end down though,i always stand em up in my octogon 20

mojo · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:44 pm Post subject:

and once set at the correct temp the red light will blink all the time its ok.............at day18 stop turning fill water slots to top with warm water remove dividers...............pray//////and have patience........then have more patience......and then with luck on day 21/22 you will become a chick owner

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

im running my octogon at 38.3 ,as after my first hatch they were coming out on day 24/25 since i turned it up there bang on time Wink

tammy68 · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:10 pm Post subject:

Will it vary from machine to machine? I have just hatched 2 out of 3 eggs in my friend's R-com Auto and one hatched day 20 in the morning and the other at exactly day 21. The temperature showed at 37degrees all the time except when I turned the machine off for about 8 hours (by mistake)!

The thermometer is digital on both machines Confused

When the red light flashes, does it mean that the temperature showing is constant?

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

see how your first hatch goes ,if they are late then you know it might need turning up a touch,but i know after speaking to a lot of peeps that they were saying a lot have been late out this year Confused

before i got this octogon i was using a seed tray homemade incubator with a fan inside and ecostat element ,they were pippin on day 19/20 and all out by 21 , its trial and error really

tammy68 · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:18 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the advice. It seems it is not too much of a problem if the temperature is not exact so the machine appears to have settled at 37.6 degrees so I will leave it at that I think. I was thinking it have to be precisely 37 degrees in order that they hatch. Surprised

I suppose you get used to your own machine. Laughing

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

positioning is very important as well ,a few years ago i put my incubtor in our garage Sad

bad idea ,too much up and down temps in there ,there better in a room that stays constant