April 2021 Hatch - A - Long

[LadiesAndJane]

So Eko, my little paint silkie, hatched at midnight. She is doing well, already eating and drinking. Out of the incubator and in her little brooder with her brooder buddy which is a stuffed animal bear. Going to a local farm tomorrow to pick up some young chicks to keep her company. Probably a Sebright or some other bantam.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I combined both fridge egg hatches. They were about 11 days apart, but one is a bantam so that is fine. They wanted to be together. Chickens always do better in groups.

I cleaned my foam incubator with water and vinegar. Tomorrow I will let it sit in the sun for an hr. I have more eggs coming next week. I am going to dry hatch the next batch. I have dry hatched before, seems to work better.

 

[KateGoad]

Well, I think this hatch was a bust. The temp on the bator was low, so I expected a laggy hatch, but we are now on day 24.
Any thoughts on how long to wait before calling it? We've never had a hatch go south before.

 

[spryng]

Day 18 here so it's lock down time! This is my very first incubator experience so I candled all 22 and it looks like 18 look great, perfect air cells etc and 4 look out of the running but I'm not 100% sure so I added a tiny ? mark on them and left them in. The third pic is one I'm pretty sure didn't develop but either way, I'll know in a few short days! I'm so excited!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Well, I think this hatch was a bust. The temp on the bator was low, so I expected a laggy hatch, but we are now on day 24.
Any thoughts on how long to wait before calling it? We've never had a hatch go south before.

So sorry your hatch did not work out. Next time try adding another thermometer to the incubator to verify temperature.
How did the eggs look when you candled them at lockdown? Low temps can delay hatching by several days.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Day 18 here so it's lock down time! This is my very first incubator experience so I candled all 22 and it looks like 18 look great, perfect air cells etc and 4 look out of the running but I'm not 100% sure so I added a tiny ? mark on them and left them in. The third pic is one I'm pretty sure didn't develop but either way, I'll know in a few short days! I'm so excited!

Great photos! The last one you can safely toss and any others that look like it.
Good luck with your hatch!

 

[spryng]

Great photos! The last one you can safely toss and any others that look like it.
Good luck with your hatch!

Thank you! I can't wait to see what produces, going to be quite the set of mixed breeds but that makes it even more fun

 

[KateGoad]

So sorry your hatch did not work out. Next time try adding another thermometer to the incubator to verify temperature.
How did the eggs look when you candled them at lockdown? Low temps can delay hatching by several days.

The external was how we knew it was cooler. I think the bator just gave up the ghost.Tested right at first, but crept lower. We had it at 40 by the end. and the external (fancy scientific thermometer/humidity sensor) said 34 by the end.

most of the eggs were too dark to really see much. I'll leave it for a little while longer, and then if that fails, concentrate on the 26 new peeps coming this week in the mail.

 

[wolfwalker]

Well, I think this hatch was a bust. The temp on the bator was low, so I expected a laggy hatch, but we are now on day 24.
Any thoughts on how long to wait before calling it? We've never had a hatch go south before.

Have you candled the eggs to see what is going on inside yet?

 

[wolfwalker]

Well I did say I was going to do it. I started May's thread here https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/may-2021-hatch-a-long.1457914/

I am seriously eyeing up that Rcom 366 egg incubator. Being off grid I do have to keep in mind wattage pulled though. So if anyone has one I have questions LOL.

I would say I have chicks, but in reality, they sell as fast as I can hatch them and I am in the planning stages of a new barn build that I can sell out of and use the old brooders in the Hydro house for the ones I want to keep. Otherwise, if I don't hide them I someone ends up spotting them and says, "Can I get three or four of those too?"