Stack hatching

Sharing my experience with stack hatching where you stack chicken eggs on top of each other in an incubator.
Helpful videos to watch next:
Dry hatching: • What is dry hatching c...
Shoelace method: • The shoelace incubatio...
Incubation: • Incubating chicken egg...
Incubator cleaning tutorial: • Incubator 101
Hatching eggs tips and tricks playlist: • I DOUBLED my hens wint...
Chick Care video compilation: • How to care for chicks...
If you would like to use the incubator I use, the link is down below. This is an affiliate link meaning you don't pay a cent more but if you purchase the product through this link, I will receive a small commission.
Manna Pro Harris Farms Nurture Right Incubator | Egg Incubator for Hatching Chicks | 360 Degree View
Link : amzn.to/36nGHNw
Nest Echo flashlight for candling eggs. I purchased this in May of 2021 but its no longer available. I'll attach a link to a similiar style product, but I have not tried this exact model. amzn.to/3tzGgIC
Just One More Story Farm LLC is a participant in the Amazon Series LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, or link to any products or services from this website.
Video and sound affects made in iMovie
Music by ShiftyPop
Lyrics written by my husband and I
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[@mama-cant-dance]

I've moved chicks out of the incubator in between hatchings with no problem at all. You just have to go quickly and have help. Good luck with this. I would be way too nervous to try so many at one time but it was neat watching how you did it.

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you for the advice and well wishes. I really appreciate it. I struggle with picking the best time to move chicks and doing so quickly. I am always worried a tiny chick will get hurt if I move too fast but then when chicks get vacuum sealed, I feel so sad for them. I am glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and reaching out.

[@TristonSchmitt-tg8tg]

Love your videos

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you so much for your kind words 😀 I just set up my three incubators for a incubation challenge. Dry hatching vs shoelace incubation method vs NR360 incubation directions. I want to see which method works best doing it at the same time. Hopefully, I will have results to share with you in a few weeks when the chicks hatch 🐣

[@debbielanier2973]

GOOD EXPERIMENT AND AM SAD YOUR BABIES PASSED. IT DOES HAPPEN. BE BLESSED!

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate it.

[@debbielanier2973]

GOOD EXPERIMENT THAT I'VE NEVER SEEN DONE BEFORE. TO TIME CONSUMING FOR MY LIFESTYLE THOUGH! LOVE MY INCUBATOR AS IT HOLDS A LARGE NUMBER OF EGGS AND ALSO ROTATES THEM AS NEEDED. EASY TO USE AND GOOD INCUBATION SUCCESS. THANKS FOR THE INORMATION THOUGH. VERY DEDICATED! :)

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you for your kinds words. Automatic turning incubators are so helpful. I love the NR360. I wish they would make a bigger one to hold more eggs. Until then, I have three of them to fill up to keep up with chick orders. It sounds like you got yourself a really good incubator. Thanks for watching!

[@MianInventions]

Amazing 😻😅

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you for your kind words 😀

[@OrganicMommaGA]

My only experience hatching eggs started with 19 fertile eggs, but only 7 hatched even though we followed all the instructions. Same type of incubator. We think our bad results were a combination of factors, including the lack of health of the flock they came from(not our girls), but also the inability of the incubator to maintain the temperature and humidity without constant checking and adjusting. I would think the stacking method COULD be favorable in that the temperature/humidity could perhaps remain more consistent throughout the process, BUT I would think the lack of rotation of the eggs (which mimics what the hens typically would do) and the lack of space during hatching would be a negative. I'm glad you shared your experience and am sorry you had losses of hatchlings. A tip we used for this incubator was we got some digital temperature/humidity meters from Amazon and kept a couple in the incubator at egg level. The incubator would read 99.5 and the temperature gauge would read 97.5 near the outer edge and 99.0 at the center (at egg level). The humidity reading also showed differences, so it might help your next hatch in that incubator to have another way to check these things, just to double-check your readings.

[@PattyMoore-vd1ug]

The eggs need rotation naturally hatched from the hen they are turned daily that stacking method is not good

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you @OrganicMommaGA and @PattyMoore-vd1ug for reaching out. I agree with both of you that hatching eggs should be rotated. It is so hard losing chicks. I am sorry to hear about your hatching difficulties @OrganicMommaGA. I hope your next hatch goes much better. I just got another digital temperature/humidity meter to help with hatches too. Happy hatching.

[@erikadehoff]

Admin of the group here - This method needs diales into your incubator & location so doing this without checking your incubator temp with a calibrated instrument would cause temperature issues. Neurological issues are definitely from not having the right temperature or humidity environment. Its not from not turning. We have successfully hatches with the right environments in the incubator in the group. We would have gladly assisted you with this hatch have we known. We are active in the group! Edit to add: Now watching this, please don't candle them and sit them outside of the incubator. Thats a lot of time & another surface to suck temperature out of them. Could be another variable of why they had neuro issues

[@erikadehoff]

And to add, its not good to sit an incubator on a heating pad. 😢 Thats going to cause hot spots & unsteady temperatures.

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you so much for reaching out. I really appreciate it. I appreciate all your advice. This was my first time trying this method and I was really excited to try a new incubation method. I have successfully hatched with dry hatching, the shoelace incubation method, the NR360 incubation directions as well as with using heating pads and seedling warming mats under my nurture right 360 incubator. My hatching eggs have hatched well both at 30 percent dry hatching humidity rates as well as 50 percent humidity rates in my NR360 incubators during the first 18 days. I do check my temperature and humidity with secondary thermometers and hygrometers to be sure the incubator readings are accurate. I use a brooder thermometer, a weber grill thermometer, an Ethmeas thermometer/hygrometer, a Kizen infrared laserpro thermometer gun and I just recently got a Govee thermoter/hygrometer. I do monitor the temperatures of my heating pads and seedling warming mats as well. While there are slight temperature fluctuations with my heating and warming pads, it is only a degree or two and does not appear to affect my incubator temperature. They work well together. I have had 100 percent hatch rates using the NR360 and a heating pad. That being said, not all heating pad brands are created equal so there may be some out there that have greater temperature fluctuations. I was so curious about the stack hatching method and I joined your group, Stacker Hatchers on Facebook. I downloaded the file with instructions on stack hatching. I did my best to follow the instructions. I reached out to your group with pictures of my hatching eggs air cell development asking if they were on track. This incubation was in late July 2023. Your Facebook group appears to be down currently so I cannot get you the exact date of my post. Could you make a video showing how you candle all your stacked eggs in the NR360 and switch their position in the stack halfway through incubation, please, without removing them from the incubator? In the instructions your group provided it says “When candling on day 10 (or 14 for newbies) You will put day 4 & 5s on the bottom while 1s & 2s stay on top to hatch first.” I don’t know how to switch their positions without removing them. I was so worried about an egg avalanche with them stacked on top of each other and I did have an egg roll off the top in the process. I don’t think it’s ideal to take them out of the incubator for candling and repositioning but I certainly feel I did it faster than my broody hens when they leave their hatching eggs to eat, drink, defecate and stretch their legs. However, I should have focused on doing it quicker and talked to the camera after completing the task. The video I saw on this was the Stacker Hatcher video on KZbin and she has her eggs on the counter outside the incubator as she stacked them. I genuinely want to figure out why this hatch rate was so poor. The only differences I see between this hatch and other hatches I have done successfully is that the eggs are stacked, they are not turned, I had to remove the eggs from the incubator to switch their position, there was no lockdown and the chicks hatched on different days. Thank you for taking the time to help me with this. I look forward to hearing back from you. Have a great day.

[@tatianapriebe5042]

1​@@justonemorestoryfarm

[@zahirahmed1197]

Help post 📯 I am a new breeder and I have some peacocks. I am looking for a good quality incubator for Peacock eggs. My question Is this incubator is good enough for peacock hatching 🐣??

[@Stackhatching]

I also created a stacking hatching page here on KZbin a few years ago. So I’ll be posting more of the pictures and videos to my stack hatching page here

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

That’s great to hear. I just subscribed and look forward to seeing your pictures and videos. The more I can learn, the better. Thank you so much.

[@themainechickentender541]

Great video! Sadly I was not able to read what you wrote at the end because video pop ups were in the way. What was written there? I prefer the dry hatch method. Thank you for dedicating time to do this. I am sorry you lost so many chicks.

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

+@themainechickentender541 Thank you for reaching out and letting me know that pop ups are in the way. I will see if I can change that. I wrote at the end of the video: SADLY, THE FOUR CHICKS DID NOT SURVIVE AND NO OTHER CHICKS HATCHED. I WAS DEVASTATED. I DIDN'T WANT TO EDIT AND SHARE THIS SAD VIDEO. HATCHING WITH 22 EGGS OR LESS IN THIS INCUBATOR WORKS BEST ALONG WITH USING THE AUTOMATIC TURNER FOR THE FIRST 18 DAYS. TRY THE DRY HATCH METHOD, SHOELACE METHOD OR THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF HATCHING. I HAVE VIDEOS ON EACH. Thank you for your kind words. I do like the dry hatching method as well. Have a great day 😃

[@KittyMama61]

As hard as it is emotionally, I found that those chicks that I have to help tend to do a lot worse, and mostly don't make it.

[@bobbybrown840]

💙

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thanks for watching 😃

[@richl2723]

Besides a head ache, what did you accomplish by putting eggs in the incubator at different intervals?

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thanks for reaching out. I certainly learned a valuable lesson not to stack eggs and also not to add them in at different times. Thanks for watching 😃

[@richl2723]

@justonemorestoryfarm Thanks for the reply. I'm still curious as to what your motive was. I stack them as well as put them in at different intervals, at weekly increments. However, I have a commercial incubator and stack them per container, per shelf. I set and forget.

[@66bigbuds]

35% humidity seems awfully low. My skin cracks at 40% here in the winter

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you for reaching out. It is low. My best hatch rates have been with the humidity fluctuating around fifty percent for the first 18 days using the NR360 hatching instructions for hatching. Adding distilled water 3 to 4 times daily to the incubator to keep the humidity up definitely causes a hit of up and down fluctuations with the humidity. However, while dry hatching, my incubators humidity stayed right around 30 percent for the first 18 days and I had 15 chicks out of 22 hatching eggs hatch. I made a video documenting that hatch. I like trying different incubation methods. I tried the shoelace incubation method and also had 15 chicks hatch out of 22 hatching eggs. In that experiment the incubator humidity stayed stable around 50 percent for the first 18 days. The shoelace method was a really cool incubating experience and I made sure to share it on KZbin as well. I am going to continue trying different incubation methods to find the best fit for my location. Have a great day!

[@Asd-cn3rw]

👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you so much 😃

[@LGRSmokez]

I thought U had to turn them ?

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

+@LGRSmokez For the stack hatching method, the instructions provided by the stacker hatchers group on Facebook said you do not have to turn the eggs. Personally, I have always used my automatic turner for the first 18 days of incubation and have had significantly better hatch rates than I did doing stack hatching. I will continue turning my eggs for future hatches. Thanks for watching 😃

[@DragonWinze]

@@justonemorestoryfarmI have seen/heard of stack hatching with the autoturner active. Maybe you would have had reasonable results still with it, but where you lay the eggs the same direction as the lower levels?

[@T.Y.S.-od6rr]

When the head is curling forward, it is a neurological problem.

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you for reaching out. Sadly, the chick did seem to have a neurological problem and did not respond to the electrolytes or poultry nutri-drench.

[@T.Y.S.-od6rr]

@@justonemorestoryfarm Right. I had a chick that had the head curling forward. It was terrible. The head flipping backwards is the vitamin deficiency.

[@Stackhatching]

At least you gave credit where credit is due. But we don’t do this. All this is doing is setting people up for failure. If you want the specs which we created 16 years ago, please follow my group

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Hi Shannon. Thanks for reaching out. I came across the Stacker Hatchers group on Facebook and was so excited to join and try out your incubation method. I enjoy trying different incubation methods and I share all my incubation results on KZbin whether they are successes or fails. Can you elaborate when you say “But we don’t do this?” I wasn’t trying to set up anyone for failure, just simply sharing my experience. I did join your Stacker Hatchers group, downloaded the file with the instructions and attempted to follow it to the best of my ability. I did reach out to your group in a post where I showed pictures of my hatching egg’s air sac development to make sure they were on track. I believe that post was in late July 2023 but I can’t verify that because when I try to go to your Facebook group page, it says “The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.” If your able to check on that post and see what you think of my hatching eggs air sac development, I would appreciate it. In the instructions that came from your group, it says “Once you know your sweet spot, humidity will then be stable days 0-21.” For this hatch, my humidity was around 35 percent for the first 18 days which I have done before in this incubator as a dry hatch and had 15 chicks hatch out of 22 hatch with the dry hatch experiment. I’ve also had a 100 percent hatch rate with a wet hatch with my humidity around 50 percent for the first 18 days. The shoelace incubation method gave me 15 chicks out of 22 eggs and the humidity was around 50 percent for the first 18 days. With the stack hatch method I had 14 chicks hatch out of 40 hatching eggs and only ten chicks survived. I’m not sure the best way to find the “sweet spot” with your incubation method but I am genuinely curious on how to do so. I do verify my incubators temperature and humidity as well to secondary thermometers and hygrometers. Based on the air sac diagrams the file provided, I thought my air cells were tracking but I am new to tracking air cells which is why I reached out to your group. I think it is wonderful that you came up with a new way of incubating and that it works for you. It is really awesome that you are sharing your method and teaching people about incubation. It can be such a rewarding experience. The results of this hatch absolutely devastated me. If you could share advise on what I could have done differently, I would greatly appreciate it. Hatching chicks is such an amazing experience and I continue to share what I learn about incubating in the hopes to help others have an amazing hatching experience. I just don’t want to see anyone else have such a devastating hatching experience so my hope is that sharing my failed hatch will help others to learn more about incubation to avoid incubation issues and get a great hatch rate. I hope you have a great day and I look forward to hearing back from you.

[@debbielanier2973]

AS YOU ARE EXPLAINING ALL OF THIS YOU ARE LEAVING THE INCUBATOR OPEN. NOT THINKING THIS IS GOOD FOR THE EMBRYO'S AT ALL. JUST MY OPINION.

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you for reaching out. You are so right. I should be more mindful of closing the incubator when I am talking as it does affect the temperature and humidity. I’ll keep that in mind when I film my next hatching experiment. Have a great day.

[@dariuszdata1431]

Mother hen leaves the eggs too. It's no big deal especially in middle of summer

[@robertjordan2313]

Now you know that there are a lot of dumb people out there, on the interweb, that should not be followed.

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

It is usually fun trying different incubation methods. The shoelace incubation method is great. Dry hatching was cool. Stack hatching…. I had high hopes and it was a total fail. Thanks for reaching out. Have a great day! 😄

[@westfalltribe7874]

Interesting idea but i would'nt risk this... people are in a rush for more baby chicks, they should do it as the incubator instructs, stop turning at day 18 etc... the mother hen turns the eggs every couple hours so this isn't natural, i wouldnt listen to that group just do it the way it should be, it's already a non natural process, we should'nt make it even less un natural lol

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you for reaching out. I agree. My best hatch rates have been following my incubator’s directions and having the eggs turned by the automatic turner for the first 18 days. I learned the lesson the hard way but now I know to stick to what works for incubation. Thanks for watching.

[@westfalltribe7874]

@justonemorestoryfarm Awww we live and learn! Even just the incubator is hard, I just lost one out of my 12 that drown somehow after it pipped :( It happens I guess.. the best way is under mama hen but I've had mama's abandon them! Only the strong survive I guess lol

[@filthyanimal]

I'm sorry your hatch rate was so bad and complicated! I've seen people do the stacking with the large square styrofoam incubators, but they tend to still set something under each side of the incubator to "turn" the eggs all together, switching it to the other side multiple times a day until normal lockdown time. I've not tried it personally but I feel like the turning is the crucial step to success so far from what I've seen with the hatching I've done this year (I'm still new to it though)... I have a 360 and love it but I think it's just not a great choice for a stack hatch, since there's no good way to tilt the eggs without having them roll everywhere... It's such a good incubator otherwise! We have a couple other second-hand incubators we acquired and have been testing; one has the rollers that roll the eggs in place but they don't always roll well and bump into each other eventually, which makes us have to open it a bunch to correct them. The first group we tried to mostly leave alone and the hatch was a mess with lots of assists and losses, and lots of chicks turned the wrong way and not facing their air cell, probably because of the poor turning. :( It's still a good incubator for hatching out at least! You can have eggs rolling reliably in the 360 and scoot them to the other for their lockdown just fine, from my experience so far (which is limited, so maybe don't take my word for it!). I feel like a lot of channels may not show their failed hatches as much so definitely look around and watch lots of other folks' hatches to get a way better idea of what "tricks" work and don't work, what types of incubators they use, etc... You're way ahead of a lot of people with the Nutridrench! Hope your next hatches go way better. At least you care about the little ones.

[@justonemorestoryfarm]

Thank you so much. I truly appreciate your kind words and you sharing your experiences. I agree with you that turning the eggs properly makes a difference. I wish more people would share their fails so we can all learn together. I understand, though, because it’s not easy to share that. I do like the NR360 and how it turns egg individually so they don’t bump into one another. It is small though. Maybe they will come up with a larger version someday. I have three of them now so I can keep up with chick orders. I love that you are testing out different incubators. Thank you for your well wishes for my future hatches. My next hatch is in four days and I can hardly wait. This hatch is hatch-ability rate of eggs that were exposed to winter elements in a nest for an unknown amount of time. I hope you have great success with your future hatches as well. Happy hatching 🐣