- May 28, 2015
- 62
- 7
- 96
I've seen life and movement in these eggs when candling at day 14+ but I must have had the humidity too high (an old 6 pack sized plastic cooler with a heat pad at the bottom, a computer fan on top, and wet paper towel draped on the sides) because the air cell at day 18 and 19 looked about like it's supposed to look at day 7.
I've read that my chicks can drown but is there anything I can do to salvage them? I've since bought a Hovabator and all the water is out of the trays now that I know what can happen with humidity too high. Sad mistake... but hopefully I can salvage the rest. I see movement when candling.
I wasn't really planning to get into hatching eggs... I figured my hen and rooster are producing fertile eggs so why not put a few in my experimental hatcher/cooler, try to keep it at 98 to 101 ish and see what happens. It's free and it's here so why not? I put them one at a time into my cooler as our hen laid them... Surprisingly the eggs actually grew and formed into chicks. So here I am now accidentally into a new hobby. Once I saw the movement in the eggs, I decided I should learn a little more.
However, one big mistake, I figured I better have humidity and went a little too humid I guess. Is there anything I can do to save the chicks once they pip the membrane? The eggs that are hatching are horizontal now that they're in lock down, but is it best to have the egg laid with the air cell down, up, or horizontal?
These birds are New Hampshires. They're tough birds and have lived for over a year with little human intervention or even feed for that matter (they prefer the forest to bag feed). Hopefully the chicks are as tough as the parents are.
I've read that my chicks can drown but is there anything I can do to salvage them? I've since bought a Hovabator and all the water is out of the trays now that I know what can happen with humidity too high. Sad mistake... but hopefully I can salvage the rest. I see movement when candling.
I wasn't really planning to get into hatching eggs... I figured my hen and rooster are producing fertile eggs so why not put a few in my experimental hatcher/cooler, try to keep it at 98 to 101 ish and see what happens. It's free and it's here so why not? I put them one at a time into my cooler as our hen laid them... Surprisingly the eggs actually grew and formed into chicks. So here I am now accidentally into a new hobby. Once I saw the movement in the eggs, I decided I should learn a little more.
However, one big mistake, I figured I better have humidity and went a little too humid I guess. Is there anything I can do to save the chicks once they pip the membrane? The eggs that are hatching are horizontal now that they're in lock down, but is it best to have the egg laid with the air cell down, up, or horizontal?
These birds are New Hampshires. They're tough birds and have lived for over a year with little human intervention or even feed for that matter (they prefer the forest to bag feed). Hopefully the chicks are as tough as the parents are.
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