April Hatch Thread--Come Join Us!

[annabell254]

so I checked the one in the bator and yes!!! it was shrink wraping the chick mas well!!!! the humidity was at 60-65% last night... I uped it and it is at 72% now... I also misted the silkie nest... no more eggs were piped but that first chick worried me....I wont check her again until tonight, and may move her eggs to the bator and the hatched chicks to her
and the dead chick was a beautiful SShamburg

 

[jammyjammy2112]

Quote: you just went into a grocery store and bougth eggs that you used for eating and it was fertile omg reli i most defintly try that.

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
Trader Joes and Whole Foods sell fertile eggs that will hatch. You have to get the freshest ones. Tjs are White Leghorns and Whole Foods are either California Whites or Austra Whites.

I hatched two TJs leghonrs.

 

[annabell254]

HELP! After my dead chick I broke back the shell of the 4 other eggs that were peeping, and they were ALL to dry!!! every one of them!!!!!
I broke the shell away from the top half of the eggs, but left the wrap around the chick with their beaks out... they should be able to break through the membrain right, and now that they have air they wont die... right???
My humidity is now at 70-80% now, how long will it take the humidity to soften the rest of the eggs, that have not piped????... what if they cannot even pip out?????
HELP! HELP!

 

[oesdog]

so I checked the one in the bator and yes!!! it was shrink wraping the chick mas well!!!! the humidity was at 60-65% last night... I uped it and it is at 72% now... I also misted the silkie nest... no more eggs were piped but that first chick worried me....I wont check her again until tonight, and may move her eggs to the bator and the hatched chicks to her
and the dead chick was a beautiful SShamburg

Don;t be too upset No one gets 100% hatch!

There might have been something wrong with the chick under the hen - I would leave her well alone. See what she does. As for intervention - Some folk are against "helping" others are all for it you have to make your own mind up. We had very late hatch chickens one year so late I was about to toss them int he bin as they were way past hatch date. Day 27 and 28. Both needed "helped" the 27th chick was a rare breed Cream crested Legbar and he was a real beauty nothing a miss at all with him. A very strong bird from the off. However the other chick hatch on day 28 took 12 hrs to move it was sooo exhausted even with help.
If the other chick was not there to bully it I think it would have died. It had a deal of issues developing and the breastbone did not grow straight. I had to slow the growth of that chick down so the rest of it caught up with the breast bone. He did eventually turn into a very lovely Marans rooster. There is a guide on BYC for intervention. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/9316/intervention-helping-your-chicks-hatch We followed this for our late hatches. We also lost a lot of chicks through shrink wrap so don;t beat yourself up about it just try again it is very hard to "get it right"! I think the early days getting temps a bit wrong etc is more forgiving than the last days when the chicks are fully formed. That is hardest for us to get to grips with - the loss of potential. In the end though it is very much the strong survive! I think that is the owners not the chicks! -

Good luck

Oes

 

[PaintedFeathers]

so for all you seasoned hatchers, my 8 day old egg has a very large aircell. It wasn't like that a week ago, in fact is was so small I had it sitting the wrong way for a couple days before noticing

. Is this any sign of development or could it be anything? This one also has a very dark yolk, but my flashlight stinks so I can't see any veins. This is it, the aircell is on the left. It is actually much darker than this but my camera is no good... just picture the dark part about 5 times darker.

 

[oesdog]

HELP! After my dead chick I broke back the shell of the 4 other eggs that were peeping, and they were ALL to dry!!! every one of them!!!!!
I broke the shell away from the top half of the eggs, but left the wrap around the chick with their beaks out... they should be able to break through the membrain right, and now that they have air they wont die... right???
My humidity is now at 70-80% now, how long will it take the humidity to soften the rest of the eggs, that have not piped????... what if they cannot even pip out?????
HELP! HELP!

DON'T Panic - dampen the white membrain with warm damp kitchen roll. Place chick back in incubator. You have shrink wrap.
- follow the guide on intervention if the signs the chicks are not getting out as they get very tired. The membrain needs to be moist not wet! If it is white it is hardened and too thick for the chick to get out by itself so it is important you moisten it with warm not hot water on a kitchen towel - don't panic just dab. Be careful of blood. Follow the guide! I had this problem! If there is blood cover with kitchen towel and leave in incubator. Do not pull chick from shell - the belly is still attached to the yolk and you don't want to damage that.

Oes

 

[hokankai]

Are you positive that you aren't just seeing the bottom membrane of the air cell? The membrane WILL conform to the chick and is white. However, the second inner membrane that is touching the chick should NOT be white or gray, it should be translucent.

 

[LBKS]

Trader Joes and Whole Foods sell fertile eggs that will hatch. You have to get the freshest ones. Tjs are White Leghorns and Whole Foods are either California Whites or Austra Whites.

I hatched two TJs leghonrs.

These were the local brand that are provided by a group of farms that participate in a CSA, so I figured they would have a good chance of being fertile. Because they are so dark brown I figured I'd end up with some heritage breed chicks or mutts

 

[annabell254]

DON'T Panic - dampen the white membrain with warm damp kitchen roll. Place chick back in incubator. You have shrink wrap.
- follow the guide on intervention if the signs the chicks are not getting out as they get very tired. The membrain needs to be moist not wet! If it is white it is hardened and too thick for the chick to get out by itself so it is important you moisten it with warm not hot water on a kitchen towel - don't panic just dab. Be careful of blood. Follow the guide! I had this problem! If there is blood cover with kitchen towel and leave in incubator. Do not pull chick from shell - the belly is still attached to the yolk and you don't want to damage that.

Oes

Ha, dont panic!!! easy to say harder to do!!!

Im kinda freaking.....

but I have not been pulling on the chick at least I got that right! !... the first chick even without the membrain over it could not get out... the only time it would move would be for a sec when I talked and then it would stop and it looked to be drying in the shell! so I took it out and held it and that seemed to help as it pushed and pushed, and finnaly poped out! yea my first chick!!!!!! I carfully palced it back in the incubator with the shell as a small piece was still attached to its butt... it is peeping strong now I will dampen the other membrains, they are not as exhausted as the first


BUT what about the un-pipped ones???? are they getting shrink wraped? I mean Could they be getting shrink wraped and not be able to pip....or does the shrink wrapping only happen once they pip? It seemed to me that it is much harder than it should be, as one of them that had pipped I broke the shell only, and just a bit and the chick was desperatly trying to break the membrain to breath I very gently let its beak out, but the membrain was hard and dry and it had not even been broken yet