Serama Hatch-A-Long!!

[formerchickenlass]

So I'm on day 20 with my shipped eggs. One pipped today, yay!

The bad news is the rest are deceased. I candled each & none looked alive or internally pipped. I then carefully broke into the top of each one. One embryo must've died earlier on (perhaps that was the undeveloped looking one from pics above). All I could see was yellow and veins.

Another looked developed & in position but had a bad odor and bad fluid. The rest looked like they got into position, & one did actually break the membrane into its air sac, but all are motionless. I put them back in, just in case (not the smelly one), because you always read stories about people who mistakenly threw out a viable chick, but dead is pretty obvious.

So sad to get so close. I really hope the pipped one makes it & doesn't have something wrong internally that will rear up in the next couple weeks!

I'm wondering whether there's something more or different I could've done. Higher humidity, or turned them more, or who knows what. All of my own eggs that were set at the same time have hatched or are pipped. I wish I could know precisely why these didn't make it when they got so far. I assume it's from the rough handling they received en route, but would like to know more about what exactly happens physically inside the egg that can allow that much development but not completion.

 

[formerchickenlass]

I keep wondering whether setting upright and tilting back and forth twice a day wasn't the right thing to do. Maybe they didn't receive enough turning and suffered some malnutrition due to poor circulation. Maybe I ought to have tried half on their side and turned 180 degrees like I do my own eggs.

 

[formerchickenlass]

Does everyone here set their shipped eggs upright and tilt side to side? Does anyone lay them on their sides, or have you tried, and what were the results?

I think keeping them upright while the air cells were wonky was correct, but then I wonder if they should've been placed on their sides as soon as the cells were fixed in place.

 

[formerchickenlass]

Well, I heard some vigorous peeping from the direction of the incubator, checked and discovered this:

So, at least I got one! Which is more than I originally expected given the time of year and fact that the seller didn't drive them to the post office nor have them held for pickup, so they just got sooooo much extra unnecessary jostling. I was shocked so many of them were still going at day 17. I did allow myself to start thinking these last couple days that maybe most of them would hatch. Oh well. But, I'm glad I got to experience some problems. It will help me be able to help others in the future when I begin selling my own eggs regularly.

 

[darkbluespace]

Well, I heard some vigorous peeping from the direction of the incubator, checked and discovered this:

View attachment 1093476

So, at least I got one! Which is more than I originally expected given the time of year and fact that the seller didn't drive them to the post office nor have them held for pickup, so they just got sooooo much extra unnecessary jostling. I was shocked so many of them were still going at day 17. I did allow myself to start thinking these last couple days that maybe most of them would hatch. Oh well. But, I'm glad I got to experience some problems. It will help me be able to help others in the future when I begin selling my own eggs regularly.

It's hard when such hope dissolves into disappointment. That is the reality of shipped eggs I think and why I try to restrain myself these days. I have had people have great hatches with my eggs though, even across country. I think the incubator makes a big difference.

I am glad you got a chick. That is a bit easier to swallow.
I dont know how much driving to the post office can save eggs from the harsh bumps and drops of the system in general. I kind of think it is a miracle that any egg could ever hatch under such conditions.

 

[formerchickenlass]

I kind of think it is a miracle that any egg could ever hatch under such conditions.

Agreed.

I'll have to find a suitable name for this chick that reflects its miracle status but maybe something not so on the nose.

Do you let usps pick up your hatching eggs or drive them yourself? I assumed it would make a big difference in temperatures and vibrations the eggs were exposed to, but if you tell me that yours get picked up and still hatch then I'll know that's one less thing for me to worry about.

 

[WVduckchick]

You just never know how the handling in between stops is going to be! So i just try not to worry about it now.

My big kicker with hatching seramas is assisting. I don't let them sit as long as i do other breeds. Once they pip, even if it's just an internal, then one way or another, that chick is coming out!

 

[Windy's Feathered Friends]

I'm in love with Serama's! I lived in Indonesia and had them there as pets. I'm hoping the eggs I bought come out nice!

 

[darkbluespace]

I'm in love with Serama's! I lived in Indonesia and had them there as pets. I'm hoping the eggs I bought come out nice!

Seramas are wonderful! How are you hatching your eggs? Were they shipped? Let us know how they do!!

 

[Windy's Feathered Friends]

Seramas are wonderful! How are you hatching your eggs? Were they shipped? Let us know how they do!!

I bought them on eBay and it's day 6. Not a single vein on those yet. ;(