They say that you want to bother your eggs the least amount during the first 10 days. This means only open the incubator if absolutely necessary. Only if your water is running low, if you turn by hand, or some other problem. Some people even make vinyl tubes through a drilled hole to pour water into their bowl, so you don't have to open the bator. But I have not found it to be that big of a deal if you are quick and try not to let all the heat out.
Turning by hand- If you turn the eggs by hand, then you need to take a pencil and mark an O on one side and an X on the other. (Hopefully you did this before putting the eggs into the bator.) You need to turn them 3 times a day (during daylight hours). I tried to turn when I got up , around lunch time and again before bed. You turn it from the O to the X. So that way you can remember which ones you have turned and make sure you have turned it a half of a revolution.
Candling-Then on day 10 (and day 15 as well) you can carefully candle your eggs if you like. This means you hold it up to a bright light to see through the shell and see if your embryos are growing. Here is a good example of how to make a home made candler and what you are looking for when candling;
http://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-candling.htmland another;
http://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-candling-eggs.htmlIt's amazing, isn't it??!! Just don't candle them every day or the cooling temps and over handling can cause low hatch rates.
Temp and humidity-keep your temp at 99.5 and humidity at 30-50% during days 2-18. Make sure to check your temps and humidity each day to make sure they are staying in the correct range. Make adjustments as necessary.
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