setting eggs tomorrow.... 3-21-12 who wants to join? - Page 34

My temp was 10 degrees low the first 4 days (bad thermometer! dang it...) and it affected my eggs for sure.  I finally chipped one open a bit this weekend and sure enough there was a live chick that hadn't absorbed his yolk and had a ton of blood in the membrane.  He lived for 3 days after that, grew into the air space but never absorbed the yolk and the membrane stayed just as blood filled until he finally died.  I did the float test on the remaining eggs and they aren't bobbing but didn't sink or float high either... I'm going to give them a couple more days but I'm sure they prob have the same problem as the one I opened did... oh well, I've got another hatch soon :-)  I didn't expect much from my first attempt after 2 years!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtCreature 

Im sorry, i only got 1... i know how you are feeling right now.

 

so what was the outcome? did you open the eggs?

 

Yes, I did open them. They all seemed to be fully formed but I didn't know what to look for really. I cracked the egg open on the big end and the outer membrane looked like it had pulled away from the shell. The inner membrane was intact. All of them appeared to be in the shell with the head in the pointy end near a wing. Most had not absorbed their yolks either. None of them smelled bad or exploded. Thank goodness! My 6yo watched the whole process and asked a ton of questions. I have no idea why they died and could not make a decision what may have been the cause.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtCreature 

sounds like some may have been shrink wrapped. i *think* thats what the membrane, pulled away means... idk.

 

the ones that where at the little end sound like they never got turned around. which would explain why they never pipped or absorbed the yolk.

 

I admire your ability to tell your son the facts and let him know that chick(ens) like anything in life, dies. I also have kids (4) and one is 6 years old, and i have to admit when i opened my un-hatched eggs, i wouldnt let him watch. prob me sheltering him, but in the long run wont help him understand that sometimes things just dont work out.

 

also.... I heard that shipped eggs usually die either early on, OR late, like around 18-21...

 

Good luck on your next hatch... i hope to see you in the incubating & hatching eggs section again!

 

Melissa~

I was wondering if that may have been the problem. But they really didn't have that appearance. The outer membrane was not down to the inner membrane. It was like the shell was starting to dry out, and the membrane was starting to pull away.

These were from our hens and we set them because we live in the city and had to get rid of our roo. Was hoping to get a couple of his offspring while we could. He was a really nice looking mutt!

Last year, sometime in April, we got a dozen day old chicks from TSC and they were about a month old when something got on our carport one night and killed everyone of them. We had to explain to our then 5yo that things like this happen. He helped to bury them. As a consolation we got some eggs from a friend and set them under a broody hen that had been setting for 3 weeks with nary a fertilized egg near her. LOL. We thought we would make her happy and the 5yo too. Out of the 8 eggs we got 6 chicks. Only 2 were pullets. The other 4 were roos. We kept the one the boy claimed as his until the nasty note on the back door said the roo had to go they were tired of hearing him. So we decided to gather some of the eggs and try to hatch them with a homemade incubator. I did not want him to be disappointed and explained that this was an experiment and the results could be we would have chicks or not. Since we have never done this and things may not work right. He understands more than most his age. Very down to earth boy. As for sheltering him, yes I do too! He does not get to watch many things on TV b/c of the violence and inappropiate content. We watch alot of PBS and some Discovery channel. Any thing with nature and he is all into it. LOL I dare not change the channel.

Hopefully these will make it if I don't screw it up too. These were older eggs and I started with 23. Down to 15 now b/c 2 were not fertile, and 6 others were quitters. I think there are some more quitters b/c when I turn them they feel lighter than the others. We'll see. I set these on 4/4/12.

I woke up this morning to this little one! The other four eggs all have pips, so here is hoping that they hatch too