April Hatch Thread--Come Join Us!

[hokankai]

Annabell you can also candle eggs during lockdown which is safer than opening it up. Just look at the bottom of the air cell and tap the egg with your fingernail. I had two eggs left in the incubator and candled them to look for movement. I saw slight breathing movement but no internal pip. This morning I checked them again and could hear one in the air cell, and the other had died (it's air cell was off center so he positioned incorrectly). All of that was done without float testing or opening the eggs. Float testing is more of a last resort and I have always been able to tell they died before internal pipping with candling...never have needed to float test. No veins(critical), movement, or sound=dead. With dark eggs it might be necessary though.

 

[Bitterroot]

Just pulled a stinker on day 19. That's enough to get your adrenaline going, when you walk in the room and get a whiff of sulfur.

It was really faint, but I wasn't gonna let it hang around to find out what happened.

I hauled them into the bathroom, steamed it up good and cracked open the bator to sniff each one. Of course it was the very last one I checked, and I had to open the cage I had them in to get to it. It was one of the OE eggs I'd never been able to get any light to shine through, so I'd just left it in there. Got a couple others like that in there, including a marans, hopefully they're okay.

On the plus side, my favorite egg of the batch, a pretty mauve/steel blue OE was rocking around last night in response to clicks and whistling. Hopefully not long now before they start externally pipping.

 

[Nursiedeer]

Peeping or rocking eggs means you have an internal pip. Sometimes you can see the chick moving inside the air cell when you candle at lockdown if the chicks get an early start.

Thanks for the answer. Ok I get peeping n rocking I have heard them do that. Haven't seen one move at lockdown. Wish I had!
Thank you!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

That "fits" with my Maran too as my little Maran roo boy was hatched on Day 28!!!! Was on the way to the bin when I noticed a pip would you believe it and he was still alive! a full week late!!!!! THese are my day 27 and day 28 hatches they both survived and grew to be lovely roosters. Cream crested legbar and Marans. So DON:T Give up!!!!! Now I wait until day 30 before I rush to dump! Unless they smell of course exploding gone off goo is not nice to clean out from an incubator! lol! But the thought of nearly lossing these two by tossing live chicks in the bin - well I was lucky we noticed life. Though I am not sure what went wrong for such a late hatch it was my first attempt?


Oes

Yep! I had a cuckoo Marans egg that I put in the compost bin on day 26. An hour later I heard it chirping, and rushed to put it back in the bator. 2 hours later it pipped, and another 8 until it hatched. It was a totally healthy little rooster!

 

[annabell254]

Ok, so my candeling sucks!!! I could only make out air cells in a few eggs, and deff can not see enought to tell if there is movement or vaining or not.... BUT I DID hear 2 peeps!

the rest I put in water and they ALL floated so ALL the rest are bad?
one pip is in the right place the other I could not find air sack or pip but can hear it....

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Ok, so my candeling sucks!!! I could only make out air cells in a few eggs, and deff can not see enought to tell if there is movement or vaining or not.... BUT I DID hear 2 peeps!

the rest I put in water and they ALL floated so ALL the rest are bad?
one pip is in the right place the other I could not find air sack or pip but can hear it....

Floating is good!

Read this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ng-egg-viability-for-late-or-overdue-hatching

 

[Bitterroot]

You are checking for movement when you float them. Did you watch the video posted earlier?

 

[annabell254]

Yep... read the post! PUT ALL EGGS BACK!

will try again tomarrow to see if I hear peeps

 

[mmeyette]

I read where someone was asking what to do to help a chick that isn't thriving and being picked on...this is what I did. One of my chicks couldn't walk to good, I knew it wasn't splayed leg or a slipped tendon. She would walk-stumble then sit back down. I was afraid she wasn't getting enough to drink or eat so..........

I got a small glass dish-any will do...put some of the chick food in it and put wet it down-stir. You can also put some pedialite in it too..put some save-a-chick in the water with electrolytes-I got the packets from tsc cost a few $$. I made sure the chick food was wet-plain water or pedialyte or put some of the waterer water in it...hold the chick and scoop a small amout of wet food on a plastic spoon. Hold the chick to the plastic spoon with the wet food on it-if the chick doesn 't readily eat it dip the tip of the beak into the food-the chick will taste it and hopefully eat it.

I also got a little bucket-it was a heart shaped basket that had the sides open for good air flow and put some shavings in it for cushion-pine shavings, placed the chick in it, made sure it was in the heat of the heat lamp. I did that so she could rest and not be trampled on by the others. I also made sure-checked every hour-that I placed a few drops of water from their waterer into the tip of the plastic spoon and let her drink from that. I did this routine for about 2-3 days and now you can't even tell she was weak. Her walking problems have cured themselves. I would make sure that (IMO) I would put about a cap full of pedialyte or the packets from tsc in the water after the chicks hatched and were placed in the brooder. The chicks are very tired and might need a little help. IMO-I would check on the chicks in the brooder every 30 minutes/1 hr just to make sure they are doing ok.

Chicks can survive 3 days without food/water so they may not drink/eat right away but I would put the food/water in their anyways. If one seems weak then get an eye dropper-clean, plastic spoon and hold them let them eat/drink from that. I make wet mash for the newborns and always have it on hand....if anything is left then throw it out and start fresh everyday. I taught all of my flock how to drink from a water bottle..hold the chick-steady its head and gently press the ball with your finger letting the water run down my finger to the chick..they will smell it or may get some on its beak and drink, do this a few time a day and presto! If one gets then they all will....this is much cleaner and safer than regular chick waterers..if you are doing old school waterers make sure the water isn't to deep or they might drown-put marbles in the tray so they have to drink in between them...

I hope that this will help someone-I am a newbie and only have hatched once...but that is what I did and I saved at least two of the chicks, they're (sometimes) like caring for a newborn...just keep a close eye on them and hopefully all will be fine....if you don't have any electrolytes or pedialyte-just put about 2 pinches of regular sugar in their water...

Thanks for the help! I found a little box and cut a bunch of air holes in it for her, I think she is looking a little better and likes being near her sisters.
So she hatched yesterday at 9am, was pretty dull last night, I put her back in the bator overnight with some feed and water with a little bit of electrolytes. I dipped her beak in the electrolyte solution and she acted like she drank a little bit. Today she will sit up for longer, and is peeping occasionally, but mostly just slumps to her right and lays flat out breathing hard...heart condition maybe? But she is peeping to her sisters while she lays there and doesn't look completely hopeless! I dipped her beak twice more to day a few hours apart in some water and then in some electrolyte water, she has no interest in the feed I wet some and tried to get her to taste a little but she wasn't having it so I let it be. I guess I am hopeful since she will sit up for about 30 seconds now and is more vocal...all the other chicks are curious (hilarious) little peepers who are thriving!

 

[SymanSaysFarms]

I haven't ever seen one.  I've done up one for myself on paper, and am thinking of converting it to a chart for a page here, so others don't have to go through all the calculating.  I don't know how to code the table for the chart format, so that's my holdup.

The formulas I used, I got off a forum somewhere.

W - (0.0057 x D x W)
W - (0.0067 x D x W)

W = start weight
D = days of incubation

Do those two simple equations, and it will give you your weight range with 12-14% weight loss for each egg, at any day of incubation you choose to weigh them.

Of course you'll need a very accurate scale.  To test yours, plop a penny on there, they weigh 2.5 grams.

Example - Egg weighs 60 grams at the start.  At day 5, your weight loss range should be from 58.29 - 57.99 grams.  Day 10 it should weigh 56.58 - 55.98 grams, etc.

Hope that helps any?

That's awesome!!! Thank you