Egg hatching help !!!

goodolsurvival1

In the Brooder
Jan 26, 2015
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Ok so we had a hen go broody and was glad as we wanted to hatch some eggs we left 13 under her...

Candling throughout went well, she didnt start fully staying on the nest till about a week after they started collectiong up...

So today i checked figuring it has to be getting close... i thought id try the warm water test either i didnt do it right or it isnt 100% cuz an egg that sank was a chirping after that i stopped and just started over candling.

That one for sure is good lol

But non of the others make sounds i did some light tapping of my nail nothing like the one. They still have air pockets and what seems like movement. There was one where i didnt see bloodlines or anything so figured dud well it wasnt and feel really bad but i think it was kind of small for the progress of the eggs anyways.

So we have 12 now and one first sure is good lol... but is it normal where some youll hear the chirping and others not really but still be okay as long as they have air pockets and what looks like blood veins? (Need to invest in a stronger flashlight but the led one does okay)

Non smell other then the smell of the broody hen there is no spoil smell.

I am estimating from the time she fully stay on them more its about day 20-22

Should i just be patient and wait or once the one that chirp hatches will she only wait a few days for the others and then just leave them even tho they are alive and the one chirper is just an early bird?

We have buff orps and these are their eggs since when we got pullets a roo ended up slipping into the mix.

Or is it normal to have a large % not make it the first try?

TIA
 
Let them be, messing with them too much can damage and kill them, be patient, I usually leave mine under the hen up to a week later than hatch date just to make sure, and you probably shouldn't be putting them in the water to check them. Good luck.
 
Ya i didnt think so either about the water but it was recommended by a local person who also told me i had to get the bad out or if they exploded a mess and it could harm progress of other eggs

It didnt make sense to me about either recommendation but with this being our first time just wanted to make sure she wouldnt stop being broody and we would have to finish in incubator (which im a newbie with that too so really didnt want to do that till we got quail eggs next yr)

All i had been doing till that person kept pushing to do those things was lifting her wing a bit to check for any chicks cuz i thought i kept hearing chirping and we just wanted to make sure when they did we at least knew so we could keep an eye on the chicks and hen so if the roo and other 4 hens didnt react well we could separate off momma hen and the chicks in our run/coop so they couldnt be bothered but still around the flock
 
Well you are learning somethings, they have to sit there a little longer than the 21 days before they go bad, you do have time, although any that don't hatch I handle like they are grenades.

I have candled eggs at the end and couldn't tell anything, I do know they shouldn't be moved around at the end because the chicks position themselves for hatching. Most of my hen incubated eggs hatch on day 20.

I have been guilty of being to anxious as well. But I like not having to do the work, and the chickens seem to enjoy it. If you are seeing blood vessels in the eggs when candled than your eggs are pretty early yet, they go dark at the end.
 
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I wont mess any more trust me lol wasnt really messing before except what would have been day 10 to make sure she didnt have duds underher since she didnt stay at them right away but all were good.

Im glad you said go dark cuz they all have ... but kept telling myself that looks like a blood vein cuz i was misinformed that you would always see them... but when i looked what i saw was the air pocket and this darkmass that in my common sense lol made me thing chick cuz they are formed now and the veins wouldnt be seen since the chick is pushed tight against everything due to their growing size
 
You'll have to let me know what happens, you must have quite the character giving you advise, obviously they had an egg explode on them at some point, they must of left the eggs a long time. Good luck and lots of chicks.
 
You'll have to let me know what happens, you must have quite the character giving you advise, obviously they had an egg explode on them at some point, they must of left the eggs a long time. Good luck and lots of chicks.


Ill keep u updated... we have our fingers crossed for 50% at least success rate but even one chick wed be happy and then come close to summer next yr try for some more and then we may get rid of the mood swinging rooster whos spurs are thabkfully still rounded as hes caught me a few times on the leg, unless i chase him down and carry him around while i work then hes good for like 3 days lol.
 
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Update: 3 successful chicks the other eggs had chicks but were bad and she rolled out some. We had to separate our roo cuz he attacked one and i had to bring them all 3in till then and thankfully the one near death has healed nicely and surprised me by surviving and mom took right to them when i took them back out to her (she kept coming to me and talking till i did and sat on my leg to be petted for ever and shes one of the skittish ones)

We did the feather check when we had them in like they do at the hatchery and if that has any accuracy to it we may have 2hens and a roo... but we will see cuz now i dont know lol when we got our flock from RKO from day 1 u could tell we got a roo in a pullet run, but im not getting that feeling out of these 3 with combs all the same , the one getting everything pretty quickly (like our hens did as chicks) the one that was hurt took a little bit but has longer wings then the third who before we were thinking was a roo cuz of the feather test but now im on the fence lol
 

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