May Hatch-a-Long!

[Cynthia12]

Hi - A newbie here - attempted to use my incubator for the first time last month but many mishaps - temp too high-thermometer not working, power outages. So chicken eggs went in on the 11th so my eggs are on lockdown! I have 41 eggs of mixed heritage in the incubator. After reading "Dry Incubating and hatching eggs" I may have had this batch with too much humidity. But I'm hoping most hatch.

I brought home 40 week old chickens last Sunday so they are in a brooder out in the coop. And I have 2 broody hens setting on eggs. One nest started on the 12th-13th and another starting on the 24th. The hens are swapping nests and one is leaving for food more than the other. Most of the eggs are fathered by Polish Roosters (a bantam and one a regular). And hens are either Americana, Cochin, Rock Islands or another mix.

Could be an interesting few weeks.

Good luck. No better bator than a mama hen.

 

[Farmer Viola]

Ooo! The BCM WY crosses sound neat! Is the WY Wyandotte?

sorry missed this, yes the WY is wyandotte! it is a blue laced red rooster crossed on blue laced red hen and black copper marans hens they are going into the bunch that's going to be meated out. but sort of a fun expirement for me, new to breeding and while I've had chickens before, never fertile eggs.

the BCMxWY crosses are coming out looking like BCM chicks, penguins. but, they ALL have rose combs! and feathered legs, maybe all of them, definitely most. I have 2 that are 2 weeks, around 5 that are 1 week, and 3 more just hatched. the 2 week olds are getting black feathers everywhere, and the wingtips have brown spots on them, sort of like a dirty colored marans who wouldn't fit the SOP hah

day 22 / 23 starting -
of 6 eggs, 5 have hatched so far! one egg is left in the incubator. it has been cheeping and wiggling away for nearly a day, when I candled it tonight it seems like the entire air cell is tiny, or almost full of dark chick body. I think I can still see where the beak is internally pipped. the egg itself is a pullet egg and it's not tiny, but it's not full size... I'm worried the chick is overgrown the shell. I am planning to make a small pip hole at the top so that it at least won't run out of air..

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

And to get in under the wire at least 1 Rouen egg is externally pipped. Was due the 1st but close enough.

Chickens are pipping everywhere. So far I have for sure 2 BSL (1/1) 1 RIR and 3 MP.

Only 1 other RIR is pipping that I can see so hoping I get a couple more. Pulled a clear, somehow missed at LD. WLH,MP and BSL are 75%+/- pipped externally. Might have to play swap chicks/eggs with Broody #1 if she'll accept them. Will have a couple nice days if the hatching stays strong.

 

[MemeGeorge]

great photos! they are so sweet




congratulations!!!




OMG the crested one is just over the top!
you are right, it looks malpositioned... I see a leg and a foot which should be more toward the bottom small end of the shell.. most likely it will pip on the wrong end, if it is able to pip at all. the danger with that is hitting a vein. seems like when they pip the bottom they always nick a vein. it is good that it's gone over day 21 since a lot of the veins should be receeding by now. some of that will be triggered by breathing air/pipping, however.

it's also possible the chick's head is in between it's legs and the foot is preventing the beak from hitting the shell.. it could even be near the top if it is in that position. just so hard to say where the beak might be.

if you were going to internally pip it, you really need to know where the beak is so you can get it breathing, clear the nostrils, etc. making the internal pip is risky because you could hit a vein. if it bleeds, have cornstarch on hand already. I have a powder stuff called blood stopper it's made for birds and I keep it next to me when i do interventions.

do you see the large purple vein? the purple color indicates that the chick is running out of co2 and needs to breathe air soon. this is what triggers their head banging into the shell to get into the air cell. if the vein were red, that would indicate that the chick is not ready yet. since it is purple or dark red, time is running out.

I have never made the internal pip for a chick and had it live. I have made an internal pip only 1 time, and the chick died anyway. I hit a vein and caused slight bleeding, then I put it back without following through with getting it air. I have resisted intervention, and had it die, only to find it in a position unable to pip (eg foot over the beak, cant make contact w/shell). it sort of boils down to your personal beliefs on intervening with nature, should the chick have died if it was malpositioned, weak, etc.

if you are going to do it, know that it is likely that the chick is going to die if you intervene, AND if you do not, it's almost certain. you could take it a day or 2 overdue and see if it makes the pip on the wrong end of the shell.

can you take it into a pitch dark room and candle it? specifically the abdomen area, between the legs which you can see from the top, I am wanting to know if the yolk is absorbed. you may be able to see a hollow area, this is a graphic from the Goose guide linked in my signature below:

 

Graphics showing the appearence on candling of the unabsorbed yolk and blood vessels (left) and absorbed yolk and vessels as a 'hollow' void appears (right)

 

Wow good photo of the egg and putting a hole in the membrane was a smart move so have you gotten anymore movement form the little guy since the photo was taken ....

Maybe a light splash of warm water on the membrane to keep it from sticking to him .....

Sadly he died before I could figure out where his beak was. But on a better note all the other babies hatched so I'm proud that my first hatch I got 7/8 babies including two upside down ones they're so gorgeous I might explode. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice

 

[Farmer Viola]

And to get in under the wire at least 1 Rouen egg is externally pipped. Was due the 1st but close enough.

Chickens are pipping everywhere. So far I have for sure 2 BSL (1/1) 1 RIR and 3 MP.

Only 1 other RIR is pipping that I can see so hoping I get a couple more. Pulled a clear, somehow missed at LD. WLH,MP and BSL are 75%+/- pipped externally. Might have to play swap chicks/eggs with Broody #1 if she'll accept them. Will have a couple nice days if the hatching stays strong.

congrats! very nice hatch

Sadly he died before I could figure out where his beak was. But on a better note all the other babies hatched so I'm proud that my first hatch I got 7/8 babies including two upside down ones

they're so gorgeous I might explode. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice

so sorry to hear it. if you do an eggtopsy make sure to note its position, it may come in handy in the future. still a fantastic hatch rate! nice job

day 22 / 23 starting -
of 6 eggs, 5 have hatched so far! one egg is left in the incubator. it has been cheeping and wiggling away for nearly a day, when I candled it tonight it seems like the entire air cell is tiny, or almost full of dark chick body. I think I can still see where the beak is internally pipped. the egg itself is a pullet egg and it's not tiny, but it's not full size... I'm worried the chick is overgrown the shell. I am planning to make a small pip hole at the top so that it at least won't run out of air..

day 23- I made a hole in the top of the egg and I could see a chick was literally right there under the shell, inside the air cell. i don't know if this hatching position was normal, it seemed crazy that the chick was inside the air cell like that. there was no air cell left, the beak was poking into the AC and breathing but it had gotten very quiet around the 24hr mark. after I opened it, it became very loud again (could breathe again?). the membrane was white and looked to have veins in it, I put it back in the incubator and went to bed.

I put it back and this morning, it had ZIPPED (color me surprised) halfway but was yellowing and drying. I helped chip away the rest of the zip circle, I could see it was fully absorbed (7hrs later) and no veins were in the membrane anymore. I put it back in the incubator and it just now hatched the rest of the way out on it's own!

that's 6/6 woohoo!

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

Have 18/63 out so far for chickens and pips everywhere. Also 1 Rouen pip and another ready to zip. These guys started a little early but maybe nearby chicks in hatcher started something and they wanna race. At least 2 RIR, 3-4 WLH , 5+MP and rest are BSL (Looking the 50/50 it spose to be.) After week end will have a full count but going great right now.

 

[MemeGeorge]

can't get over this little duck

 

[missnu01]

What is BSL? The acronyms get me...lol

 

[gander007]

can't get over this little duck

Oh so cute .....

 

[Kim Z]

What is BSL? The acronyms get me...lol

Me too! Is there a master acronym list we can use for a cheat sheet??? I think bsl is "black sex link"?