My buff orpingtons have begun hatching!

[hens4chri]

Sunday, 3 weeks ago, I started 36 Buff Orpington eggs. Over the 3 weeks, the temp fluxuated as much as 3 degrees. I feared the worst. Yesterday morning, we left, knowing the eggs shouldn't start hatching until tomorrow. When we returned today, 6 chick were just hatched out and 2 more were working hard. We now have 8 out and 3 working hard. I wonder if certain breeds hatch earlier? Also a friend told me that BO's are not early layers and not to expect eggs until Sept now. Any thoughts?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Sunday, 3 weeks ago, I started 36 Buff Orpington eggs. Over the 3 weeks, the temp fluxuated as much as 3 degrees. I feared the worst. Yesterday morning, we left, knowing the eggs shouldn't start hatching until tomorrow. When we returned today, 6 chick were just hatched out and 2 more were working hard. We now have 8 out and 3 working hard. I wonder if certain breeds hatch earlier? Also a friend told me that BO's are not early layers and not to expect eggs until Sept now. Any thoughts?

Other than bantams, standards generally hatch day 21 unless temps are higher/lower than optimal conditions. Running a little cool will likely cause delays and running a little warm will generally cause early hatches. BOs are expected to lay between 5-7 months.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

 

[hens4chri]

good info. Thanks

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You're welcome.

 

[hens4chri]

Our final count: We had 27 chicks who cracked their shells and tried to get out. Of those, 7 never successfully hatched. I don't think I kept the incubator moist enough in the early days of the incubation period. The membranes were so tough that the chicks seemed to really struggle with breaking it. We had 5 breach chicks. That seems like a lot to me. I assisted 1 of those getting out, and he kept resting on his shoulders with his head tucked under him to his/her vent..... just like he was still in the egg. He was either one that died or he fixed himself. He was very cute. We had 3 or 4 chicks that had what appeared to be broken legs. I can only assume they hatched out at night and the egg turner broke their legs. I have to do more research on the egg turner and whether I can remove it immediately once the hatch begins.
Ultimately, 15 survived. 8 failed to develop at all. They are a few days over a week old. We went away for the weekend and traveled with the chicks and they did great. I take them down to the garden and let them spend an hour in the grass. It was a good experience, but the injuries and struggles of the hatch were very traumatic for me and obviously for the chicks that didn't make it.
We used a Little Giant.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Our final count: We had 27 chicks who cracked their shells and tried to get out. Of those, 7 never successfully hatched. I don't think I kept the incubator moist enough in the early days of the incubation period. The membranes were so tough that the chicks seemed to really struggle with breaking it. We had 5 breach chicks. That seems like a lot to me. I assisted 1 of those getting out, and he kept resting on his shoulders with his head tucked under him to his/her vent..... just like he was still in the egg. He was either one that died or he fixed himself. He was very cute. We had 3 or 4 chicks that had what appeared to be broken legs. I can only assume they hatched out at night and the egg turner broke their legs. I have to do more research on the egg turner and whether I can remove it immediately once the hatch begins.
Ultimately, 15 survived. 8 failed to develop at all. They are a few days over a week old. We went away for the weekend and traveled with the chicks and they did great. I take them down to the garden and let them spend an hour in the grass. It was a good experience, but the injuries and struggles of the hatch were very traumatic for me and obviously for the chicks that didn't make it.
We used a Little Giant.

The turner should be removed at lockdown. It's easy for them to get injured or cause spraddle leg on the slippery surface of the turner. Many problems like that you have to look at the temps and humidity during hatch too. Did you brace the chicks for spraddle leg? Did you stop turning the eggs at lockdown? What day did the hatchers hatch on?

 

[hens4chri]

Because they started hatching 36 hours early, and because we hadn't hatched eggs for a decade or more, we were perplexed as to what to do about the turner. We didnt remove it as we should have. We didn't splint, but should have. I did check the temps and humidity often, but since I had calibrated the thermometer and tested the incubator, I realized that the tiniest adjustment in the thermometer would result in a deadly temperature change, I didn't dare change the heater. The humidity was much harder to maintain and I will have to figure out a way to maintain a more steady humidity. I wound up keeping a wet sponge in the incubator, but didn't figure that out until very late in the hatch.
I'm hoping for a broody hen this year. Until such comes along, I'll be doing more research on what works best with my incubator, which has a fan (I think that's part of what kept it so dry).

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Because they started hatching 36 hours early, and because we hadn't hatched eggs for a decade or more, we were perplexed as to what to do about the turner. We didnt remove it as we should have. We didn't splint, but should have. I did check the temps and humidity often, but since I had calibrated the thermometer and tested the incubator, I realized that the tiniest adjustment in the thermometer would result in a deadly temperature change, I didn't dare change the heater. The humidity was much harder to maintain and I will have to figure out a way to maintain a more steady humidity. I wound up keeping a wet sponge in the incubator, but didn't figure that out until very late in the hatch.
I'm hoping for a broody hen this year. Until such comes along, I'll be doing more research on what works best with my incubator, which has a fan (I think that's part of what kept it so dry).

I run dry and use a sponge in the bator to hold it at 30% ish for the first 17 days. (I have the lg 9200- also with the fan kit- so I know about those knobs being touchy.) Works great and at the first sign of the temp starting to increase I check my sponge and usually it's drying up so I rewet it and the temp evens right back out. If I can hold around the 30% dry with no water then I run dry and my temps usually don't fluctuate that much. 36 hours early is a sign that the heat was a little higher for the average. Mine usually start hatching around day 19 because if I can get my bator to hold steady around 100-101 I leave it alone, cause I'm not playing with that dial either....lol

Here's how I do it with the LG 9200 with the fan kit installed:
http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity
http://hatching411.weebly.com/

 

[hens4chri]

Thanks. I though I was running it a bit warm, but the thermometer callibrated as 2 degrees overstated, so I did what I thought was right and kept it at a reading of 101. Next time, I'll run it at the 99.5. My incubator and turner came with very rudimentary instructions and I wish I had done more research. Generally, I over research everything, so I thought I had it down pat.