1st time hatch question

[Storybook Farm]

So, I am on day 21 of my first hatch. I set 25 eggs, and took out three of them at day 18 lockdown, so, 22 eggs went into lockdown. During the hatch, I had some issues with keeping the relative humidity high enough. I found this out by weighing my eggs and tracing the air sacs. I also had some questions about temperature: I think it ran a little high. I'm using an Incuview Incubator.

So now to my question: of the 22 eggs that I set at Lockdown, on D 19 I heard internal pips with chirping, and on the morning of day 20 , 11 of them began hatching, and on through the night, such that 50% hatched in a 24 hour period...bringing me to today, Day 21.

There are 11 eggs that have not pipped or rocked, or anything, in the hatching process so far. I am on day 21. Should I leave all of the chicks in the incubator overnight again tonight (they will then be from 48 to 24 hours old by tomorrow AM) and then in the morning, Day 22, take them out? Or should I wait even longer?

I guess I'm wondering if it's at all common to have a bunch of eggs hatch together (in one 24-hour period) and then have a second half of the hatch be so far behind the first ones? Are the remaining eggs likely to hatch?

Also, my nurturing heart wants so badly to open the incubator and slip in a little lid of water. Are the really okay without? It's SO counterintuitive!

 

[Storybook Farm]

Thanks, I did so. I am going to give the others another 2 days; glad to have the stress released.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I love the fact you can see all the action in that bator.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I use wet sponges in my bator. Works great for me. Some people also use a spray bottle and mist the inside of the bator if they open. My bator recovers very well.

Yes, I candle every night. LOL generally I don't candle all the eggs every night. I spot check 4-5 different eggs on a nightly basis. One reason because I just can't stand not knowing what's going on. The other reason, I keep track of growth and air cells. Even with the fan I have hot and cold areas in my incubator. So if I get an egg that looks like it's not developing as fast as the others I'll move that to one of the warmer areas. If I have one that looks more excelerated, I'll move it out to a cooler area.

My last hatch last year I decided I was sick of seeing people scold people for candling and making people afraid to see something as awesome as development. I have awesome hatches and I candle. So I decided to do a test group of eggs. It was my first pullet hatch with my own eggs. I collected 21 and marked 6 eggs as my every night candlers. The others were to be candled on days 7/14/18. (I added a extra day in there somewhere so they ended up getting 4 candling days.)

About 4-5 days in I noticed one of the not candled eggs had an oily sheen to it so I candled and found that it was an early quitter and tossed that one. It left me with an equal 20. I candled those 6 eggs every single night. (They were probably cursing at me too.) I quit turning at the end of day 13, but continued to candle those 6 eggs every night up to the night of day 18. I did my "last" candle and marked air cells on all the eggs. I had 20 eggs going into lockdown that all looked great. Had my first hatcher day 19 and most of them hatched between day 19/20 (my bator runs warm, hard to control temps to the exact degree.) I had three that just had to wait until day 21 to pop out. All 20 of them hatched healthy, not a single problem, not a single post hatch death.

So I managed to show that yes, you can use pullet eggs. (The hens had only been laying between 4-6 weeks.) And that candling is not going to kill your eggs, (unless your hands are filthy dirty when you touch them or you drop them.) Yes, it's only one trial run, but I find it significant ammo against those who are certain you can't do these things. Of course I buck the system with not being hands off so a lot of hatchers don't like me...lmao My motto is "If it's working for you and your eggs, don't worry about what other's say or do. Find what works for you and use it." There are soooo many different philosophies and it doesn't make anyone right or wrong to do it the way that works for them. Obviously if you aren't getting the results you want you try something else, but I have a hard time with the "never do s" and the "no matter whats".

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I don't weigh either. Monitoring air cells seems to work the best for me.

Works for me too and less work

lol I hate doing percentages and extra math. Do enough of that homeschooling....lol

 

[AmyLynn2374]

So, I am on day 21 of my first hatch. I set 25 eggs, and took out three of them at day 18 lockdown, so, 22 eggs went into lockdown. During the hatch, I had some issues with keeping the relative humidity high enough. I found this out by weighing my eggs and tracing the air sacs. I also had some questions about temperature: I think it ran a little high. I'm using an Incuview Incubator.

So now to my question: of the 22 eggs that I set at Lockdown, on D 19 I heard internal pips with chirping, and on the morning of day 20 , 11 of them began hatching, and on through the night, such that 50% hatched in a 24 hour period...bringing me to today, Day 21.

There are 11 eggs that have not pipped or rocked, or anything, in the hatching process so far. I am on day 21. Should I leave all of the chicks in the incubator overnight again tonight (they will then be from 48 to 24 hours old by tomorrow AM) and then in the morning, Day 22, take them out? Or should I wait even longer?

I guess I'm wondering if it's at all common to have a bunch of eggs hatch together (in one 24-hour period) and then have a second half of the hatch be so far behind the first ones? Are the remaining eggs likely to hatch?

Also, my nurturing heart wants so badly to open the incubator and slip in a little lid of water. Are the really okay without? It's SO counterintuitive!

Personally, I would take out the hatched chicks and get them in the brooder where they have food and water accessible. I do not leave my chicks in the bator after hatch, many of us don't. It's a personal decision when you take chicks out. As for the other half, if you have no pippers and you are comfortable doing it, give them a candle and see if there are any internal pips or movement. It will give you a better idea of what chances you have of others hatching.

 

[KarliRae]

Keep us updated!

 

[Storybook Farm]

Well, no pips or sounds from the remaining eggs. Sigh. My husband is going to help me do the eggtopsy on the ones that haven't hatched.

This was my first time, and I know that during the first week I had too low humidity, and I also struggled with candling. As a Newbie I didn't quite know what I was looking at, so I could have put non-viable eggs into the hatch. Finally, I had a second thermometer in the bator at egg level that read a consistent 101°, but I trusted the bator's readings of 99.5 more. I suspect now from the early hatchers that the bator ran a bit hot. Does that seem right?

This maiden voyage used "mutt" eggs from my beginner flock. I am getting 16 Columbian Rock eggs shipped on Wednesday. I know shipping lowers the hatch rate but am hoping to hatch at least one cock and one hen to be foundation birds for upgraded flock.

 

[rbailey]

Do I have a new baby boy or girl? I have read that girls have dark legs and boys light color legs, also that boys have white spot on top of the head but so do girls sometimes....mine has a white spot and dark legs...also it's hard to tell by wings.its day one too...tell me what you thing?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Well, no pips or sounds from the remaining eggs. Sigh. My husband is going to help me do the eggtopsy on the ones that haven't hatched.

This was my first time, and I know that during the first week I had too low humidity, and I also struggled with candling. As a Newbie I didn't quite know what I was looking at, so I could have put non-viable eggs into the hatch. Finally, I had a second thermometer in the bator at egg level that read a consistent 101°, but I trusted the bator's readings of 99.5 more. I suspect now from the early hatchers that the bator ran a bit hot. Does that seem right?

This maiden voyage used "mutt" eggs from my beginner flock. I am getting 16 Columbian Rock eggs shipped on Wednesday. I know shipping lowers the hatch rate but am hoping to hatch at least one cock and one hen to be foundation birds for upgraded flock.

Congrats on the hatchers. Sorry about the others. Never trust the bator readouts, unless they have been checked against a known accurate thermometer. Never trust a thermometer that hasn't been checked either...even brand new. If they were early, yes that points to slightly higher temps. Most likely your individual thermometer was closer to accurate.
Good luck on the shipped eggs.

Do I have a new baby boy or girl? I have read that girls have dark legs and boys light color legs, also that boys have white spot on top of the head but so do girls sometimes....mine has a white spot and dark legs...also it's hard to tell by wings.its day one too...tell me what you thing?

Feather sexing can not be done on all chicks. You must have a fast feathering parent crossed with a slow feathering parent in order to determine sex from feather sexing. As for head spots that is particular to certain pure breed chicks.