February 2023 hatch-a-long

[Helens_Hens]

Holy crap batman! It's day 18... LOCKDOWN DAY. so I'm doing my final candle as I switch them over to the hatching incubator and I got to my 3rd egg out of 53... And YALL!!! It's internally pipped. So urgent mode kicks in and we switch ALL 53 over. Needless to say I didn't candle anymore. It's a blue banty egg and of course bantys generally do tend to hatch Sooner but I've not had one hatch on day 18.
But I did notice on the ones I managed to candle , the air cells are quite a bit larger than they were day before. And also they looked misshaped. I dry hatched and everything seemed to be going great until now I'm a little nervous and I'm not sure what to expect. I have them locked down with tape around the incubator lid (these are notorious for losing heat around the lid) and the humidity is now rising. This is our first dry hatch and Im not sure but I feel like I did something wrong over the past 2 days to make such a drastic difference in air cells.

 

[coffeeaddict]

This thread has made me even more excited to move to a rural area. We’re years away, but it’s in the works at least. Being able to hatch eggs, keep Roos and breed your own flock to get colors you like would be so enjoyable.

Four external pips now. Three in the air cell. Yay! I was worried after that first they’d all pip on the wrong end.

The shipped eggs have not pipped. I can see movement against the air cell but no internal pip yet. Hopefully tmrw. Glad I separated the two sets of eggs since these won’t hatch anytime soon.

 

[junior67]

OH LOTS MORE BABIES COMING SOON!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting!!!!!!! already makes me sad that I don't have any I am waiting on. haahaa (think more so since even though I just hatched chicks I don't have any since they weren't my chicks. )

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

Holy crap batman! It's day 18... LOCKDOWN DAY. so I'm doing my final candle as I switch them over to the hatching incubator and I got to my 3rd egg out of 53... And YALL!!! It's internally pipped. So urgent mode kicks in and we switch ALL 53 over. Needless to say I didn't candle anymore. It's a blue banty egg and of course bantys generally do tend to hatch Sooner but I've not had one hatch on day 18.
But I did notice on the ones I managed to candle , the air cells are quite a bit larger than they were day before. And also they looked misshaped. I dry hatched and everything seemed to be going great until now I'm a little nervous and I'm not sure what to expect. I have them locked down with tape around the incubator lid (these are notorious for losing heat around the lid) and the humidity is now rising. This is our first dry hatch and Im not sure but I feel like I did something wrong over the past 2 days to make such a drastic difference in air cells.View attachment 3400895

What incubator is that?

 

[Kwoka]

Today is day 22 - 6/10 hatched so far, 2 more with external pips. But gosh darn it, one baby has messed up legs. I expected this might happen, so I’m not totally crushed about it, but…I really hate culling chicks it isn’t a simple splayed leg, either. I think this baby rubbed the skin right off his joint while hatching, and the bone itself looks crooked. Plus, the foot on the other leg is curled inwards. Could have been humidity issues or his egg lost too much moisture while in storage? Who knows.

The other 5 healthy ones are out and under the brooder plate, so I’ll try to get pics later when I give them food and water.

 

[Cochinlover92]

Woke up to 7/12 pips!! Yippee!! Finally!

 

[gimmie birdies]

The aircells shrink down so don't worry. That is a good thing, it means they are closer to hatch.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I got up at 4:30 and gave everyone a sip of water mixed with soft baby food.
and then moved everyone to this box, food on floor, dish under water-er. (I don't have pebbles in water because all the chicks are walking about.) 2nd hand table place matts. The bird in the cage was the latest one to hatch, a LO with an outy belly button. I am waiting for it to get sucked in more. (I have seen worse.) Of the last eggs with this group,I had one egg that zipped but quit, and another that never entered the aircell. And one more LO egg that didn't pip. I gave it a safty hole to see what was going on, and poked it with my finger and if made a gesture like, "Get off me!"

I cleaned out the incubator it was hatching from (While it was in another incubator.)
Luckily the incubator wasn't too dirty since only 7 other chicks hatched.
I put in resting cups (not turners,) since I wanted them to be off the wire floor, (just washed.) I will let them hatch in them.
Since I had a staggered hatch, (I had to wait until my hen's eggs were fertile.)They were not fertile by set time with the shipped eggs, I just set some eggs as I went, my first batch of hatching eggs from my hen's are due 3 days or so after my shipped eggs.
After cleaning the incubator I am hatching in, i candled the eggs that were due to hatch, and also candled the rest of my eggs.
The 4 blue eggs were not marked and I thought, I will be able to tell them hatching ready by the slope. Well I cleaned the hatching incubator just in time, because they were already in their air cells.

The white egg got mixed up with some due at a later date, and it was in the air cell peeping and almost scolding me for not paying attention to it. I got scolded by an egg!
Below are the other eggs due later this month.
The first row don't have a date, so I will have to guess. the second row is due the 20th, and the last row is due the 25th. They are all in same incubator until their day 18.

 

[LhickenChicken]

View attachment 3401057
I got up at 4:30 and gave everyone a sip of water mixed with soft baby food.
and then moved everyone to this box, food on floor, dish under water-er. (I don't have pebbles in water because all the chicks are walking about.) 2nd hand table place matts. The bird in the cage was the latest one to hatch, a LO with an outy belly button. I am waiting for it to get sucked in more. (I have seen worse.) Of the last eggs with this group,I had one egg that zipped but quit, and another that never entered the aircell. And one more LO egg that didn't pip. I gave it a safty hole to see what was going on, and poked it with my finger and if made a gesture like, "Get off me!"
View attachment 3401059
I cleaned out the incubator it was hatching from (While it was in another incubator.)
Luckily the incubator wasn't too dirty since only 7 other chicks hatched.
I put in resting cups (not turners,) since I wanted them to be off the wire floor, (just washed.) I will let them hatch in them.
Since I had a staggered hatch, (I had to wait until my hen's eggs were fertile.)They were not fertile by set time with the shipped eggs, I just set some eggs as I went, my first batch of hatching eggs from my hen's are due 3 days or so after my shipped eggs.
After cleaning the incubator I am hatching in, i candled the eggs that were due to hatch, and also candled the rest of my eggs.
The 4 blue eggs were not marked and I thought, I will be able to tell them hatching ready by the slope. Well I cleaned the hatching incubator just in time, because they were already in their air cells.

View attachment 3401068
The white egg got mixed up with some due at a later date, and it was in the air cell peeping and almost scolding me for not paying attention to it. I got scolded by an egg!
Below are the other eggs due later this month.
The first row don't have a date, so I will have to guess. the second row is due the 20th, and the last row is due the 25th. They are all in same incubator until their day 18.
View attachment 3401071

You got scolded by an egg? Sorry but that's just really funny! I have never been scolded by an egg, but I have now been scolded by chicks. Every time I turn off the light in to the living room(the brooder box is there and it has a glass cover to let light through) they start complaining LOUDLY. I can hear them from my bedroom, which is on the other side of the house.

 

[AUChickenGal]

Day 15 for my eggs today. Current stats (if I counted correctly):

Easter Egger
6 clear
1 early quitter
0 remaining

Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Ameraucana
2 early quitters
5 remaining

Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Marans
4 clear
4 remaining

I am still not super confident about any of the eggs at this point. These very dark shells have thrown me for a loop! Only a few days from lockdown. I’m choosing to err on the side of leaving any eggs in that I am not 100% sure aren’t developing for now.