April Hatch Thread--Come Join Us!

[ceocka]

I have two chicks out!

 

[wabbit1964]

Congrats!! I'm chewing my fingers here I have seen 4 diff eggs move (started last night), hear some peeping and yet no sign of pips... day 22... so nerve wracking...

 

[18Peeps]

I have two chicks out!

Congratulations!

 

[18Peeps]

Congrats!! I'm chewing my fingers here I have seen 4 diff eggs move (started last night), hear some peeping and yet no sign of pips... day 22... so nerve wracking...

That sounds nerve wracking! Mine are due to hatch Wednesday, but only two are really growing (well, one cracked one is also growing, so 3 in all, but I'm not counting on the cracked one hatching). I'm already chewing my fingers too! It's so hard to wait! I hope they hatch for you soon .

 

[wabbit1964]

omg I was watching tv with dh thinking of taking one last look before bed not expecting anything and I actually jumped and screamed because I was so startled by this thing looking up at me from the incubator... LOL My first egg hatched (#19)


and that was not even one of the ones I saw rocking today.... I thought it was one of 4 other eggs that I was talking to all day that was going to hatch but turns out #19 was the one talking back at me even though I never saw it move!! Buff Orp/ Easter Egger cross

 

[Loghousemom]

egg #6 moved last night. as did egg #1 which is the one egg with the odd aircell... # 1 is rocking around a lot this morning and the peep I hear from someone in there today is louder than what I heard last night.... Maybe today will be the day (day 22).. There are 17 eggs but being a first timer I was not paying attention and did a staggered hatch so some of the 17 might be the batch that is due 4/24.   Then there is another 12 due the 1st of May.   

What kind of incubator do you have? I am wondering how to manage a staggered hatch with one incubator. I have eggs due may 5 and then some coming in a couple days that were supposed to be here last week. I asked them to delay shipping because of the storm, and the ones incubating now showed up 5 days early. I know I am a whiner, but now I don't know what to do. I have just a cheepo incubator to begin with. Would one of those even more cheep still air thingies work for hatching? I wonder....


KEEGAN. I think you had a wonderful hatch. I read someplace that toward the end of hatching it is harder to control temps because the eggs themselves are giving off so much more heat. I am hoping that the fact mine are supposed to hatch on a Monday will allow me more time over the weekend to keep watch and hold things steady. Heck, I might even have to call off that week to stay home and babysit that incubator. It will be an awefully busy week. I am not looking forward to it.

 

[Loghousemom]

omg I was watching tv with dh thinking of taking one last look before bed not expecting anything and I actually jumped and screamed because I was so startled by this thing looking up at me from the incubator... LOL My first egg hatched (#19) and that was not even one of the ones I saw rocking today.... I thought it was one of 4 other eggs that I was talking to all day that was going to hatch but turns out #19 was the one talking back at me even though I never saw it move!! Buff Orp/ Easter Egger cross

Yeah! So cute! Congratulations! I thought I was so excited to hatch eggs with the class at the preschool, but now that I have them incubation in my own house it is much more nerve wracking. Last time I was able to let the teachers deal with it, now if something happens it is all on me. I am so nervous! To help with temperature fluctuations I put mine in a cool closet in my office where there is no direct sunlight and not even a heat vent. The temp stays a pretty steady 65 down there and the cheap incubator seems to work alright there so far. I cannot remember who it was that posted about the chick that hatched but was not well. I had one hatch a couple weeks ago with something like an abscess or balloon on its belly/bottom. Left it for about two hours to see if it would improve. It deteriorated and was nearing the point where it could not walk. Unfortunately, I am not set up to nurse special needs chicks so I dispatched it. It was a sad thing, but I decided to be out of its pain quickly was better than allowing it to continue on any longer. I also had a couple that had strings hanging (umbilicals I assume). I left them till they were all dried up, some fell off on their own, but there were 2 that were still there after 24 hours. They were dried up and hard so I finally just snipped them off using a scissors. Today I have 8 healthy active little fluffballs. (2 weeks old)

 

[wabbit1964]

What kind of incubator do you have? I am wondering how to manage a staggered hatch with one incubator. I have eggs due may 5 and then some coming in a couple days that were supposed to be here last week. I asked them to delay shipping because of the storm, and the ones incubating now showed up 5 days early. I know I am a whiner, but now I don't know what to do. I have just a cheepo incubator to begin with. Would one of those even more cheep still air thingies work for hatching? I wonder....


KEEGAN. I think you had a wonderful hatch. I read someplace that toward the end of hatching it is harder to control temps because the eggs themselves are giving off so much more heat. I am hoping that the fact mine are supposed to hatch on a Monday will allow me more time over the weekend to keep watch and hold things steady. Heck, I might even have to call off that week to stay home and babysit that incubator. It will be an awefully busy week. I am not looking forward to it.

I have an LG Still air that I bought at TSC when it was on sale during chick days... didn't really think the staggered hatch thing out, being a newbie I just kept putting eggs in every 3 or 4 days..and then realized I probably should not be doing a staggered hatch on my first time.

 

[AusChook]

We have pips!!!!

 

[18Peeps]

Sounds like a pretty good first hatch to me! You are a natural ;-).