April Hatch Thread--Come Join Us!

[CamiLynn]

Well an unexpected cold front messed with my careful preparations and threw off humidity and temperature! I live in South TX so I should be able to do a dry hatch (we normally have 90% humidity so I thought I would be battling moisture not needing to increase it). Temps in the incubator went down to 97 overnight one night and then spiked to 102 the next two nights.Seriously wishing I could sit on the eggs myself. I am only on day 4 now and I am a nervous wreck!!! I want to candle but I am trying to wait until day 7 because I am a newbie and want to keep my interactions minimal, to cause less potential harm. I decided against turning the first 2 days and did one turn before bed on day 2. I have been doing 3x a day now but so many people say upright and tilting is the way to go on shipped eggs.... I may just order some day old hatch-lings to keep me busy while waiting for these babies and before I go nuts!

It's hard to say don't worry, but I have been there and go there every time I have hatched. Though you're told not to mess with them too much, don't open the bator too much, etc. Im hardheaded and well don't always listen. I candle almost daily and have had great hatches, but of course others may have done the same and had bad results. So it's really hard to say what is right. Being a newbie and not really knowing what you are looking at though is another reason to wait until day 7 because you will definitely see veining (as long as you dont have dark shells) and the tell tell black "eye" bobbing around. Then it gets real...and more stressful I tell myself every hatch I'm not doing it again because I will be driven to drink lol but it's addictive and fun. I'm in MS and got this crazy cold snap too!! Winter needs to be over already!

 

[Reyort]

I guess you can count me in. One of my Buff Orpingtons went broody Friday. I stuffed 10 fresh eggs under her and will let her go at it. She will be due around the 12th of April.

 

[Partyfowl]

No humidity issues here.  The incubator is kept in my reptile room, with a stable ambient temp of 80 degrees and humidity of 50%.  I'm doing dry incubation on purpose.

Thanks for the tip though.

 

80 degrees with 50% humidity??... Sounds like vacation!! Think I'll take a break from our 21 degree nights and come camp out with your reptiles! I'll bring the Corona.

 

[Partyfowl]

I just went to purchase some true French Cooper Marans chicks and while there the guy brought me to see the chickens and show me the egg color. So he went in the coop and brought me an egg and told me to keep it! I asked if it would be fertile and he said oh yes! I got excited and said, oh ill put it in my incubator! He said in that case, let me get you another!! Yippie!! Have them going in the bator this evening :-D. Btw his rooster was GORGEOUS with the longest spurs I have ever seen!! He's in with 4 hens and you would never know they have a rooster w them, cause of how pretty they were. I'm quite excited...even though I bought 5 of the chicks lol

Jealous!!

 

[hokankai]

Today is Day 10 and I just candled my eggies. I only had 1 blood ring, so now I'm at 42/52 with 5 clears and 5 blood rings. Not too shabby!

Also got some GREAT videos!

 

[Bitterroot]

It's hard to say don't worry, but I have been there and go there every time I have hatched. Though you're told not to mess with them too much, don't open the bator too much, etc. Im hardheaded and well don't always listen. I candle almost daily and have had great hatches, but of course others may have done the same and had bad results. So it's really hard to say what is right. Being a newbie and not really knowing what you are looking at though is another reason to wait until day 7 because you will definitely see veining (as long as you dont have dark shells) and the tell tell black "eye" bobbing around. Then it gets real...and more stressful

I tell myself every hatch I'm not doing it again because I will be driven to drink lol but it's addictive and fun. I'm in MS and got this crazy cold snap too!! Winter needs to be over already!

You're not kidding. I'm already having nightmares about exploding eggs.

I'm so doomed though, because I'm already scouting more hatching eggs for when these are done cooking. Is that ... normal?

80 degrees with 50% humidity??... Sounds like vacation!! Think I'll take a break from our 21 degree nights and come camp out with your reptiles! I'll bring the Corona.

Hot dang! I got the snacks end of things. The animals have it made, the humans here get to freeze to death. I want that groundhog fired!

Today is Day 10 and I just candled my eggies. I only had 1 blood ring, so now I'm at 42/52 with 5 clears and 5 blood rings. Not too shabby!

Also got some GREAT videos!

Amazing videos. Thanks for sharing those.

 

[Velvet Sparrow]

We're going to be setting eggs in our new ReptiPro 6000 this Saturday the 30th, aiming for a hatch date of April 20th! Thanks to all sorts of kind advice from yinepu,

I've been test running it for a week and so far, so good! Last year we moved to the mountains, so new challenges trying to hatch at high altitude (5000 feet) with less oxygen and a MUCH drier climate are being a chore to overcome. We'll be setting some of our own eggs--a splash Giant Cochin roo and a MilleFleur Belgian d'Uccle roo as dads with various d'Uccles, Americaunas, Buff Orp, gray Giant Cochin, light and buff Brahmas, Barred Rock, Red Star and New Hampshire moms. Hopefully the Giant Cochin roo hasn't gotten ahold of the d'Uccle girls--! I'm also doing an egg trade locally with a lady who has mixed Wyandottes, Buttercup and Polish eggs...so my hatch should be a collection of 'What IS that?!'

We've been webbroadcasting our hatch live, with sound, since 2008 and it's gotten very popular. We call it 'Chickam'. After the hatch we put the webcam into the brooder box 24/7 for the next 8 weeks so people can see & hear the chicks grow up. If we're lucky enough to have a hen go broody, we'll recruit her to be mom.

If anyone wants to watch our hatch and worry about pipping eggs along with us, you can watch it on UStream here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chickam2008

It's not live now, but I'd start checking it around April 19th (last year my d'Uccles were a wee bit early!). If you tune in and see eggs, that means the hatch is imminent!

 

[hokankai]

I've done the live cam via Ustream thing twice now and it is a lot of fun! I turn on the sound when they begin to zip, because we keep the incubator in the main part of the house during hatch time

 

[CamiLynn]

Jealous!!

I'm sorry...I would share if I could!

 

[CamiLynn]

You're not kidding.  I'm already having nightmares about exploding eggs.    I'm so doomed though, because I'm already scouting more hatching eggs for when these are done cooking.  Is that.....normal?

Well, considering I work in mental health and see a lot of um...not normal....chicken crazy it totally acceptable and the new norm in my book!