12th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-Along

[JaeG]

I use my flash from cell phone for candling, so on which day is you?. For me just started day 6 and i see something in dark eggs to

My eggs are blue and green and after day 4 I couldn't see anything but darkness in there. I do have some cockatiel eggs in my incubator too so I'm getting my candling fix from them. Today is day 10 for my chicken eggs as I'm in the southern hemisphere so a day ahead.

 

[Kiki]

I'm still waiting for egg to arrive but I went ahead and set a few homegrown eggs just in case my mail ordered ones don't arrive so I can participate.

There is still a chance the mail ordered ones arrive today.
If they do my set number will change. Once I'm sure of the number I'll post again.

 

[Cynthia12]

And is it bad candle eggs everyday ? I must turn them manually so i must touch them anyway( and i do everything turning and candling in 2 min or less.

I'm a candlaholic! Sometimes. I candle when I'm worried about about certain ones. Then I think, might as well see how the others are doing.

 

[Cynthia12]

One baby here, another is almost out.

 

[LynnaePB]

For all of those having trouble with the refrigerator eggs, I have a very important question. Are you 100% sure you didn’t shake them between the nest, the counter, the sink, the refrigerator, and to the incubator?
Complete turns will cause a bad hatch rate, shaking will, and touching with dirty/lotioned hands will.

Back when I collected my fridge eggs I was pretty careful trying to jostle them as little as possible. I try to make sure to wash my hands before handling as well!

Still I can't be sure it was the them being refrigerated that caused the issues. I do find some of my cocks produce eggs that hatch out better than others so perhaps it had more to do with breeding stock that particular hatch. I haven't tried using the father again for other reasons so I can't confirm. Things were easier when I just hatched barnyard mixes, those eggs were super easy to hatch and the chicks were all very hardy!

 

[Cynthia12]

Something I miss. Hatching silkies. We tore down the small breed pen. I may try getting one to go with my flock this year..if I can find any.

 

[Pyxis]

It's the mystery of this thread still waiting to be answered. @CluckNDoodle @Pyxis @ronott1 ???

I didn't read further than this yet so I'm not sure if this has been answered already. But, if not:

Was the incubator checked for accuracy with a thermometer that is known to be accurate? If yes, could there have been a temp spike that was undetected that lasted long enough to kill the eggs?

Lastly, the eggs could have just not been fertile. Not fertilized of course means no chicks. And if they were shipped eggs, they could have been internally in shipping enough so as to cause them to no longer be viable, even if they look fine on the outside.

 

[Cynthia12]

Three babies here! Finally, the one that's been pipped since this morning, then hanging out with a big hole for the day, just hatched. Another pipped, zipped, and hatched within an HR and a half. They're always at different stages even though set on the same day. I have some that haven't even pipped yet, tomorrow is the actual hatch date. I know what's going to happen. I'll be up off and on tonight with hatching babies. So far, these that hatched are triplets. Chipmunk coloring. With the eyeliner. I fully expected reds, buffs and hopefully a black which would have Australorp in it. Still more to come, crossing fingers for the black.

 

[Cynthia12]

Back when I collected my fridge eggs I was pretty careful trying to jostle them as little as possible. I try to make sure to wash my hands before handling as well!

Still I can't be sure it was the them being refrigerated that caused the issues. I do find some of my cocks produce eggs that hatch out better than others so perhaps it had more to do with breeding stock that particular hatch. I haven't tried using the father again for other reasons so I can't confirm. Things were easier when I just hatched barnyard mixes, those eggs were super easy to hatch and the chicks were all very hardy!

Are you hatcing silkies? . I miss that. You have a very good points here. I'll add to the washing hands, as to the why. If you've put lotion on your hands, needs to come off. If you've sprayed perfume on your wrist, needs to come off. Other things come into importance for washing hands. Did you get some peanut butter on your hands while eating that sandwich? .

 

[Josip]

Three babies here! Finally, the one that's been pipped since this morning, then hanging out with a big hole for the day, just hatched. Another pipped, zipped, and hatched within an HR and a half. They're always at different stages even though set on the same day. I have some that haven't even pipped yet, tomorrow is the actual hatch date. I know what's going to happen. I'll be up off and on tonight with hatching babies. So far, these that hatched are triplets. Chipmunk coloring. With the eyeliner. I fully expected reds, buffs and hopefully a black which would have Australorp in it. Still more to come, crossing fingers for the black.

How many eggs you set? Can we see babies pretty pleaseeee