March 2022 Hatch-A-Long

[kurby22]

Thanks for the vote of confidence!


Good morning @kurby22!
While I have taken many photos of incubating eggs, I do not personally have photos demonstrating this, I have though seen it many times.
I often refer to this thread, it is older and you have to dig around a bit for all the info, but it is still an excellent resource for hatching shipped eggs. Has a good photo of what a detached air cell looks like.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/17631705

This photo demonstrates what a fresh eggs air cell looks like, fertile or not. The larger the air cell, the older the egg in general and can be used to help determine how long you let shipped eggs settle before setting in the incubator. The older the egg, the sooner you want to get them going. If the egg is very fresh then it can be very difficult to see the air cell. If the egg cell is detached, you can actually see it roll around from side to side like the bubble in a level. If the air cell is just loose, then the edges of it will jiggle a bit when you move it from side to side. Often with detached aircells you can see little air bubbles on the edges of the air cell which is a good sign that it is broken.
Best to check with a strong LED flashlight or candler in a VERY dark room. I use the MagicFly rechargeable candler and it is awesome!

View attachment 3039533
I made the mistake in a recent hatch of setting one of my own birds' eggs with a detached air cell. I usually check the eggs, but did not this time. It was already developing when I discovered it, so I ended up incubating it upright, like a shipped egg. Although it did make excellent progress during incubation and made it to lockdown, it did not make it to hatch.
This is what it looked like on DAY 5.
It was no longer loose and had settled on the side of the egg.
View attachment 3039540

Editing my original post to add these photos I just took. Looked in the fridge and found an egg with a detached air cell. I have several broodies right now and they’re a bit rough on the eggs!
View attachment 3039565View attachment 3039566
A bit difficult to see but one photo is with the egg on its side. The other photo is at an angle.
Hope this helps!

Oh man, this is so very helpful!! Thank you!! I think I finally see it! I was expecting a more obvious air cell like when you candle a few days in to incubation. I think I might be able to see it now when I candle Thanks @LadiesAndJane ! You are always so good at this stuff!

On a related note, I have some shipped eggs in the incubator and I’m giving them the first two days to settle before turning on the turner by having them in the egg cartons. By the third day is it best to start them in the turner or should I manually turn them for a couple more days before putting them sideways? So many questions!

 

[Iluveggers]

@LadiesAndJane This photo demonstrates what a fresh eggs air cell looks like, fertile or not. The larger the air cell, the older the egg in general and can be used to help determine how long you let shipped eggs settle before setting in the incubator. The older the egg, the sooner you want to get them going. If the egg is very fresh then it can be very difficult to see the air cell. If the egg cell is detached, you can actually see it roll around from side to side like the bubble in a level. If the air cell is just loose, then the edges of it will jiggle a bit when you move it from side to side. Often with detached aircells you can see little air bubbles on the edges of the air cell which is a good sign that it is broken.
Best to check with a strong LED flashlight or candler in a VERY dark room. I use the MagicFly rechargeable candler and it is awesome!

View attachment 3039533


So I can candle one of my chicken eggs (not fertile, no roo), and practice looking for air cells? What if they’ve been in the fridge? I might try this out tonight.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Oh man, this is so very helpful!! Thank you!! I think I finally see it! I was expecting a more obvious air cell like when you candle a few days in to incubation. I think I might be able to see it now when I candle Thanks @LadiesAndJane ! You are always so good at this stuff!

On a related note, I have some shipped eggs in the incubator and I’m giving them the first two days to settle before turning on the turner by having them in the egg cartons. By the third day is it best to start them in the turner or should I manually turn them for a couple more days before putting them sideways? So many questions!

You are very welcome!
You will get as many opinions about how to incubate shipped eggs as there are members on BYC!
I did a survey last year asking for peoples methods of incubating upright versus on their sides. It was about a 50-50 split.
Research shows that turning the eggs early in incubation is vital so waiting anymore than 2 to 3 days is probably counterproductive. Folks who wait 7 days to turn eggs will disagree with this, but the research does not support waiting this long. If the air cells and the eggs are so scrambled from shipping that they need to sit this long, there really isn’t much you can do in my opinion.
I have probably tried every method there is to incubate shipped eggs and I honestly have not seen any real difference. Unless you have completely detached air cells, which will not likely hatch anyway, I would just put the eggs in the normal turner on their sides after they have been manually turned upright for a few days at most.
At lockdown if you have saddled air cells that are otherwise stable at this point, you may elect to let them hatch upright. They can also hatch on their sides just like regular eggs. The more you read on this, the more confusing it gets and the more opinions you read, the more you will doubt which way to do it. Believe me I have been there!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

@LadiesAndJane This photo demonstrates what a fresh eggs air cell looks like, fertile or not. The larger the air cell, the older the egg in general and can be used to help determine how long you let shipped eggs settle before setting in the incubator. The older the egg, the sooner you want to get them going. If the egg is very fresh then it can be very difficult to see the air cell. If the egg cell is detached, you can actually see it roll around from side to side like the bubble in a level. If the air cell is just loose, then the edges of it will jiggle a bit when you move it from side to side. Often with detached aircells you can see little air bubbles on the edges of the air cell which is a good sign that it is broken.
Best to check with a strong LED flashlight or candler in a VERY dark room. I use the MagicFly rechargeable candler and it is awesome!

View attachment 3039533


So I can candle one of my chicken eggs (not fertile, no roo), and practice looking for air cells? What if they’ve been in the fridge? I might try this out tonight.

Yes you can! They will look much the same air cell wise as a fertile egg does. You can even see if you can find any detached ones which are not uncommon even in grocery store eggs. You can also see if you can tell the difference between a fresh egg and one that’s been sitting in the fridge for a few weeks.

 

[kurby22]

You are very welcome!
You will get as many opinions about how to incubate shipped eggs as there are members on BYC!
I did a survey last year asking for peoples methods of incubating upright versus on their sides. It was about a 50-50 split.
Research shows that turning the eggs early in incubation is vital so waiting anymore than 2 to 3 days is probably counterproductive. Folks who wait 7 days to turn eggs will disagree with this, but the research does not support waiting this long. If the air cells and the eggs are so scrambled from shipping that they need to sit this long, there really isn’t much you can do in my opinion.
I have probably tried every method there is to incubate shipped eggs and I honestly have not seen any real difference. Unless you have completely detached air cells, which will not likely hatch anyway, I would just put the eggs in the normal turner on their sides after they have been manually turned upright for a few days at most.
At lockdown if you have saddled air cells that are otherwise stable at this point, you may elect to let them hatch upright. They can also hatch on their sides just like regular eggs. The more you read on this, the more confusing it gets and the more opinions you read, the more you will doubt which way to do it. Believe me I have been there!

Hahaha yes, that is where I’m at! I think tonight I will put them in with the turner and hope that was good enough ! Thanks for the help! I went in and circled where I “think” I’m seeing it, we shall see how close I was I set them Friday late afternoon, so I think they’re as ready as they’re gonna be thanks again!!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Hahaha yes, that is where I’m at! I think tonight I will put them in with the turner and hope that was good enough ! Thanks for the help! I went in and circled where I “think” I’m seeing it, we shall see how close I was I set them Friday late afternoon, so I think they’re as ready as they’re gonna be thanks again!!

You’re welcome! Good luck with the hatch!

 

[Tori1133]

Hey guys! I’m super late but have 10 eggs out of 14 that made it to day 20 right now They are:

2 buff chantecler
2 mosaic
2 icelandic
1 orloff
1 blue lace Wyandotte
1 wheaten ameraucana
1 speckled Sussex

Will try and get some good pics when they’re all (hopefully!) hatched!

So far both the Icelandic’s and the Sussex have pipped!!

Also if anyone has any thoughts on this: I’m a bit worried about the one icelandic right now, she has been pipped since this morning (I woke up at 8:30 but not sure what time she actually pipped at) which I know is a totally normal amount of time between pip and hatch, but the only reason I’m a bit worried is that she pipped in the centre of the egg and then pipped again around 10am about 3/4” lengthwise down towards the big end of the egg… I know they rest for a while after pipping so I normally wouldn’t be worried but seems to me sort of like she is trying to get out because of the two separate pips and that every time I go in there she is moving around and chirping and I don’t know if my chicken lingo is off hahaha but her chirp sounds sort of distressed to me?? Let me know if I’m way overthinking this and need to just be patient!

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

Hey guys! I’m super late but have 10 eggs out of 14 that made it to day 20 right now They are:

2 buff chantecler
2 mosaic
2 icelandic
1 orloff
1 blue lace Wyandotte
1 wheaten ameraucana
1 speckled Sussex

Will try and get some good pics when they’re all (hopefully!) hatched!

So far both the Icelandic’s and the Sussex have pipped!!

Also if anyone has any thoughts on this: I’m a bit worried about the one icelandic right now, she has been pipped since this morning (I woke up at 8:30 but not sure what time she actually pipped at) which I know is a totally normal amount of time between pip and hatch, but the only reason I’m a bit worried is that she pipped in the centre of the egg and then pipped again around 10am about 3/4” lengthwise down towards the big end of the egg… I know they rest for a while after pipping so I normally wouldn’t be worried but seems to me sort of like she is trying to get out because of the two separate pips and that every time I go in there she is moving around and chirping and I don’t know if my chicken lingo is off hahaha but her chirp sounds sort of distressed to me?? Let me know if I’m way overthinking this and need to just be patient!

I would watch. She may be stuck. If it was me, and she had made no progress by tonight or tommorow morning, I would peel back a little shell.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Hey guys! I’m super late but have 10 eggs out of 14 that made it to day 20 right now They are:

2 buff chantecler
2 mosaic
2 icelandic
1 orloff
1 blue lace Wyandotte
1 wheaten ameraucana
1 speckled Sussex

Will try and get some good pics when they’re all (hopefully!) hatched!

So far both the Icelandic’s and the Sussex have pipped!!

Also if anyone has any thoughts on this: I’m a bit worried about the one icelandic right now, she has been pipped since this morning (I woke up at 8:30 but not sure what time she actually pipped at) which I know is a totally normal amount of time between pip and hatch, but the only reason I’m a bit worried is that she pipped in the centre of the egg and then pipped again around 10am about 3/4” lengthwise down towards the big end of the egg… I know they rest for a while after pipping so I normally wouldn’t be worried but seems to me sort of like she is trying to get out because of the two separate pips and that every time I go in there she is moving around and chirping and I don’t know if my chicken lingo is off hahaha but her chirp sounds sort of distressed to me?? Let me know if I’m way overthinking this and need to just be patient!

Welcome!
Read this and be ready if you need to assist.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Important to not remove any membrane that has any active blood vessels.
Is the chick clicking it’s beak? If so it is still absorbing the yolk.