12th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-Along

[spartacus_63]

Of 30 set: broke one candling on day 4, one blood ring and three unfertilized. 25 with good development. 20 of those with active movement.

Due to mechanical issues with my primary incubator, I had to switch to a Farm Innovations incubator and I am not impressed with them. There are large fluctuations in temperature throughout the incubator. I am happy with the egg performance so far, but I haven't uncrossed my fingers yet...

 

[BullChick]

Of 30 set: broke one candling on day 4, one blood ring and three unfertilized. 25 with good development. 20 of those with active movement.

Due to mechanical issues with my primary incubator, I had to switch to a Farm Innovations incubator and I am not impressed with them. There are large fluctuations in temperature throughout the incubator. I am happy with the egg performance so far, but I haven't uncrossed my fingers yet...

Did you install a fan?

 

[Honora]

I'm sorry! Is there anything different about this hatch? Eggs from a different source? Same incubator? Could the turner be off?

I set my own eggs again this time. The only thing I did differently was that the incubator was on the floor this time and on top of a cabinet the last time. So I wonder if it is colder on the floor or something? The cabinet is gone now so maybe I should find something else to put the incubator on.

 

[Honora]

Not likely anything you did.
In my experience this happens more often with shipped eggs.

It's my own hens'eggs though! Very mysterious.

 

[BullChick]

It is mysterious.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I set my own eggs again this time. The only thing I did differently was that the incubator was on the floor this time and on top of a cabinet the last time. So I wonder if it is colder on the floor or something? The cabinet is gone now so maybe I should find something else to put the incubator on.

It's my own hens'eggs though! Very mysterious.

I would have to look back as to why but I have heard that it's not a good idea to keep incubators on the floor. For some reason I feel like it had something to do with air quality. Maybe someone else here knows.
That may or may not have anything to do with the quitters. Sometimes it just happens. For example, maybe some kind of stress on your flock. I have more quitters in the middle of summertime here. The eggs are all still treated exactly the same, aren't left out in the heat (usually), but it seems that different types of stress on the hens can also affect viability. I've been documenting it for a couple years and specific months of the year are the same with a higher number of early quitters and while I didn't document it as thoroughly I even noticed a difference from the same flocks when there was rain in the summer, it improved the viability, I'm assuming because of lower temps while it was raining putting less stress on the hens even though it was still mid summer.
Maybe I'll attempt a more thorough home experiment on this myself this year.

Anyway, I'm going down a rabbit hole, lol, my first step would be to elevate the incubator like you had it before.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Yay, shipped eggs have arrived and my own silkie girls just started laying, so I am placing one in with the shipped eggs as a kind of "control", as I have had horrible hatch rates with shipped eggs recently. Want to check my incubators and methods. I have 14 altogether, 13 paint and one from my lovely splash girl (white roo), Layla.

 

[BullChick]

Yay, shipped eggs have arrived and my own silkie girls just started laying, so I am placing one in with the shipped eggs as a kind of "control", as I have had horrible hatch rates with shipped eggs recently. Want to check my incubators and methods. I have 14 altogether, 13 paint and one from my lovely splash girl (white roo), Layla.

 

[ronott1]

Post office not on time (surprising, right ). Eggs will be here tomorrow morning. I will set in the afternoon. Is it too late?

Quail will count until the 23rd

 

[ronott1]

When I first started out (first 2):View attachment 2577595View attachment 2577596first stages of development on day 4, with steady heartbeats. This one's a buff:View attachment 2577597
Day 7 ~ first stages of movement (next 5):
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One of my white cresteds on day 4 (not a blood ring):
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Day 8 with some beautiful veins all around the embryo, along with developing eyes & ears (khaki campbell) (next 2 photos):
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The best I could do trying to photograph the little duckie feet(this photo as well as the next 3 after the cayuga egg):
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One of my Cayugas developing perfectly on day 5:
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Other duck feet photos. (Also, I took a video where you can see them moving and its so much easier to see. It melts your heart. If anyone wants to see it, just ask and I'll invite you to a pm.
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awesome candling pictures!