ETA: Broodervision! School Webcam is rolling! - Page 2

One of the ducklings that pipped yesterday was dead in the shell this morning. :(  The other one was stuck to the membrane so couldn't pop out.  The other ducklings died in their shell over the weekend or just before.  So this round, there is just the two ducklings.  (The last one that hatched is having a heck of a time getting up in the brooder.  Poor little thing.)  Our PTA donated money to the class to get a Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance, so we will be setting another hatch at the end of this week.  I am expecting much better results with the Brinsea over the LG styrofoam bator. 

In the meantime...I am loving seeing the 2 ducklings that hatched! 

This was a difficult hatch...seems everything that could have gone wrong, did.  And this was the first time they put the webcam on.  If you notice the larger "duck" in the brooder, he is really a Sebastopol gosling.  The 2nd duckling didn't make it.  After 2 days of struggling to get out of her shell, she just didn't have enough umph to continue on.  Poor thing.

We are going to try again.  Next round of duck eggs goes in the new Brinsea this Friday.  What I love about this entire process, is that the teacher will be taking home the Saxony ducks at the end of hatch!  My enabling ways are catching! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toast n Jelly 


What I said.
What's needed is not another bator but someone who knows not to open the bator and to know what to do in stressed hatchings. Sorry but there was some human error in that hatch and it's too painful to watch more of the same so I wish you all good luck.

Wow...I'm sorry, but you assume too much.  Actually, I was there every step of the way...from candling with the students, to opening up the quitters so the kids could see stages of development.  Lockdown was Friday, the one duckling was quickly removed Monday morning because she was kicking the other eggs around so severely and had clearly hatched sometime on Sunday.  No one opened the bator again until Tuesday when the ducklings were struggling to get out for longer than 24 hours.  Nothing was the teacher's fault.  No ducklings were shrinkwrapped. She called me to come in and help them.  You saw MY hand grabbing the egg in the incubator, and it was only after finding the one duckling dead in it's shell after pipping and the other duck was stuck to it's shell that we checked the other eggs...when you may have seen the teacher grab the other eggs for me to check on.  Those ducklings died in their shell probably before lockdown.  In this case, another incubator is seriously needed.  Anyone with hatching experience knows the Little Giant still air incubators are the worst for fluctuating success rates.  Brinsea is the best, and takes out several of the frustrating variables such as temp spikes and plunges, gives a continuous and even heat to the eggs versus spotty heat.  We could go on.  We also need to factor in the variables of the school...no one is there at night save the janitors (who do go in to check on the bator temps before they leave for the night), the weekends the school is empty, the heat in the room is dropped "after hours" and goes up during school hours.  Hatching at home could yield similar results...we see it all the time here on BYC.  Being a school hatch, the emphasis is on learning...sometimes the best way to learn is not through immediate success.   

In addition...this has been the teacher's 3rd hatch in her classroom with my assistance.   The ducks are the only hatch that were difficult...the chicken hatches went so smoothly.  Let's wait and see how the next duck hatch goes with a better incubator....

To be continued.