August Hatch-A-Long

[kada6305]

Well I think Lucy, my duck is done sitting on the eggs. I noticed she wasn't on her nest lastnight or this morning which was odd. She also didn't cover her nest up before leaving like usual. There were also a few more chicken eggs in her nest, think she abandoned her nest since a chicken decided to lay? Should I give it a few days, candle and decide to throw them away? Today would be day 3. She's been broody for about 15 days.

 

[StarMeKritten]

My 8 babies are in lockdown!

I candled them all today, and could see a few of the chicks were starting to nibble at the inner membrane! Super cool. "Crackle" (my miracle egg with the broken shell) is in the incubator and I tried to take off as much tape as I could without taking more shell off. As a incubator and hatching novice, can any one tell me please is 37.8C (100F) and 65% humidity a good temperature to have? I think it's right, I just need some reassurance I'm not going to make a big mistake. Happy hatching!

Whoohoo! 65% should be just fine. The humidity will shoot up when the chicks start hatching. Good luck! I'm rooting for little Crackle!

Checked on my eggs this morning and there's a definite foul odor in the room. Not looking forward to getting home from work and inspecting ~170 eggs to see which one is bad.

That's a whole lot of eggs to candle! I hope it's just one bad egg and that it's easy to spot.

Good morning all! Well I had to get in my bator since I had thought I had done such a good job with putting a sponge at bottom with tubing going to it from outside so I wouldn't have to open the bator to add water..lol Since I needed to lower the humidity a little I needed the sponge

While I was in the bator and had all the eggs out in a warm towel I decided to take a peek again

Honestly I'm not touching them until lock down and have to take them out to get turner out! I did take 7 eggs out and was happy to know I didn't make any mistakes when I opened them to look at before tossing them. I have 9 babies going very good from first group with only one egg that I believe does have a detached air sac. The second group, I really feel I only have 1 baby but I only pulled 2 out today. None of my eggs have odor or leakage so for now we're good. I did take a couple pictures of the eggs where I made the mark where the air sac is and thought I would post them for any thoughts. They are day 13. So happy for all the chicks everyone has and all the ones to come. Hope we all do good

Don't worry too much about opening the incubator before lockdown. Remember, broody hens need to get off the nest to eat, drink and poop once in awhile. A lot of the fancier incubators actually have a cool down function.. where the temp drops once a day to mimic more natural conditions as it can apparently improve hatch rates. I still haven't had any time at night to candle my eggs again, so I can't really compare my air cell development to yours yet. I think they look about right for this point in development though. I'm really going to make time to candle tonight. It needs to happen so I can pull any bad eggs.

4th and last egg from my broody hatched finally. They are some seriously cute chicks. I'll try to get some photos of my 4 new chicks and their 2 moms this afternoon while my son is napping.

 

[WendyF]

I seem to have found some conflicting information - should I be candling on day 14 or day 15?

 

[Book]

My day 10 candle didn't go as I had hoped. We got a massive windstorm. Our power was out for a day. The low on my thermometer recorded at 79!

I was out of town until two hours before our power kicked back on. I didn't get to candle on day 10 which would have been Saturday because I had to help my Mom for health issues. She is OK, it was just a scare, but I stayed the night with her to help calm her nerves. Then I came home to the power outage of about 22 hours...The bator had been doing such a good job at keeping stable, I didn't want to unplug it for the hour & 1/2 drive up to my Mom's house. I am so glad my Mom is alright, but so upset about my poor eggs. I candled them when the power came back on, just to see if I could find any signs of life still, and to inspect them for bad smells or weeping. My little Miracle Egg, #12, showed me movement again! Is it possible that this egg could survive this prolonged dip in temperature? It was slower movement than day 7 candle; but I keep hoping that it will pull through & this will just delay the hatch date. Is there any hope? I thought I saw slight movement in 2 other eggs, but that might have just been wishful thinking. Nothing was obviously dead, No smells or weeping. I saw a lot more veins than day 7 candle, and the bantam assorted egg with the detached air cell seemed to have gained some stability in it; the air cell hardly moved during candle. Has anyone ever had any eggs survive something like this?

I have read that eggs that go cold for a day or two have been still hatched! Just make sure to give them an extra few days to hatch as development slows when it is not the right temp! It might still be ok! Have hope!

 

[WendyF]

My 8 babies are in lockdown!

I candled them all today, and could see a few of the chicks were starting to nibble at the inner membrane! Super cool. "Crackle" (my miracle egg with the broken shell) is in the incubator and I tried to take off as much tape as I could without taking more shell off. As a incubator and hatching novice, can any one tell me please is 37.8C (100F) and 65% humidity a good temperature to have? I think it's right, I just need some reassurance I'm not going to make a big mistake. Happy hatching!

Awesome!

Can't wait to hear how it goes. Most things I read say aim for 65% - 70% so sounds like you are good there. We're all rooting for Crackle, and all of her bator buddies!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yes...I needed it out to lower the humidity...It was the only place I had water..I think it will lower the humidity taking it out. I hope! It was staying around 50 to 55 so hoping with it out I can keep it back to the 35 or 40 till lockdown ... Some of the eggs look ok to me on the air sacs but a couple are a little small so hoping this is the right thing to do.

Sounds right.

I seem to have found some conflicting information - should I be candling on day 14 or day 15?

Does it matter? I don't think so.

I have read that eggs that go cold for a day or two have been still hatched! Just make sure to give them an extra few days to hatch as development slows when it is not the right temp! It might still be ok! Have hope!

It depends on where in the incubation it occurs. The first week they can cool completely. Later in the incubation that can be bad.

There's some good information here.
http://www.brinsea.com/Articles/Advice/PowerOff.aspx
I hope it's right.

 

[WendyF]

I have read that eggs that go cold for a day or two have been still hatched! Just make sure to give them an extra few days to hatch as development slows when it is not the right temp! It might still be ok! Have hope!

Thank you, Book! I have had 3 people respond saying some may still hatch, so hope has been restored.

 

[StarMeKritten]

I seem to have found some conflicting information - should I be candling on day 14 or day 15?

It's a matter of personal preference. I think most people like to do day 7 and 14 just because it's easy to remember and keep track of. I know that if I set my eggs on a thursday, I should candle them on the next 2 thursdays and they will hatch on the third thursday.

Thank you, Book! I have had 3 people respond saying some may still hatch, so hope has been restored.

I'm hoping you see development and movement in your eggs whenever you decide to candle them!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Well, I'm down to 8 eggs. My cracked egg quit, no surprise though, it was pretty messed up.

And, I put 20 more Silkie and Sizzle eggs into the incubator. And gave 6 more to my mottled Cochin who decide it was time to sit



I'm loving all of the pics! Only 3 more days until I lockdown my first 8 eggs!!!

 

[calichicken]

3 of the 9 eggs in the hatcher are pipping. I have three chicks 4 days old, so the new ones will go with them.
I also have an 11 day old that is with two 4 week olds.
I have four that are 2 months old.
I had six that hatched under broodies on Easter but a mink killed them all.

Woohooo!!! Chickies are coming