broody's left nest ...10/30 last egg just hatched!

[swtangel321]

Quote:
ahhhh, yes that would be a no no, LOL !!!!! They arent to to far apart, I had a hatch like that once 15 eggs were on the same day and 4 were a day each apart !!!! What is your hum at ??? So you have some on day 22 and some on 17ish ??

 

[citychickers]

Yes. I have 1 on day 22

1 on 21
1 on 20


You get the idea. I've got the bator going with alot of Humidity for now because we had a horrible time with the membrane drying out. We had one die the other day because it couldn't get out of the shell.

The same thing happened to us in March with our hatch. 21 chicks all died in the egg, couldn't even pip because the membranes were too dried out.

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
Do you know what the % is ??? Do you have a hum reader ???

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Citychickers, I just saw this thread, and do wish you success with these eggs. Chicks can & do hatch under some extreme & unusual situations so you just might get some of these to come out. But some times you can do everything "right" and still not get anyone to hatch.

You seem to be doing all you can do & more for the benefit of these eggs. Don't blame yourself if things go wrong, just learn for later. (And share your new wisdom with us too!)

It's often difficult to decide just how much to intervene with hatching chicks, sometimes they need our help & other times we can do more harm than good. Intervene or interfere? It's tough to know for sure, even with experience. You just have to live & learn.

One thing you might want to consider for next time is to put all the eggs under at one time. When you realize you have a broody hen you can set her on fake eggs for a few days until you collect all the other eggs you really want them to hatch. You can store those fresh eggs in a coolish place, on a counter or table top, in an egg carton large end up. You can tilt the carton 45 degrees, and switch sides morning & night. I write AM & PM on the ends of the carton so I can keep track of which end should be up. Then when you've collected enough you can slide out the fake eggs one night & tuck the good eggs underneath the broody hen. That way they'll all hatch out around the same day under the hen, not throughout the week. Most broodies won't continue to set on eggs once they've got day-old chicks.

Remember that the chickens themselves play a numbers game with their offspring. Their instincts tell them that there are all sorts of things that can go wrong with the eggs & the chicks, so they always lay extras. So go ahead & try your best to get these eggs & chicks to succeed, but don't let it break your heart if they don't.

But I'm hoping for great success for you & for them!

 

[citychickers]

Thank you.

 

[ginbart]

Don't give up yet. Remember the temp may be a little low. It may take a couple extra days.

 

[citychickers]

I haven't completelly given up yet. This morning I checked the eggs again and 3 of them you can hear internal pecking. These are the 3 that are due to hatch in the next 3 days. The 2 that were making so much noise on Friday night are now silent. I believe that they've died in the shell.


I've added more warm water to the bator and put another cup of hot water on the inside screen as well. ( to try to boost the humidity) this bator has no humidity reader. We're in Colorado so it's almost non existant. I tell how much humidity is in the bator by whether or not the windows have drops of water on them or not.


We've not given up...but were also not holding out alot of hope at this time. Thanks to you all.

 

[ginbart]

I know if it was me I couldn't stand it and I would be opening the ones that were due already just a little hole so you could see in the air pocket. But that's just me.

 

[LoneCowboy]

If you have droplets on the glass of the bator, then the humidity is too high now. Don't worry so much about it. You don't want sticky gooey hatches either. I've had lots of them and they are awful. Most important thing now is to just let them do their thing. Be sure not to open the bator. They start and stop all the time. They make a racket and then have to stop for a long nap before getting on with the job. I kinda think they do it on purpose to drive humans nuts.

I have a bunch hatching in the bator right now. This has been a good hatch so far much less problems than in the past. They've been hatching out clean for a change. Silly me, I've got chicks hatching and I'm on more pins and needles for yours.

 

[swtangel321]

How are you hearing them piping inside the shell ??? Are you opening the bator and putting the eggs to your ear ????