***JULY HATCH-A-LONG come join in*** - Page 5

I'm not saying I did, but I may or may not have sneaked a look at a couple of my peacock eggs while I was misting the duck eggs and adding water to the troughs below in the incubator today.... and I'm not saying that I did, but I may have seen a promising darkened-egg sight in the first egg I candled. I don't know if I can contain myself for a whole 'nother week to candle the rest, the suspense is KILLING me. I know how I enjoy waiting until they're to where I can tell for sure but man.... I don't think I'll make it this time. I might implode from excitement.

I was sitting in the closet talking to my June polish hatch (they talk back, it's so cute) and when we all got quiet to eat and drink at the same time (they like to eat while I'm sitting there, all together), I thought I could hear tap tap from the incubator. No one else is supposed to hatch for about a week, but I know the sounds of my turner rotating and this just didn't sound like that at all. Ghost chickies of past hatches perhaps? I do not know.

Good luck to those setting in eggs for July that are posting. We will be here for all the excitement!

I don't know about hatching the Seramas, but I think you're going to love the Welsummers.  They lay the most beautiful dark brown eggs. 

I candled my BBS Fav bantam eggs for the first time. The 5 due the 5th are looking great. The 13 due the 11th are all looking super. I set 4 more BBS eggs today and 9 salmon fav bantam eggs. Wish me luck I will post pictures of the chicks when they hatch.

Henry

Just candled 13 gumpsgirl blue/splash orps and 2 of my buff orps.  They are day 6 and all show fertility!

Candled last night with new improved 75 Lumens (!!!) LED 'torch' -- wow. Even Nutmeg's dark eggs were showing off their dancing (and probably flinching from the light) babies.
All of the eggs have veins, all except the 2 impulse eggs I put in on the 18th have active visible embryos. Those 2 look exactly the same, so I'm not worried yet. Guess I should have looked at them with the weaker light to see how they compared with the others at that stage.

Ked, you okay... did you explode?

Bleh, I'm ok. I didn't explode. I went to go check on the chicks after lunch, and they were all sleeping (finally), but they sleep like they are freaking dead, so I nudged the edge of the brooder, just enough to get them to lift their heads..... only one of them didn't. And won't ever again I don't know what happened, but I suspect he stopped eating and drinking on top of whatever happened, because he was bone thin. I should have noticed, but I assumed he was smaller and sleeping more because he was 1-2 days younger than the others and they were sleeping a lot 1-2 days ago. He had a really rough hatch. He spent 24+ hours pipped, and he made the same squealing cheep from pip to death, no other noises.... I feel badly, because I should have recognized it as something wrong, but I thought 'everyone's voice is different'. Next time I'll be sure to check more closely on anything 'different'.

Grats on the new candler and the GREAT fertility from this group! I've been thinking of getting an LED light, sounds like it works pretty darn well! I will keep my fingers crossed they all make it to 21 and out this time!

I just put 15 eggs in today so I am looking at a July 16th hatch. This is my 3rd attempt, the first 2 failed. I have 6 Cuckoo marans, 5 Buffs and the rest are mixed bantoms.

Candled mine today (about day 8) Out of 51 eggs, I found 6 that were clear, so obviously no need to let the hens continue with them. There were a few others that I have some doubts about, but I wasn't ready to give up on them just yet. There were quite a few that looked really good and lively, so I'm happy!

It took me a long time to figure out that when one chick is "out of phase" with the others, there is usually something wrong. Tough luck!

Well, he was 'in phase' for his age, up until this afternoon, or at least I'd thought so. He'd been eating when they got up to eat, and I'd watched him drink with the others, but he slept more,  like the others had been sleeping a day or two ago (he was only a little over 2 days, they were a little over 4). He would even stand and walk with them when I nudged the brooder this morning to see if they were playing dead, and then fall back asleep. And then this afternoon, when I went to check, he just couldn't stay standing or keep his head up for more than a couple seconds. I started a mash to feed him, but he died in my hands before I'd gotten the first bite into his beak. Thirty (the firstborn and strangely sentient chick) just about went crazy when I took Twenty-six out, screaming and pecking the wall to get out. It was very sad.

There were signs that I probably could have recognized, especially the ones that point loudly to genetics; missing toes, tiny head crest, tiny wings.... and then there was the hatch time, well over 24 hours, pipped before he'd taken care of the veins on the membrane and then sat for so long. I just hope I can get it together faster if there is a next time, and maybe do something sooner. I will make this a lesson I won't forget.

Sorry for your loss....I know how that feels...and you always think there is something you missed (even when you didnt).. I have lots of eggs (47) in the bators for July hatches, and my last June batch went into lockdown this morning, to Hatch June 28th ( I hope) ....