ACK! I could KILL my husband! - UPDATE on DAY 8

[eac04]

greathorse Here is the original post where I asked about the temp... I was told that 102 would be okay.... https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=294662

chic-n-farmer No worries. He is sitting on the sofa laughing his head off because, "I can't read a thermometer." I agree chicks are easier to replace, but I'm thinking of making him sleep with them outside right about now.

*edited to add the link

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I bought 4 different thermometers when I started hatching. When I tested them all, all four read at different temperatures. I ended up writing on the hygrometer/thermometers how off they were.
All of that to say, don't stress. It is possible the temperatures weren't as off as you think.

Good luck!

 

[Ban seabhag]

I am told repeatedly that a still air should be a little warmer than the circulated air models. I have both and have kept my still air at around 102, ( though 103 was mentioned as the high side by some posters here with a lot more experience than me). The others as close to 99.5 to 100 as I can keep it. They've both done a good job hatching eggs. If its a still, you are probably okay...It's worth sticking with them. I use 3 thermometers in mine, with 3 different readouts though they are pretty close. I keep between the two that are closer to each other in temps.

 

[eac04]

DAY 8

Well, what do ya know. We didn't actually kill the chicks! Hooray for that.

I candled them last night and saw little embryos moving in there. IT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!

I pulled out an unfertilized egg. It was nice to actually be able to distinguish between the baby eggs (as my daughter calls them) that are viable and one that isn't. One egg's air sac/cell was WAY smaller than the rest. I could see SOME veining in there, so I am gonna give it a few more days before culling it. A second egg I could see what I assumed to be a blood island and some dark little floaties in there, but it didn't seem like the embryo was moving in there. At this point I would hate to throw any out, so I'll wait a little longer before deciding to give it the boot. SUGGESTIONS? IDEAS? COMMENTS?

I made sure and traced the air cells on all the eggs. If the information I've gathered is correct, I should be able to see the air cell increase as the embryo develops. Is this something I can base their development on?

EITHER WAY, I'm pretty happy that out of 38 eggs, only ONE was unfertilized, TWO are iffy and the rest were thriving. We did have some temp spikes/fluctuation so I'm crossing my fingers that it didn't affect them too much.

At this point I'm convinced that the eggs are hardier than I assumed them to be. After FOUR days of being under TOO HOTT temperatures they've still managed to come this far.

 

[chicklips]

I am so glad to here about your eggs!!! You can base their development on the size of the air sac. If you do a search it will show you what the air sac should like like on days 7,14, and 18. Also some people weight the eggs and judge development based upon the evaporation of water in the shell, thus creating a bigger air sac.

 

[lolalucy]

I am glad they are okay!