27th or 28th May hatch, looking for buddies

[natchlaly]

Morning all, just a quick check in, beginning of day 20 and the suspence is killing me already

I have been up for less than an hour but must have looked in the bator 15 times even though I know they are not due to hatch til tomorrow and could be late by a day or two due to power outage

glad in one way that I am at work soon cos if I was at home would be rocking by the end of the day

dreading tomorrow is gonna be sooooo intense

I get that nervous I start t feel

until i see that first pip, zip and hatch. Still

for us all

 

[GeoKan]

Quote:
Hey Nactchlaly. Hang in there! I'm so nervous and anxious. I'm beginning to think my incubators aren't up to snuff.

It's early on day 19 and I'm having to fight with my thermostat — giving me pause — wondering if my luck will hold out. I candled the final batch and I'm concerned about the size of the air sacs in my Lakenvelder eggs. They seem monstrous. Take a look at the photos below.

I think I ran the first 18 days too dry. I was relying on my analog hygrometer. The digital one read a between 18 to 24 percent while my analog was reading 40 to 45 percent. I split the two readings thinking it was about 30 percent.

I'll be lucky to see only a couple of chicks — if that. Not feeling very optimistic right now.

 

[Mrs.brown]

Quote:
Hey Nactchlaly. Hang in there! I'm so nervous and anxious. I'm beginning to think my incubators aren't up to snuff.

It's early on day 19 and I'm having to fight with my thermostat — giving me pause — wondering if my luck will hold out. I candled the final batch and I'm concerned about the size of the air sacs in my Lakenvelder eggs. They seem monstrous. Take a look at the photos below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/82123_lankenvelder1.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/82123_lakenvelder2.jpg

I think I ran the first 18 days too dry. I was relying on my analog hygrometer. The digital one read a between 18 to 24 percent while my analog was reading 40 to 45 percent. I split the two readings thinking it was about 30 percent.

I'll be lucky to see only a couple of chicks — if that. Not feeling very optimistic right now.

me either. Mine looked just like yours before they got cooked.

 

[youngjedi32002]

My clutch goes into lockdown on Sunday. Last night, we had a slight scare. The temp spiked up really high (106) but we caught it pretty quickly. It was probably only up for 15-20 min or so because I check my eggs every time I walk by since the incubator is in the main room. The humidity dipped down too (35%) and I had a hard time getting it all to regulate back to where it had been staying. I was pretty happy with where it had been, 100 degrees and 45% humidity. It had been very, very stable. I have no idea what happened or why. I had put in a piece of tin foil over the bulb to deflect the heat because as the eggs have been in there, the heat was rising slightly and I didn't want it to spike. But that deflection didn't stabilize the heat, it lowered it, and I would rather be on the warm side than the cold. It ended up spiking anyway, even after I had gotten it all back to normal and stabilized for a number of hours. I feel that I caught it pretty quickly but I am still worried that damage was done. Have I cooked my eggs? I have a terrible time candling. It's hard to see through the blue shells. Can anyone give me any specifics to look for? Any Araucana pros that have run into trouble like this?

 

[kraftyladies]

When I went to bed last night RH was staying between 70-72. When I woke up this morning it was down to 58%. I hope that's not too significant of a drop??? I brought it back up to 71-72....

 

[fobpatdgurl18]

I'm dying over here. I can't wait. All night last night I kept waking up and checking them. Nothing. I haven't seen any movement or heard anything. No cracks or pips. Today I think I might just go crazy!!! But my wonderful boyfriend has a webcam put on my eggs from outside the incubator. And I can get on my phone (Moto Milestone!) and stream the video on some app my baby found so while I'm at work I can check on my babies. I'm excited and scared all at the same time!

 

[GeoKan]

Quote:
That's awesome Fobpatdgurl18! What's the URL? I'd like to see it.

I did the same thing, so I can watch it like a hawk and phone in orders to my wife and daughters at home.

You can take a peek at mine here. http://geoseggcam.dyndns.tv

 

[MSH]

well I lost all of my standard eggs except 2 they were fully formed but surrounded by like jelly stuff IDK so I went today and bought a hova bator 1602 waiting for it to stabalize and I am moving my bantam eggs to it I'm sooo sad ! I have one standard egg left due to hatch tomorrow I'm hoping it's still alive the shell is to dark for me to see anything but I know it hasn't piped the air sac yet

it sucks so bad they were perfect little chickies and they just didn't hatch who knows with the issues my stupid homemade bator has I know I'll never use it again ! hope every one elses hatches go better !

 

[youngjedi32002]

Quote:
Oh no! I am sooooo sorry! I am nervous now! I think we are using the same home-made type bator---styrofoam cooler and light kit? I am really hoping against hope that some of my chickies make it out! For the past two weeks, I have been thinking I am going to invest in a real incubator with a self-turner and all that jazz and take all the drama out of this!!! I am so super nervous! My bator temp spiked yesterday and I think I caught it in time but this is so nerve wracking! Lockdown on Sunday! Think good thoughts for me!

 

[GeoKan]

Quote:
Oh no! I am sooooo sorry! I am nervous now! I think we are using the same home-made type bator---styrofoam cooler and light kit? I am really hoping against hope that some of my chickies make it out! For the past two weeks, I have been thinking I am going to invest in a real incubator with a self-turner and all that jazz and take all the drama out of this!!! I am so super nervous! My bator temp spiked yesterday and I think I caught it in time but this is so nerve wracking! Lockdown on Sunday! Think good thoughts for me!

I really feel bad for you MSH.

I wish you the best of luck on the remaining egg.

I can relate to the drama Youngjedi32002! I have a homemade incubator and I thought it would be relatively stress free. Boy, was I wrong. There seems to be too many gremlins in our hatch thread!