Big Dessert-Themed Hatch-Along

[TwoCrows]

Not early on no. But the Turken x Houdan cross eggs we lost all ended in a blood ring, and I was worried it was germs, but I’ll admit I’m a bit over-cautious if anything with washing before I handle eggs. My son is the same but he never opens the incubator. (It’s in my gaming room I share with hubby so we would know if kiddo was fiddling with it) I always use antibacterial soap and warm water, scrub for a good 30-45 seconds, then make sure my hands are totally dry before handling the eggs. Though I will say just one of the cross eggs was a little dirty? But I didn’t think nearly dirty enough to cause any bacterial issues, especially considering eggs’ bloom, so I was puzzled!

Can it be happening at any time during the process from shipping? I think my fear is I must be doing something wrong somehow if they quit at all after developing, but is that more likely/possible for shipped eggs? These have all been shipped - we plan to only hatch our own backyard mixes next year on out!

Keeping hands clean is definitely a must however most early quitters are most likely going to be from improper Incubation temps, not fumigating the machine properly or the eggs themselves. If the incubator has the perfect settings going and it was properly fumigated before setting eggs, then quitters before lock down can be from any number of things from shipping, what temps and conditions the eggs were subject too before setting, how were they stored before setting, genetics and how healthy were the parents, what was their diet, do the eggs have powerful energy to go the entire cycle? So many things can cause deaths even if your hands are completely sanitized and the machine is running perfectly. Sometimes stuff happens out of our control. But we need to control as much of it as possible in hopes of getting as many to hatch as possible.

 

[newchickychick]

Keeping hands clean is definitely a must however most early quitters are most likely going to be from improper Incubation temps, not fumigating the machine properly or the eggs themselves. If the incubator has the perfect settings going and it was properly fumigated before setting eggs, then quitters before lock down can be from any number of things from shipping, what temps and conditions the eggs were subject too before setting, how were they stored before setting, genetics and how healthy were the parents, what was their diet, do the eggs have powerful energy to go the entire cycle? So many things can cause deaths even if your hands are completely sanitized and the machine is running perfectly. Sometimes stuff happens out of our control. But we need to control as much of it as possible in hopes of getting as many to hatch as possible.

Thank you so much for all this advice! These incubators are first-hatch for the eggs in them. I did wash them thoroughly before setting eggs for the first time, (little bit of white vinegar and just plain ol' water). I'm not sure if that was thorough enough out of box, or if they needed something stronger? I then made sure they were running just fine for 24 hours straight with steady temp/humidity. I set every set of eggs pointy side down at room temp for 24 hours before beginning to incubate, where I keep them in an egg carton for 72 hours (sometimes a little earlier but never fully at the 48 hour mark) before setting them in turners to turn. Since they're shipped, most arrive with detached air cells, but I've had a number that went from unsteady/loose to at the very least steady/not moving noticeably.

Our house's natural humidity is 25%-30%, but I felt like air cells were getting too huge too fast with dry hatching (but, I am also super inexperienced, so it could just be a 'me problem' and they were not at all actually an issue), so I've been carefully monitoring it to keep it more like 40% just to see if that'd help too now that we've had those early to late stage losses. I'm also careful to not throw out any eggs I find questionable. We've not had any so far that smelled. Some that were VERY dirty, I simply didn't incubate (those have been few and far between) as I was worried about bacteria. There is one I'm about to set I'm eyeing suspiciously in terms of 'dirty' (a smear of white on it - it's a copper marans egg - so certainly poop but I'm wondering if the white of it 'stained' the egg as it was not really easy to scratch off and I didn't want to compromise the bloom)

When I pull out to candle, other than washing my hands thoroughly, I also quickly pull out one 'row' at a time, quickly candle the 6 in that row, put it back, grab another, etc. So I do try to keep them from being out in the cool room for too long (1-2 minutes for all 6 tops usually). But I also do know broody hens will leave their eggs for longer than that to go dust bathe, eat/drink, poop, etc. so I'm feeling like that couldn't be an issue.

I feel like the whiteboard meme guy trying to figure out what I could be doing better. I'm trying to not OVER-think but I'd love to know if it's a "me" thing or "shipped eggs" thing so I'm not doing anything that's outwardly a "bless your heart, no, never do that." I definitely ordered 3 more hygrometer/thermometer combos though as we've got a total of 4 incubators!

Phewh. That was a word wall. Our dessert eggs are doing much, much better count-wise than this one, so not sure if it's luck on the shipped eggs or I'm doing something different for those and simply don't realize. It's definitely a journey so far!

 

[newchickychick]

Let's keep growing dessert chicks, no more quitters!
Go Popsicle!

Popsicle's egg shell color is just SO lovely! I am so, so excited for when we have our colorful egg-layers laying. Also dying to see what colors they come out as! That's the one really exciting thing about not knowing the parent stock on breeds with a variation.

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you so much for all this advice! These incubators are first-hatch for the eggs in them. I did wash them thoroughly before setting eggs for the first time, (little bit of white vinegar and just plain ol' water). I'm not sure if that was thorough enough out of box, or if they needed something stronger? I then made sure they were running just fine for 24 hours straight with steady temp/humidity. I set every set of eggs pointy side down at room temp for 24 hours before beginning to incubate, where I keep them in an egg carton for 72 hours (sometimes a little earlier but never fully at the 48 hour mark) before setting them in turners to turn. Since they're shipped, most arrive with detached air cells, but I've had a number that went from unsteady/loose to at the very least steady/not moving noticeably.

Our house's natural humidity is 25%-30%, but I felt like air cells were getting too huge too fast with dry hatching (but, I am also super inexperienced, so it could just be a 'me problem' and they were not at all actually an issue), so I've been carefully monitoring it to keep it more like 40% just to see if that'd help too now that we've had those early to late stage losses. I'm also careful to not throw out any eggs I find questionable. We've not had any so far that smelled. Some that were VERY dirty, I simply didn't incubate (those have been few and far between) as I was worried about bacteria. There is one I'm about to set I'm eyeing suspiciously in terms of 'dirty' (a smear of white on it - it's a copper marans egg - so certainly poop but I'm wondering if the white of it 'stained' the egg as it was not really easy to scratch off and I didn't want to compromise the bloom)

When I pull out to candle, other than washing my hands thoroughly, I also quickly pull out one 'row' at a time, quickly candle the 6 in that row, put it back, grab another, etc. So I do try to keep them from being out in the cool room for too long (1-2 minutes for all 6 tops usually). But I also do know broody hens will leave their eggs for longer than that to go dust bathe, eat/drink, poop, etc. so I'm feeling like that couldn't be an issue.

I feel like the whiteboard meme guy trying to figure out what I could be doing better. I'm trying to not OVER-think but I'd love to know if it's a "me" thing or "shipped eggs" thing so I'm not doing anything that's outwardly a "bless your heart, no, never do that." I definitely ordered 3 more hygrometer/thermometer combos though as we've got a total of 4 incubators!

Phewh. That was a word wall. Our dessert eggs are doing much, much better count-wise than this one, so not sure if it's luck on the shipped eggs or I'm doing something different for those and simply don't realize. It's definitely a journey so far!

It sounds like you are doing everything right! I won't incubate really dirty eggs either. I usually use a bit if sand paper on poop spots of eggs I really want to try and hatch that particular egg. Its not likely a bit of lost bloom will cause any trouble. My guess here is you are losing many of them from rough shipping, (they say if you get a 50% hatch rate on shipped eggs, you've done quite well) and possibly temp fluctuations in the machine. By keeping the govee in there for the entire cycle you should be able to see if it's your incubator. If it's running up to par then it's most likely issues with shipping. Rough shipping is really hard on embryos.

 

[newchickychick]

It sounds like you are doing everything right! I won't incubate really dirty eggs either. I usually use a bit if sand paper on poop spots of eggs I really want to try and hatch that particular egg. Its not likely a bit of lost bloom will cause any trouble. My guess here is you are losing many of them from rough shipping, (they say if you get a 50% hatch rate on shipped eggs, you've done quite well) and possibly temp fluctuations in the machine. By keeping the govee in there for the entire cycle you should be able to see if it's your incubator. If it's running up to par then it's most likely issues with shipping. Rough shipping is really hard on embryos.

We did have a few of the boxes turn up on their sides or put down at the mailbox... in the wet grass. The post office itself is FANTASTIC but one of the carriers I think doesn't like having to drive up our long driveway. Or maybe doesn't care for us.

I didn't think about sand paper! I may try that with this copper marans egg. It's GORGEOUS. Very dark brown with darker speckles on it. I'll definitely keep the govee in these and see if there's something I'm missing. Again, thank you so much for the time! It'll be quite a while before we're getting fertile eggs, so we can't really compare just yet.

 

[TwoCrows]

We did have a few of the boxes turn up on their sides or put down at the mailbox... in the wet grass. The post office itself is FANTASTIC but one of the carriers I think doesn't like having to drive up our long driveway. Or maybe doesn't care for us.

I didn't think about sand paper! I may try that with this copper marans egg. It's GORGEOUS. Very dark brown with darker speckles on it. I'll definitely keep the govee in these and see if there's something I'm missing. Again, thank you so much for the time! It'll be quite a while before we're getting fertile eggs, so we can't really compare just yet.

I certainly don't know it all but I'm always glad to help where I can! You don't need to sand off every atom of poop on an egg, but if you give it a light sanding and it gets most of it off, it doesn't hurt the egg and it will be fine to put in the machine.

And no matter how many hatch from this batch of eggs, you did extremely well.

 

[newchickychick]

I certainly don't know it all but I'm always glad to help where I can! You don't need to sand off every atom of poop on an egg, but if you give it a light sanding and it gets most of it off, it doesn't hurt the egg.

And no matter how many hatch from this batch of eggs, you did extremely well.

Thank you so much! That's so encouraging. I'm really loving watching the process. Hubby and kiddo both had the same awe-struck expression I KNOW I had watching our very first hatch. We've got some buff laced polish eggs baking too in hopes of a frizzle buff laced for our son. Here's hoping to a future of many happy, healthy little chicks.

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you so much! That's so encouraging. I'm really loving watching the process. Hubby and kiddo both had the same awe-struck expression I KNOW I had watching our very first hatch. We've got some buff laced polish eggs baking too in hopes of a frizzle buff laced for our son. Here's hoping to a future of many happy, healthy little chicks.

We definitely learn as we go, my first couple hatches didn't go as planned. But with each hatch we learn things. Hatching is SO magical, it never gets old watching an egg turn into a tiny life. It's just an amazing process!

 

[TwoCrows]

Good morning Dessert Eggies! Y'all better be growing in your shells or no dessert for you!

 

[newchickychick]

We’re officially a week, thereabouts, from hatch! I’m so darn excited! Sad we will be leaving the day before, but kiddo has a fully written out page on instructions on how to initiate lockdown on one batch (he will help me start lockdown with these sweeties) and how to be prepared for hatching on the others.