4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[heirloomorps]

There are several of us here in TN w/ hatching problems which I really do thing have some to do w/ the repeated massive air pressure changes, it has been really extream, not just the day the SE had 30 tornadoes but repeatedly for the past 14 days, during which I know we've had over 3 days w/ winds 60-80 mph, and a combined total of over 14 inches of rain, also ice storms, hail, and today freezing fog. I figure if a stormfront can cause a sinus headach, it can cause other things, like maybe issues w/ keeping incubators working properly!

Meanwhile, PELE
thanks for the web cam, watching 2 hatch has been inspiring : ) 

RAZ
I'm really sorry about what happened, & I hope you do try again & have better luck!

& To everyone who is helping me & wishing mine luck thanks
& do notice one of them is Egg W, The Love-child egg I wrote about for the short story contest!! 

Weirdly it makes me feel better that other people in TN are having the same issues and it's not just is having incubator problems. We got better hatch rates with shipped eggs the last time we did a hatch than this hatch, which never happens.

 

[hapjr]

How long from first pip till hatch. One has been chirping for 7 hours now but dont see anything. And another has pipped shell. Any advice will help. Tmp at 100 and humidity is 70 best i could get it but does drop to 68-65 at times

 

[Lacy Blues]

So questions....
Right before I started helping these guys, I literally watched one hatch completely normally, totally unassisted, yet every one of these was shrink wrapped, and one literally died as I was watching the other one hatch... So did I wait too long to help?? I kept having normal hatches all throughout the day today, so I never expected the shrink wrapping...
Why did these ones shrink wrap, when others right next to them did fine... These were not in one specific area of the bator, but spread throughout...
I suppose I should be happy being it was my first incubator hatch and I have 16 live ones already...

I wonder if those eggs were more porous than the others? I think next time, if you candle them before you set them to begin with, maybe you can see a more porous egg, they look spotty and you could just not set them.

Not sure about any of that, it's just a guess.

 

[delisha]

I wonder what type of incubators are being used that have the bigest problems, and what ones have the best results?

 

[RavenWood]

So questions....
Right before I started helping these guys, I literally watched one hatch completely normally, totally unassisted, yet every one of these was shrink wrapped, and one literally died as I was watching the other one hatch... So did I wait too long to help?? I kept having normal hatches all throughout the day today, so I never expected the shrink wrapping...
Why did these ones shrink wrap, when others right next to them did fine... These were not in one specific area of the bator, but spread throughout...
I suppose I should be happy being it was my first incubator hatch and I have 16 live ones already...

Did you open the bator before going in to help them? Were they pipped at the time? I've opened my bator 4 times - last night to move peeps to the brooder, this morning to move peeps to the brooder, this afternoon to right an upside down chick, and a few minutes ago to remove my quitter egg and the empty shells. Each time I did I dribble warm water in the vent holes and then waited for the humidity to rise a couple degrees. I think this negated the effect of my opening the lid (and I never took it off, just opened/grabbed/closed) so only lost about a degree/% each time. I also learned to keep the vent plugs off when hatching takes place (which I hadn't read anywhere before) and the dribbling warm water in the vent holes works great for adding without compromising!

I wonder if those eggs were more porous than the others? I think next time, if you candle them before you set them to begin with, maybe you can see a more porous egg, they look spotty and you could just not set them.

Not sure about any of that, it's just a guess.

There's a thought.

 

[cochins1088]

How long from first pip till hatch. One has been chirping for 7 hours now but dont see anything. And another has pipped shell. Any advice will help. Tmp at 100 and humidity is 70 best i could get it but does drop to 68-65 at times

I believe they have an average of 24 hours worth of air in the air cell. I read somewhere that often times it the 'near suffocating' of them running out of air that causes them to make the external pip, though I'm not sure that I believe that 100%. Once you see the external pip, they should hatch within 24 hours. Some of them need that full 24 hours, so don't rush it. Good Luck!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I wonder what type of incubators are being used that have the bigest problems, and what ones have the best results?

I would be interested as well. I have owned a Little Giant (junk...never hatched anything), Genesis 1588 Hova-Bator (Eggcellent hatch rates), Brinsea Mini Advanced (works great, but I did have some issues with it 'drowning' the eggs), and last but not least I have three Sportsmans and they are awesome!

~ Aspen

 

[TMNfarm]

Did you open the bator before going in to help them?  Were they pipped at the time? I've opened my bator 4 times - last night to move peeps to the brooder, this morning to move peeps to the brooder, this afternoon to right an upside down chick, and a few minutes ago to remove my quitter egg and the empty shells.  Each time I did I dribble warm water in the vent holes and then waited for the humidity to rise a couple degrees.  I think this negated the effect of my opening the lid (and I never took it off, just opened/grabbed/closed) so only lost about a degree/% each time. I also learned to keep the vent plugs off when hatching takes place (which I hadn't read anywhere before) and the dribbling warm water in the vent holes works great for adding without compromising!
There's a thought.  

I did have to open it a few times, but the humidity never really dropped. There was almost always condensation on the windows. I had the vent plugs out, then would cover them after I had to open it and take them out again when the windows really started to fog up... The really strange thing is that the others hatched and the membranes looked moist and normal... It is a still air, so maybe the moisture didn't circulate as well??

 

[RavenWood]

I now have 11 hatched out of 14 locked down, 1 more is pipped, and 1 hasn't done anything yet but I'm still holding out hope!

I also removed the quitter. Not sure why I put it in lockdown in the first place as I knew it had quit around day 12ish. Wishful thinking I suppose ... but if my last two eggs hatch that would have be a 100% hatch rate out of those making it to lockdown if I had kept the quitter out. Oh well ... as they say, don't count your chicks until they hatch and I still have 2 to go!

PS I eggtopsied my quitter. Should I post it? It was just starting to get icky, but not bad yet.

 

[hapjr]

Thank u and no sooneer i posted tht i went back and checked and u have a large external pip and still a small pip pn another i know my temp is good but i cant seem to get the humidity higher