How to monitor hatching

[WeTheWeys]

My current incubator (Janoel 12) is translucent, so I am eager to create a hatching incubator myself with a clear window at the top so I can watch the process.... i definitely would prefer to see it!! This way I wont be opening the incubator to check and losing all the humidity...

If my dry humidity is 35%, and the air cells have not grown since day one (detached, have not grown, not fully detached only partly) and i have good growth so far, should I still be trying to reduce the humidity so the air cells grow? They began pretty big... I would say they are currently (and always have been) about the correct day 7 size...

 

[oregonkat]

Where are you in your incubation, what day? Are you planning on changing incubators for this particular hatch?

 

[RubyNala97]

They need to continually grow. So if you notice in a few days that they still haven’t grown or the my appear small for the day they are on then you might still have to keep your humidity down. It’s all about their growth. Sometimes it’s harder to tell if they are growing because they are loose & misshapen from shipping. You can trace them with a pencil, it’s a super easy way to see how much they are growing each week.

 

[WeTheWeys]

Where are you in your incubation, what day? Are you planning on changing incubators for this particular hatch?

I have never hatched before, but ideally I would like to move the eggs into a clear incubator for lockdown so that I can actually witness the hatching!!! The current incubator I have is nearly impossible to see into...

Today marks incubation day 13.

 

[WeTheWeys]

They need to continually grow. So if you notice in a few days that they still haven’t grown or the my appear small for the day they are on then you might still have to keep your humidity down. It’s all about their growth. Sometimes it’s harder to tell if they are growing because they are loose & misshapen from shipping. You can trace them with a pencil, it’s a super easy way to see how much they are growing each week.

I see the tiniest bit of growth each day I suppose, but only by a couple millimeters each! The shape of the growth is odd, and not circular... I had thought this was due to the detached air cells of every single egg on arrival. The majority of the air cells are in tact and reattached now, but little parts of the edges of a small portion of them jiggle/vibrate when I rotate the eggs.... However, the air cell as a whole does not shift from its place. the "jiggle" part tends to be the area that is growing/expanding, and it seems to come off of the initial circular air cell as if it is a half-saddle shaped air cell. The bottom of this half-saddle is the part that lightly jiggles when rotated. I checked again today and all of the embryos are still dancing around in their eggs!

I am not exactly sure what I am looking at but I could swear I see a beak shape beneath the eye and a foot shape curling up towards the head when it moves back and forth in the shell.... am I crazy?! You can't actually see their feet through basic candling, right?

 

[oregonkat]

I see the tiniest bit of growth each day I suppose, but only by a couple millimeters each! The shape of the growth is odd, and not circular... I had thought this was due to the detached air cells of every single egg on arrival. The majority of the air cells are in tact and reattached now, but little parts of the edges of a small portion of them jiggle/vibrate when I rotate the eggs.... However, the air cell as a whole does not shift from its place. the "jiggle" part tends to be the area that is growing/expanding, and it seems to come off of the initial circular air cell as if it is a half-saddle shaped air cell. The bottom of this half-saddle is the part that lightly jiggles when rotated. I checked again today and all of the embryos are still dancing around in their eggs!

I am not exactly sure what I am looking at but I could swear I see a beak shape beneath the eye and a foot shape curling up towards the head when it moves back and forth in the shell.... am I crazy?! You can't actually see their feet through basic candling, right?

Your air cells are detached. The jiggle that you see is liquid around the edge of the 'saddled' air cell. Mine are just like this too at the moment but I am only on day 5 so I have a ways to go.
Look at this fabulous article with pics of what to expect when candling: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/development-of-a-chicken-embryo-day-by-day.72537/

 

[RubyNala97]

I see the tiniest bit of growth each day I suppose, but only by a couple millimeters each! The shape of the growth is odd, and not circular... I had thought this was due to the detached air cells of every single egg on arrival. The majority of the air cells are in tact and reattached now, but little parts of the edges of a small portion of them jiggle/vibrate when I rotate the eggs.... However, the air cell as a whole does not shift from its place. the "jiggle" part tends to be the area that is growing/expanding, and it seems to come off of the initial circular air cell as if it is a half-saddle shaped air cell. The bottom of this half-saddle is the part that lightly jiggles when rotated. I checked again today and all of the embryos are still dancing around in their eggs!

I am not exactly sure what I am looking at but I could swear I see a beak shape beneath the eye and a foot shape curling up towards the head when it moves back and forth in the shell.... am I crazy?! You can't actually see their feet through basic candling, right?

Duck eggs are amazing to candle!! You’re not crazy. They are so easy to see into. Towards later incubation you want to candle the pointy end too and make sure that the growth is filling up the whole egg. What you are seeing with the air cells is pretty normal for shipped eggs. I’ve got tons of candling pics and messy air cells on shipped duck eggs if you’re interested in seeing them.

 

[WeTheWeys]

Duck eggs are amazing to candle!! You’re not crazy. They are so easy to see into. Towards later incubation you want to candle the pointy end too and make sure that the growth is filling up the whole egg. What you are seeing with the air cells is pretty normal for shipped eggs. I’ve got tons of candling pics and messy air cells on shipped duck eggs if you’re interested in seeing them.

I would love to see them, that would be so helpful, thanks!

 

[bhopper]

I have recently started incubating and your information provided here has helped. I will be adjusting to what you have mentioned in this forum. Thanks everyone

 

[RubyNala97]

Here’s some pics of very messy shipped air cells (duck) but I think about half that made it to lockdown hatched. You can see how misshapen these are and they all moved around badly. That 4th pic down was later in incubation. The air cell firmed up but still kept that saddle shape.