Setting 41 on 6-15, 7-8, 7-31, and 8-23 feel free to join in at any time

[holm25]

Yeah my temp rose alot.

 

[holm25]

4 days til hatch day!! They shoulf start the 4th or even 3rd!!!!

 

[NTBugtraq]

I candled my pea eggs tonight. I am really happy that I got the humidity down. The air cell lines look "cleaner", more defined, and they have gotten bigger. Someone on a pea thread said it wouldn't matter this late in the game (1 week to go) but I can already see an improvement in the 24hrs since I lowered humidity. The majority of pea hatchers are having malpostitioned chicks. Therefore I think I will stop turning tomorrow (day 21 of 28), run 25% humidity, candle (quickly) each night and as soon as I see an internal pip go into lockdown. Would it be crazy to do things so not by the book, if that's what your gut is telling you to do??

How is everyone else's progress going? Not much longer now!!

I know you've read all that I have Ruby, so I say go with your gut...at least you can understand why you want to do it the way you are. I didn't go with my gut during my last hatch and that turned out disastrously...

I was supposed to candle and weigh both of my bators yesterday but got tied up in other things, so today is going to be an indoor day...I'll post observations later.

 

[WalnutHill]

I candled my pea eggs tonight. I am really happy that I got the humidity down. The air cell lines look "cleaner", more defined, and they have gotten bigger. Someone on a pea thread said it wouldn't matter this late in the game (1 week to go) but I can already see an improvement in the 24hrs since I lowered humidity. The majority of pea hatchers are having malpostitioned chicks. Therefore I think I will stop turning tomorrow (day 21 of 28), run 25% humidity, candle (quickly) each night and as soon as I see an internal pip go into lockdown. Would it be crazy to do things so not by the book, if that's what your gut is telling you to do??

How is everyone else's progress going? Not much longer now!!

Ruby,

Other than the end humidity (I've had best success with turkeys right around 70%) I do exactly that. My poults, especially my crossbreeds, grow too big to turn in the shell if I pull them from the turner at the "normal" time. So I pull from the turner and lay them on their sides when they show just a thin (1/4") line of amniotic fluid under the air cell, and then start raising humidity on internal pip.

I've also gotten quite aggressive with breaking them out, force hatching 4 of 4 last batch. I am breeding a large tom to a much smaller hen who lays small eggs, and the poults are huge. My losses at hatch were over 50%, now virtually none.

And I'll join this HAL...I set a dozen turkey eggs on June 14-19 so they will be trickling out starting next weekend.

 

[NTBugtraq]

And I'll join this HAL...I set a dozen turkey eggs on June 14-19 so they will be trickling out starting next weekend.

Welcome aboard!!

So here are my updates for both my hatches;

Hatch #1: 41 in a Hovabator 1588 with auto-egg-turner, day 17.

I've been running that hatch fairly dry, mostly under 30% except for a few days after day 11 as I had noticed that the weight loss was higher than I wanted it to be. I got it up to 45% by day 13, and its down to 27% today. My average weight loss is 11.33%, and the ideal is 10.52%, so pretty good. I still have one questionable clear (I know, I shouldn't at this stage but the shell is so dark I really can't tell), but assuming it is clear my rooster is giving me 90.24% fertile eggs. Of the fertile, I have a 94.29% viable rate. So right now I am looking at getting 35 out of this hatch.

Hach #2: 48 in a Brinsea Octo ADV EX with humidity pump, day 8.
I have been "leaving em alone" as @scflock recommends. Unfortunately, that led to me forgetting to fill the humidity pump reservoir up...

I don't know precisely when it ran out, but the humidity had dropped to 31% (from 45%) by the time I noticed. It quickly got back up to 45% after a refill. Found one egg today which had cracked at some point, possibly when I put it in, so culled that out. The fertility rate of these 48 is at 89.58% today, although I am questioning 4 of the 5 clears...so have left them in. I have 4 potential red rings (died during incubation), and the one that cracked. So, at this point, I feel fairly confident I have 38 viable eggs there.

So, all-in-all good hatches so far. I am going to take the eggs out of the turner in the Hovabator tomorrow, and then bump the humidity up to 65%. Since my weight loss in that bator has been slightly higher than ideal, I'm not really worried about them not having big enough air sacs. I am going to be away the entire morning of day 19, which is when I had many of my hatches last set...so

I hope everyone else's hatches are doing great!!

 

[RubyNala97]

Ruby, 

Other than the end humidity (I've had best success with turkeys right around 70%) I do exactly that.  My poults, especially my crossbreeds, grow too big to turn in the shell if I pull them from the turner at the "normal" time.  So I pull from the turner and lay them on their sides when they show just a thin (1/4") line of amniotic fluid under the air cell, and then start raising humidity on internal pip.

I've also gotten quite aggressive with breaking them out, force hatching 4 of 4 last batch.  I am breeding a large tom to a much smaller hen who lays small eggs, and the poults are huge.  My losses at hatch were over 50%, now virtually none.

And I'll join this HAL...I set a dozen turkey eggs on June 14-19 so they will be trickling out starting next weekend.

I like that term "force hatch". Honestly, that's all I keep reading from pea hatchers. Even posting pic of going in and getting them out. I'm scared to do this!! But knowledge is power. I keep reading and asking questions. I'm ok with assisting once there is an internal pip. No issue there really. But if I have to go in and open the inner membrane myself, that freaks me out! Do you make an internal pip for them?? How do you know it's the right time?

 

[NTBugtraq]

I like that term "force hatch". Honestly, that's all I keep reading from pea hatchers. Even posting pic of going in and getting them out. I'm scared to do this!! But knowledge is power. I keep reading and asking questions. I'm ok with assisting once there is an internal pip. No issue there really. But if I have to go in and open the inner membrane myself, that freaks me out! Do you make an internal pip for them?? How do you know it's the right time?

Ruby, I found this article from Sally Sunshine on Assisting hatches to be an excellent read, and it covers all of the questions you've mentioned.

 

[WalnutHill]

I like that term "force hatch". Honestly, that's all I keep reading from pea hatchers. Even posting pic of going in and getting them out. I'm scared to do this!! But knowledge is power. I keep reading and asking questions. I'm ok with assisting once there is an internal pip. No issue there really. But if I have to go in and open the inner membrane myself, that freaks me out! Do you make an internal pip for them?? How do you know it's the right time?

If there is no external pip within 6 hours of internal pip (as evidenced by peeping or candling), I open a hole into the air cell to allow the poult to breathe. By this time it has already opened the inner membrane, so I don't have a concern there. One of the challenges is that often the poult gets stuck while rotating, having chipped off shell during zipping but not torn the membrane, and it ends up suffocating.

Once I've made that hole into the air cell, I stay hands off for another 6-8 hours and hope the poult zips. If not, I open the air cell to a quarter-sized hole and examine the inner membrane. If no sign of blood vessels, I open the shell down to the inner membrane and then, if still no fresh blood vessels, I chip the shell down a little more (just shy of the widest part of the egg) and roll the membrane over the shell edge. By this time the poult should have absorbed all the yolk and is ready to join the world. They will rest up a bit then push out when ready.

I don't rush the poult out, I just try to ensure that it's not suffocated in an eggshell coffin.

 

[holm25]

Well 2 days til hatch!! I went into lock down on day 14 just to see how that works. Hatch day is actually the 5th but I know it will start tomorrow or the 4th. I haven't been home to check the bator in 5days so I hope the temps OK. I'll tell u all what is going on with it when I get home!!

 

[RubyNala97]

I cracked open the egg that a suspected had quit. Well, I was right. Looks like it quit around day 7. So I was actually wrong about the movement I thought I had seen in the egg. The movement was coming from me moving the egg. The interesting thing is that the inner membrane had ripped. It was all liquid and a tiny chick. I'm thinking the inner membrane was already open because the contents had probably started decomposing. Idk. But I'm down to 5 eggs now. Fingers crossed for at least 2 chicks!

If there is no external pip within 6 hours of internal pip (as evidenced by peeping or candling), I open a hole into the air cell to allow the poult to breathe.  By this time it has already opened the inner membrane, so I don't have a concern there.  One of the challenges is that often the poult gets stuck while rotating, having chipped off shell during zipping but not torn the membrane, and it ends up suffocating.  

Once I've made that hole into the air cell, I stay hands off for another 6-8 hours and hope the poult zips.  If not, I open the air cell to a quarter-sized hole and examine the inner membrane.  If no sign of blood vessels, I open the shell down to the inner membrane and then, if still no fresh blood vessels, I chip the shell down a little more (just shy of the widest part of the egg) and roll the membrane over the shell edge.  By this time the poult should have absorbed all the yolk and is ready to join the world.  They will rest up a bit then push out when ready.

I don't rush the poult out, I just try to ensure that it's not suffocated in an eggshell coffin.

Thank you for this!! I understand completely what you are saying. And thank you for the time frames. That I needed to know. Do you ever go into an egg that hasn't internally pipped? Or just let nature take its course?