2015 HALLOWEEN Hatch-a-Long, Join us IF YOU DARE!

[Cynthia12]

That's great, I am getting excited for mine to hatch. I lock down tomorrow night.

I am in lock down today. Getting my humidity up where I want it this morning. We will have chicks popping out on the same day.

 

[Cynthia12]

I use the low humidity method and increase humidity to 65-70% for lock down.

Wow, Do you get good hatches with the humidity that high for lock down? I just hatched some silkies..didn't go higher than 50%, and they came out quite wet! They tend to drown if in the 70%..usually done for ducks, geese..wait, are you hatching ducks with this humidity?

 

[Cynthia12]

My first one is out too! Yeah. One more zipping and pips everywhere.

Is that baby a blue? I love the blues.

Araucanas...


Araucanas, OE's and an older Silkie singleton...


And of course there's always one...

Soo cute when the stretch out..they are so happy to be able to!

AAHHH!!!
Soooo sweet!
You're lucky...I noticed a little "off" smell when I came home & looked all over my bedroom...it was coming from the tiny incubator on my night stand...my egg smelled funky from the air hole...I lit it up & there was still no movement...I put it in a zippy bag & cracked it open & it was a slimy blob with some green...so, no Halloween chick for me, I guess there's always next year...

This is my favorite month & so far, this month bites

Aww, brush it off, tonight is Halloween, get dressed up, get out and have some fun with friends/family.

 

[Cynthia12]

I had 2 chicks hatch this morning! Both Mille Fleur Duccles! 2 more pips left in the bator. And 2 more eggs left to pip! Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween for you!

Here are my chicks that have hatched so far and moved to the brooder (except the white silkie isn't mine)

Wow, that's a lot of chicks! Nice! Love all of the colors!

 

[Cynthia12]

How many times can I say HAPPY HALLOWEEN!? Well let's see........................................

 

[chicapee]

Araucanas...

Araucanas, OE's and an older Silkie singleton...

And of course there's always one...

They are lovely.

 

[Ravynscroft]

AAHHH!!!
Soooo sweet!
You're lucky...I noticed a little "off" smell when I came home & looked all over my bedroom...it was coming from the tiny incubator on my night stand...my egg smelled funky from the air hole...I lit it up & there was still no movement...I put it in a zippy bag & cracked it open & it was a slimy blob with some green...so, no Halloween chick for me, I guess there's always next year...

This is my favorite month & so far, this month bites

Awwww.... so sorry, hon!!

Try again... that little chicky needs some friends... Seramas are hard, shipped Seramas are even harder... tell her @TJChickens!

They are lovely.

Thanks... got a Silkie popped out this morn too... will get pics later...

 

[chicapee]

Wow,  Do you get good hatches with the humidity that high for lock down?  I just hatched some silkies..didn't go higher than 50%, and they came out quite wet!   They tend to drown if in the 70%..usually done for ducks, geese..wait, are you hatching ducks with this humidity? 

I gradually increase it over the 3 days to about 70 when I see the first pip and have great hatches. I had 73% hatch last time on shipped eggs. I won't lock down until tonight. Check the aircells. And decide how much water to add. It is 70% rh in the house at the moment. I only added a small amount of water on day 7, because humidity was quite low that week and the cells grew quickly. They were right on track for day 14. The humidity has been around 40% in the bator without water since day 14. I set mine at about 10:30 pm. Mine usually pip day 20 and finish hatching day 21. Roll on Tuesday.

 

[TJChickens]

I'm glad you got two!

I think I might try for Turkey Day, yeah.

No reason to quit I suppose, as long as there may still be eggs at least.
I don't know. I think if anything I may try cooking some more...I wonder if a Brinsea mini would really be much better. Prizepete got down to just one egg also in a Brinsea. Maybe I just need to try again. It takes a bit to learn this hatching thing with Serama, right? Or am I just not catching on fast?

As long as you enjoy trying..you have another shipment coming from me. You are up against some odds though. How do I put this politely....I have no faith at all in those incubators. If you are sure that you have really good thermometers that you can trust, that's a great thing. Humidity, you seem to be on top of it. The turning ...? Not so sure about those little bators.
And.... you are trying to hatch one of the most difficult of chickens- from shipped eggs. I know other breeders who won't ship Serama eggs because of this. I will, but I usually end up shipping a second batch to give better odds. Sometimes, someone will surprise me and hatch about half the eggs. It took me awhile to build my Serama flock, hatching one or two, sometimes none from shipped eggs.
If you don't care much for hatching eggs, and all you want is a buddy for your little girl, you might consider having one shipped to you. If you really want to hatch your own, keep on trying, it will happen. Only you can justify the expense of another incubator and how much use you would get out of it. I guess you could always resell it if you get something like a Brinsea. Even a styro-bator would be better. We understand those well.
So don't kick yourself, at all. and get out there and do something for Halloween! We'll work on a Thanksgiving chick....or a Christmas chick....

 

[Cynthia12]