iit might affect chick development to the same degree that a setting hen would when she is removed from the nest daily
for water, feed, etc. Since hatching rates for setting hens are reportedly higher than for an incubator, might not the
daily "cool-down" be beneficial?
Answer: Using my spreadsheet, I normally only need to weight for the first 4 or 5 days. After that, I would know more or
less where the egg is heading and I will do the necessary and leave it alone for the duration. I have weighed daily
before, during the initial stages, and even now, for valuable eggs that are problematic calling for frequent intervention on the weight loss. I have not noticed any adverse effect, either way. I have left eggs outside daily for close to 30mins each day
with no adverse effect. I have noticed that ducks and geese eggs do seem to hatch better with a daily "cool-down" of about 20mins. Obviously, the room temperature is important and the room temperature in my incubator room is 30C, day and night.
Q2: What if I have some eggs that are losing too much weight and some that are not losing enough, and I only have one incubator?
Ans: In situations like this, I normally try to have as many eggs as possible within the range of -10.5% to -15%. Since
eggs can handle too much weight loss better than too little, I may even take a risk and have a few going to -18% in order
to push those that are not losing enough up to cross -10% if possible.
Q3: Let's say I have 10 eggs doing well, and only one egg that's losing too much weight. What should I do?
Ans: One way I have found to drastically reduce weight loss is to tape the egg with cellopane tape. Choose one that's not
too sticky as you would not want it to crack the egg shell when you lift it off. I use a tape that's about 1cm in width and tape
the egg in strips from the narrow end up to about 3/4 of the egg. I avoid taping up the air cell. I leave a small space
between each tape to enable the egg to breathe. I normally start with one strip and then increase the strips as needed.
If the egg requires you to practically tape up the entire surface, chances are the egg will not hatch. I always remove
all tape at the end of Day 16 no matter what the progress is to allow the embryo to have more oxygen as it nears pipping.
Q4 : What about the reverse situation? What if an egg is not losing enough weight?
Ans: This is a tricky one. Duck and goose eggs will increase weight loss by daily dipping in incubating-temperature water.
I normally dip for about 30secs though I have dipped for as long as 60secs with no harmful effect. I start dipping from
Day 10 onwards. A useful side-effect of dipping is that near internal-pipping day, live embryos will kick and cause the
egg to bop in water. I have also tried spraying water on the eggs from Day 10 onwards. It saves time but does not seem to produce as good a result as dipping. A drastic method I have used to reduce weight is to use a handicraft drill to drill a hole through the egg shell but without puncturing the membrane. I may drill 2 or 3 such holes. Sometimes the membrane is punctured slightly accidentally but on the main, I have managed through practice not to puncture the membrane. Start
with one hole and see the progress. Too much sudden weight-loss will kill the embryo and you have to ensure the
weight-loss is gradual. This means intervening early by detemining that the particular egg needs drastic intervention and
then drilling one hole first. Choose a handdrill that has very little vibration. The vibration may kill the embryo. I have much success with the Bosch MGG 200 Micro.
Q5. If I tape up the egg, do I have to account for the weight of the tape?
Ans: Yes, weight the egg before, then tape and weigh again after. The difference is the weight of the tape that you subtract from, from the result of each subsequent weighing.