5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[Pyxis]

Well I did my day 7 candle tonight, with mixed results. :/ RIR/EE - 3 of 3 have strong bouncy little kidney beans with eyedot. Lav Orp - 11 of 13 showing development. Some have very visible embryos others I could only see the veining. Guess the babies were hiding in those. The last 2 appear to have blood rings, but will leave them for now just to be positive. So not bad at all on those. SFH - Only 4 of 12 showing any veining and it looks really strange. Maybe because the air cells are still really loose and sloshy. The other 8 all look to be clears. Again, I'm leaving them all just to be positive. The air cells on the Lav Orp and EE look to be right about where they should be so far according to the chart. So for now will keep humidity at the 30-40% I've had it at. Here are some pics of the suspected blood ring ones.

I would toss those. Blood rings are caused most often by bacteria killing the embryo. I left in a blood ring egg once to give it time when I was inexperienced. All the eggs next to it died because the bacteria spread. Never again will I leave in a blood ring.

 

[AK FLOCK SWAP]

Question I have never really seen on here. How gently do the eggs need to be handled? When I candle I try to do it as fast as possible so that they will not get cold. Will the jostling them around make them die or burst the veins? Or can they take a pretty hard drop or shake?

Wunjo<, No just take your time,, I like to wash my hands,, you could use those latex gloves,, I pick them up slowly for candling and and tuning,, place back very easy. Yes they can break away Which is not what you want,,burst those veins if shaken,,I like to think of them as nitro glycerin no shaky unless you want to go boom,,That hen get off of those eggs to eat,, its ok. I take no more that 3 to 5 minutes,,, . Then cover check tempts and humidity in a few minutes to make sure everything is running,, but yes mm NO SHAKY<<<

 

[ronott1]

I just had some back out of buying mine, been setting more because she said she wanted them RU SURE iask OH yes,, I knew I should have asked for down payment,,, She wanted them sexed,, ERR,, OH well, So if your near me, I will have a CHOOKLOAD of chickies Peace<<<<

that is too bad! I hope you can sell them. Craig's list?

When I candled tonight, a lot of my eggs were very dark. I saw some little veins but I'm not sure. A couple other eggs I could really see well. Is it bad that I can't see much? Is there anything I need to do?

Check the air cells to make sure they are growing, remove eggs that smell bad or are seeping. Good job so far!

What are possible causes for the blood rings? I'm pretty sure I have an egg with a blood ring. I have 4 eggs that are just too dark to see anything. Then the other 3 look like a started, ring, and clear. Any recommendation for how to treat the dark eggs? Do I leave them in and smell every so many days? Should I be able to see more as time progresses?

Blood rings happen because the embryo has died. Rough handling with shipping, weak egg, bacteria...There are lots of reason. It just happens sometimes.

 

[Aphrael]

Aphrael - Those could just be thick veins, don't toss them just yet!

Nope, not tossing any until I am 100% sure! Or until they smell...

It would be great if you are right.

Give them until day ten and crack them open to see if there was any development. Try to figure out when the blood ring happened. If it looks like it was a day when they were candled then next time you may want to skip that day.

Ohhh, that is a great idea. Although I'd feel pretty crummy if it turned out I might have killed them by candling.

Question I have never really seen on here. How gently do the eggs need to be handled? When I candle I try to do it as fast as possible so that they will not get cold. Will the jostling them around make them die or burst the veins? Or can they take a pretty hard drop or shake?

I just recently read somewhere (trying to remember where but it isn't coming to me, maybe it was here?) that in the early days of embryo development there may be some evidence that sudden or rough turning or handling could cause the embryo to be ripped loose from it's vein network, thus killing it. So I try to handle them very gently and slowly. Don't worry too awful much about them getting cold. Taking them out to candle shouldn't chill them any more than mama hen getting off the nest for her daily eat/drink/potty. Well, provided you weren't candling in a really cold room or something.

Oh yeah
good one. I do the oyster and egg shell as well, but I find I have to crush it up really well or they get stopped up, but how much is too much ?

Hmmm. I haven't had any problems with them "stopping up", and I just toss the egg shells onto the compost however they went in the bucket. Typically just cracked in half. Both chickens and ducks tear them up and eat them happily. They should only eat as much as they need.

 

[ronott1]

Question I have never really seen on here. How gently do the eggs need to be handled? When I candle I try to do it as fast as possible so that they will not get cold. Will the jostling them around make them die or burst the veins? Or can they take a pretty hard drop or shake?

Do not worry about them getting cold. Two hours out of the incubator will not hurt them and may help them hatch. My Brinsea has a two hour per day cool down cycle that I am going to start tonight.

 

[roostercluck]

that is too bad! I hope you can sell them. Craig's list?

Check the air cells to make sure they are growing, remove eggs that smell bad or are seeping. Good job so far!

Blood rings happen because the embryo has died. Rough handling with shipping, weak egg, bacteria...There are lots of reason. It just happens sometimes.

Thanks. I just hope that I get lots of chicks because I have chickenittis.

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

[COLOR=4B0082]Woohoo 36 of 36. All eggs have veins. I'm excited that I currently have 100% hatch rate but if all do hatch I will be shocked. This is only my 3rd hatch and it seems I always run into problems when it comes to day 21. If this hatch goes all well I will definitely have enough laying hens to supply our egg buying customers again.[/COLOR]

Congrats! What bator are you using?

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

Do not worry about them getting cold. Two hours out of the incubator will not hurt them and may help them hatch. My Brinsea has a two hour per day cool down cycle that I am going to start tonight.

What kind of brinsea? Octagon 20? If yes, I just got it and was wondering if you have any advice for hatching with it

 

[ronott1]

What kind of brinsea? Octagon 20? If yes, I just got it and was wondering if you have any advice for hatching with it

I have the Octagon 40 and hatch in my Genesis incubator.

If you have all of that foam, I would take it out and hatch in egg cartons. They also are supposed to get very dirty so you will need to clean the top carefully.

The hatch should go very well for you.

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

I have the Octagon 40 and hatch in my Genesis incubator.

If you have all of that foam, I would take it out and hatch in egg cartons. They also are supposed to get very dirty so you will need to clean the top carefully.

The hatch should go very well for you.

Foam? And what do you mean by egg cartons? Do you have a picturs?