pinewoodacres
Songster
I am not new to hatching eggs and I have never experienced a pip in the wrong end until this time. They also did not start hatching a day or two ahead like they usually do, and I believe my temps were too low. But I’m puzzled by these pips.
Friday was day 21 which makes today day 23. I still am getting chicks (slower now) and ended up helping one pipped at the wrong end that tried to zip yesterday afternoon but just made a mess of its shell. Overnight it fully cemented in there, so I had no choice (I don’t help if it’s not my issue but if it’s an incubator issue, that’s only fair). There was another pipped on the correct end next to this one and same situation where it tried to zip and just made a big hole (telltale sign of being unable to rotate around). That one was also totally stuck to the membrane. I helped as much as I felt necessary and put them back in.
While I was at it, since it’s still dark out, I candled some of the remaining eggs (I can’t get to them all due to the way I have it set up). I found one pip at the wrong end and appears to still be alive. The hole is not opened up much so I am going to leave that one alone for now. There was yet another but based on candling I think that one may have died.
That is THREE at least in this batch of 31 that went into lockdown that have pipped the wrong end. Overall this hatch did not go well, I’m sitting at only 50% of lockdown right now and they were all on the later side. Aside from too low temps during incubation and too low humidity during hatch, the only other thing I can think of is that I took the incubator to our 4-H meeting on day 14 to candle. Even then they looked a little less developed than they usually do and we didn’t see as much movement as I expected (consistent with low temps, in retrospect), but I have to wonder if the jostling down my dirt road (1.5 miles to/from the paved road) could have affected their positioning. It was maybe 15 minutes they were unplugged each way so that should have been okay, and it was plugged in for around 2 or so hours while we were there.
I do use an egg turner and removed it at lockdown on Tuesday day 18, so it’s not that.
Any thoughts? I certainly won’t be taking the incubator for a ride again but I am just wondering if this could be the main cause for the higher incidence of malpositioning this time.
Friday was day 21 which makes today day 23. I still am getting chicks (slower now) and ended up helping one pipped at the wrong end that tried to zip yesterday afternoon but just made a mess of its shell. Overnight it fully cemented in there, so I had no choice (I don’t help if it’s not my issue but if it’s an incubator issue, that’s only fair). There was another pipped on the correct end next to this one and same situation where it tried to zip and just made a big hole (telltale sign of being unable to rotate around). That one was also totally stuck to the membrane. I helped as much as I felt necessary and put them back in.
While I was at it, since it’s still dark out, I candled some of the remaining eggs (I can’t get to them all due to the way I have it set up). I found one pip at the wrong end and appears to still be alive. The hole is not opened up much so I am going to leave that one alone for now. There was yet another but based on candling I think that one may have died.
That is THREE at least in this batch of 31 that went into lockdown that have pipped the wrong end. Overall this hatch did not go well, I’m sitting at only 50% of lockdown right now and they were all on the later side. Aside from too low temps during incubation and too low humidity during hatch, the only other thing I can think of is that I took the incubator to our 4-H meeting on day 14 to candle. Even then they looked a little less developed than they usually do and we didn’t see as much movement as I expected (consistent with low temps, in retrospect), but I have to wonder if the jostling down my dirt road (1.5 miles to/from the paved road) could have affected their positioning. It was maybe 15 minutes they were unplugged each way so that should have been okay, and it was plugged in for around 2 or so hours while we were there.
I do use an egg turner and removed it at lockdown on Tuesday day 18, so it’s not that.
Any thoughts? I certainly won’t be taking the incubator for a ride again but I am just wondering if this could be the main cause for the higher incidence of malpositioning this time.
