Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[K0k0shka]

Oh my, I was putting the kids to bed and missed a whole bunch of action!!! One of the Barnevelders is out!

I also have 6 pips and 1 zip going on! And all from my shipped eggs, including one of the Partridge Orpingtons with the misshapen air cells! All the pips are in the air cells, so that’s good. Although... since the eggs are upright in cartons, I wouldn’t be able to see any wrong end pips... What should I do about that?

 

[aart]

There's typically something left over in the bottom of the shell. Yellowish, greenish, jelly looking leavings. Just as delightful as it sounds.

<nods>"Hatching Gunk"
..and sometimes it gets dragged all over the place.

 

[K0k0shka]

The zip is out! Another Lemon. You can see one of the pips here, too.

 

[K0k0shka]

Poor babies. Extricating themselves from the upright shell and climbing out of that carton is a lot harder than just oozing themselves out on the floor from a free-rolling horizontal egg. But they’re doing it! They are so much more vigorous than I thought they’d be. Probably because I’ve spent all my time reading about when things go wrong. I’m still nervous, but so far these chicks are giving me hope.

 

[K0k0shka]

Here’s my next concern. The sand that was meant for the brooder was a little damp (sealed bag that was kept indoors, yet damp...) I tried to dry it with a hair dryer for a while after spreading it on the plastic-covered brooder floor, and it got a little better, but not fully dry. I put paper towels on it so the chicks’ first time in the brooder was on dry paper towels. After they went to sleep for the night, I noticed that the paper towels were damp, too, absorbing moisture from the sand... I’ll change them before going to bed, but they might be damp again by morning. How bad is this? The floor under the heating plate has a towel on it and a shelf liner on top of the towel, so at least in there it’s all dry.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Sometimes they struggle a bit coming out of the egg when hatched horizontal. Just depends on the chicks.

As for wrong end pipping it's valid concern although not terribly common. I might see 1 wrong end pipped for every 50 eggs I incubate. A couple things you might consider. Depending entirely on what you're comfortable with.

Option 1: Do nothing. You're having a great hatch. Just let it ride. Most likely you're fine.

Option 2: Wait for a pause in the hatch. Then do some quick shuffling of the eggs between the two cartons. Moving the pipped eggs to a carton that remains in the incubator. And the non piped eggs into another and pull them out for a quick peek by candling. You've proven you're pretty handy and observant with a flashlight. You should easily be able to see where any internally pipped chicks are trying to pip externally in the aircell. You'll also hear tapping when you hold it to your ear. These eggs looking good and should hopefully pip externally in short order. To identify a wrong eng piper is much more difficult. You'll hear the same noises and see movement as the correct eggs but won't be able to see the beak in the aircell when candled. You can make a note to watch it or try placing it back in the incubator on its side. Hope all that makes sense.


Maybe there's a third option I haven't thought of. Hopefully if that's the case someone else will pipe up.

 

[K0k0shka]

Sometimes they struggle a bit coming out of the egg when hatched horizontal. Just depends on the chicks.

As for wrong end pipping it's valid concern although not terribly common. I might see 1 wrong end pipped for every 50 eggs I incubate. A couple things you might consider. Depending entirely on what you're comfortable with.

Option 1: Do nothing. You're having a great hatch. Just let it ride. Most likely you're fine.

Option 2: Wait for a pause in the hatch. Then do some quick shuffling of the eggs between the two cartons. Moving the pipped eggs to a carton that remains in the incubator. And the non piped eggs into another and pull them out for a quick peek by candling. You've proven you're pretty handy and observant with a flashlight. You should easily be able to see where any internally pipped chicks are trying to pip externally in the aircell. You'll also hear tapping when you hold it to your ear. These eggs looking good and should hopefully pip externally in short order. To identify a wrong eng piper is much more difficult. You'll hear the same noises and see movement as the correct eggs but won't be able to see the beak in the aircell when candled. You can make a note to watch it or try placing it back in the incubator on its side. Hope all that makes sense.


Maybe there's a third option I haven't thought of. Hopefully if that's the case someone else will pipe up.

Thanks! I’ll wait until the end of day 21 (tomorrow at noon) and see where things stand, and maybe examine the remaining eggs if there are no active hatches going on.

What do you think about the damp sand issue?

 

[K0k0shka]

I’m two floors down in the basement with the door closed, and I can still hear the latest hatch complaining! Man, those little things are loud!

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

I don't think it's a big deal as long as the area they are in most of the time, under the brooder, is warm and dry. If they were my chicks I'd just check them regularly to make sure they don't look cold or wandered off and forgotten where the heated area is.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

It's so exciting seeing your newly hatched baby chicks! Tel me why did you decide to hatch upright? Were the air cells wobbly still?