Serama Hatch-A-Long!!

[Fluffyserama]

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I mostly think you had really bad luck, in the sense that only your roosters hatched, or that they were destined to mostly be roosters anyway. I do imagine that the ones that didn't hatch were the pullets. If you are open to helping some of those hatch, which, with Seramas, is not a bad idea. I find the chicks I help to be very healthy.

In any case, as long as you can hatch one of each... (assuming you don't have those five hens anymore) then you are in business and can see how the gender balance works in your new flock and your own eggs. When you have 100% hatches, which my broody hens often do, then you can get a clear picture of the gender balance. When so many eggs don't hatch, who can say?

I do agree that it seems like the girls are the ones that never made it out of the shell. I suppose I'm just looking for a hidden reason why. I didn't assist with the 1st hatch but I did with the 2nd and 3rd. Of the 5 girls I'm only certain of one that hatched without help. The rest I'm pretty sure are the ones I assisted, but their coloration as chicks was exactly the same as 2 of the boys so I might be wrong on assuming all of them ( but i don't think i am


No I don't have any of my original serama's. I could get pullets and chicks from their descendants, but they are now a small bantam barnyard mix breed and not what I want as the base of my new flock


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I've been going over the incubation notes from my previous serama hatches and thought I would share them;

All eggs are given 24 hours rest after shipping before going into the incubator. I have an egg turner I use to keep air cells upright at the beginning of incubation, but with shipped eggs I hand turn until day 3. The egg turner has sizes for both chicken and quail, so If there are super small eggs I put them in the quail size. I don't count eggs as viable if they remain clear by day 10. All eggs small enough to fall through the chicken sized turner have remained clear. I don't up the humidity until I see or expect the first external pip.

First Hatch: Temp. 100*-101* Humidity 50-60% for incubation 60-70% for hatch- 16 eggs started - 10 viable eggs - 4 living chicks.
On the eggtopsy of the first hatch, I had 6 fully developed chicks, most with egg sacks absorbed, all internally piped, all with fluid in the air cell. I'm thinking humidity was too high and they all drowned in the shell.

Second hatch: Temp.100*-101* I changed to dry incubation. Humidity around 40% for incubation 60-65% for hatch- 14 eggs started - 10 viable eggs - 4 living chicks
I found my toddler aged nephew playing with the eggs on day 18. They started hatching on day 19. 3 survivors hatched themselves, 1 needed help, but survived. One made it mostly out of its shell over the course of the first night but bled to death all over the incubator. I did not assist, just found it in the morning. 1 piped externally but seemed to need help, when I opened a hole I found it was already bleeding in the shell. It did not make it. The rest had no movement or noises coming from them, and I did not have the heart to look at more fully formed, dead chicks in an eggtopsy.
.................................This hatch was nothing more than really poor luck and bad child supervision.......................

Third hatch: Temp. 99*-101* Dry incubation, Humidity around 40% for incubation 70% for hatch- 27 eggs started- 24 viable eggs - 17 living chicks
I moved my Incubator to a toddler safe area, but had to give up some temp control in the new spot. During warm days the Incubator had small spikes toward the high end so I tried to keep the base temp a degree lower so as not to exceed 102* during a spike. Day 19-20, 13 chicks hatched unassisted. Day 20-21, 4 needed help out of shell. Day 23 no egg movement or noise. Eggtopsy results. 1 live chick internally piped, egg sack absorbed, most blood vessels absorbed. Very weak, died latter that day still mostly inside shell. 3 chicks with egg sack un-absorbed internally piped with no free fluid in air cell. 3 eggs that quit between day 9-15

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I got my eggs today! The box was pretty beat up, but was packed very well! The eggs look OK at first glance, no visible cracks. I'm going to candle them tonight and see what I really have. Hopefully they can go in the incubator tomorrow, bad cells will get a little more time.

All in all I think I've had pretty good luck getting chicks despite some bad circumstances. I just hope I can duplicate the survivor % of my last hatch, but with hopefully more hens.
I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[Fluffyserama]

So I candled the eggs and their looking kinda rough.

No cracks what so ever (so that's good.....) but almost all have detached air cells, and two have secondary air bubbles on the side. 3 others look like they may be scrambled beyond hope. I think I'm gonna have to baby these more than I have other eggs. I do have to give big thanks to TJchickens! With how bad the box looked I have to say the great packing is the only reason I have any hope of getting a live chick.

I did add a computer fan to the incubator but am having a hard time regulating the temp. If I can't get it evened out by tomorrow, I'm going to try going back to still air and hope for the best.
I am preparing myself for a bad hatch and reordering eggs towards September.

 

[Fluffyserama]

So here is the update!


I got the fan issues under control and put the eggs in Friday afternoon. To handle the detached air cells I have them in the egg turner to keep them upright, but am going to hand turn the entire time.
I saw signs that 3 eggs might be totally scrambled, but put them in anyway just to be on the safe side.
We are about 72 hours in. This afternoon when I opened the incubator to turn I caught a faint whiff of smell. I had an egg explode on me once during hatch out, I don't want a repeat so I candled way earlier than I usually do. I'm seeing veining on 13 of the eggs so that has me exited! However on 2 of the expected scrambles I'm seeing multiple bubbles in the eggs. I watched one start at the bottom and move up the egg, then hang up near the air cell, but the bubbles don't combine. I'm thinking they are starting to go rotten and off gassing. I've never tossed eggs this early, but the smell has me concerned. I don't see bacteria rings. Has anyone else experienced something like this?

 

[formerchickenlass]

I'm thinking they are starting to go rotten and off gassing. I've never tossed eggs this early, but the smell has me concerned. I don't see bacteria rings. Has anyone else experienced something like this?

I haven't experienced this, but I say trust your gut. There's a smell and two look off. You've got a lot of potentials. Don't risk them.

 

[formerchickenlass]

Seramas are hard enough to hatch, lol.

 

[Fluffyserama]

Thanks. I think I've been lucky with shipped eggs. Never had to deal with really bad air cells and scrambles before. We'll see how the rest develop.

Crossing my fingers.

 

[darkbluespace]

Thanks. I think I've been lucky with shipped eggs. Never had to deal with really bad air cells and scrambles before. We'll see how the rest develop.

Crossing my fingers.

Shipped eggs are hard! Were they shipped from very far? I would think shipped eggs could start to smell sooner if they are scrambled inside.

 

[Fluffyserama]

Shipped eggs are hard! Were they shipped from very far? I would think shipped eggs could start to smell sooner if they are scrambled inside.

Not terribly far away. They arrived in less than two days, but the box was pretty beat up.

I did an eggtopsy on the two I removed, they where scrambles. I have 3 more I'm thinking are toast as well

 

[Fluffyserama]

So I cracked open all the clears today. Most of them had broken yolks if not full scrambles. Another 4 look like early quiters but are still in the incubator. 8 are doing good and moving around, but 3 have really funky looking air cells. We'll see how they do

 

[MissMotherHen]

Hello! I am new to BYC, but since this is a serama hatch-a-long I decided to pop in! So with that being said... I currently have two broody seramas. One is sitting on 7 and the other is sitting on 6! They have been sitting since early on this past Friday, and I candled them today... So far 7 have visible veins!!! So exciting this is my first time hatching chicks. And i can't wait to see what happens!