2nd Attempt Day 8 Update

[justmeandtheflock]

So, my 1st hatch didn't go so well. I started with 19 shipped eggs in an LG with turner and fan. On day 8 I tossed 5 clears and 5 early quitters. The rest were still good when I went into lock down. At the start of day 21 I had 2 pips. I had a total of 5 pips. One was sitting over the full water well and I think it drowned. 2 made it out on their own (1 drowned in the water dish overnight

). I helped out 2 that were stuck and 1 is doing fine aside from not fluffing too well. The other is week and has sprayed legs. The other 4 died before pip. One had made it into the air cell, the other 3 didn't. That was as far as I opened the egg so I didn't check for defects. I was out yesterday morning during the hatch and when I came home DH had the doors open so it was cold in the house and the temp in the bator dropped a bit. I also had trouble keeping the humidity up during the hatch and it did drop below 50 for a short time.

I am getting ready to set some of my own EE/RSL eggs. I think I need to ip the temp a little and come up with a better solution for the humidity during lockdown. Am I right? Any other suggestions?

TIA

 

[GaNewChick]

Try to keep the incubator in an area of the house where the temp is pretty consistent ~ away from direct sunlight or too close to ac/heat vents.

Place a sponge in there on day 18 so you can tube feed it with water.

After they hatch and you put them in the brooder, add marbles to the bottom of the dish ~ that way they can get water but can't fall in.

Good luck and keep us updated!!!

 

[justmeandtheflock]

Thanks for the advice. I think the bator was stable but my thermo was off, well the temp I picked from checking it with 5 different ones. My poor chick drowned in one of the dishes in the bator. I had 3 in there with sponges but I guess there was too much space around the edge and the chick fell in

I feel like I failed (and killed) my poor chickies. But I do have 2 that are strong

And one more that I am nursing and not giving up on yet.

I am working on getting the bator temp stable and then I will set tonight. Almost there. 5 were laid today and another 3 I pulled out of the fridge from the last day or 2. I am going to have DH add tomorrows eggs as soon as possible.

 

[justmeandtheflock]

Today is day 6 for my 2nd batch. I set some late last Sunday night and added more Monday morning. There are 14 total in there including 1 double yolker. Only 3 look clear so far so not bad for a 14 week old roo. These are RSL eggs so it is not too easy to see but I can make out veining in most and embies is 2 including the double yolker which has 2 moving babies in it for now.

I made a water wiggler today and I am getting a lower than expected reading from it. I am running 1 to 2 degrees warmer this time than I did last time so I am not sure I should raise it up any more. The wiggler thermo (pricey meat one) reads 96 something. It is laying on the screen.

 

[justmeandtheflock]

So, as of last night I have 11 moving babies in 10 eggs

There are 3 that are clear and 1 more that I think may have quit but I wasn't ready to pull it out yet. The blood rings were easy to see in teh silky eggs but not so much in these brown eggs.

 

[Ewe Mama2]

I hope you have a much more enjoyable experience with this hatch than with your first. It sounds as if all is well so far. Good luck!