Questions on hatching Calls

[Gr8dayncindy]

I have some calls in the incubator. I have been reading a ton of info getting ready for the hatch to be as successful as possible. I received 18 eggs. After 7 days all have veins except 2, which I removed. They are in an automatic turner. I have a hatching incubator with no turner ready for them on day 25 for lock down. My question is I see people talking about lock down, but then talking about candling. should you candle if you should be opening the incubator, or is that only if one is externally pipped?
lock down will be Aug 25, so I am getting ready early, LOL.

Thank you.

 

[Amiga]

Thank you for asking early!

I often refer people to @Lacrystol - she has two write-ups on hatching, and they are mentioned in her signature Method 1, and Method 2.

She is not the only Call hatcher, though. There is a thread Call Ducks Finally Hatched, where you might want to check in.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I have some calls in the incubator. I have been reading a ton of info getting ready for the hatch to be as successful as possible. I received 18 eggs. After 7 days all have veins except 2, which I removed. They are in an automatic turner. I have a hatching incubator with no turner ready for them on day 25 for lock down. My question is I see people talking about lock down, but then talking about candling. should you candle if you should be opening the incubator, or is that only if one is externally pipped?
lock down will be Aug 25, so I am getting ready early, LOL.

Thank you.

Can you tell us what kind of incubator you're using and how you control the temp and RH in it? I candle mine before I put them in lockdown, which should be on day 23, not day 25. I think you meant August 25 instead of day 25. The reason for doing that is you want to make sure you're not putting an egg in lockdown that contains an embryo that didn't make it.

Once they're in the hatching incubator, most people try not to open the incubator if they're not doing staggered hatches. My hatches are always staggered, so my hatching incubator gets opened almost every day. Eggs being pipped doesn't mean they need to be candled. I do candle mine if they pip then I see no signs of activity for 12-16 hours. (That means I don't set an alarm to get up at night to check them at the 12 hour mark.) I also candle whatever unpipped eggs are in the hatching incubator at any time I open it. That's just because I want to monitor how things are going like checking for internal pips.

 

[Gr8dayncindy]

Yes, lockdown on day 23. too many dates.

 

[Gr8dayncindy]

I have read the post "call ducks finally hatching", I do think I saw the other two as well, but I am going to go make sure. I have a forced air incubator. It stays about 99.5-99.9, and the humidity stays about 47%. I'm so excited!

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I have read the post "call ducks finally hatching", I do think I saw the other two as well, but I am going to go make sure. I have a forced air incubator. It stays about 99.5-99.9, and the humidity stays about 47%. I'm so excited!

I'm excited for you! I keep my RH a little lower than that, but 47% might work fine for you. You want to candle them every week, or maybe even every 4-5 days since you haven't done this before, to make sure they're losing enough weight. You can adjust your humidity if they aren't. Do you have a pic that shows you how to tell what size the air cell should be at various stages?

 

[Gr8dayncindy]

I haven't seen pictures of the air cell at different stages. That would be great!

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I haven't seen pictures of the air cell at different stages. That would be great!

Here's one Orca posted in a different thread a while back.

 

[Gr8dayncindy]

OK so, I have two eggs I need advice on. They seem to be living. This one you can see the beak and it is opening and closing. Lock down is tomorrow, but he seems ahead! Should I move him over now?

 

[Gr8dayncindy]

This one has a large air pocket. How should I treat it?