Counting the days.

[lazy gardener]

I have dancing babies. 27 eggs set. Had a hard time with temp regulation for the first few days. Then, seemed to get a handle on it by turning the fan off, and repositioning the eggs to get them into the right "zone". Occasional temp spikes. So, currently, I have 18 dancers. I need to remember to use a table lamp for candling. I took the "bail" off it, cut the bottom off a shampoo bottle, wrapped the bottle in a sales flier to make it the right length, wrapped tin foil around the top part of the bottle, and slid the bottle down over the bulb and stem of the lamp. Using 7 W CFL. It gives a view of even the most reluctant eggs. For some odd reason, most of the brown eggs are not fertile. but, I think all of Nellie's eggs have dancing babies. (Jack must really like her!) And it looks like most of the green/olive eggs have dancers, though it is harder to tell with them.

 

[Alaskan]

I have dancing babies.  27 eggs set.  Had a hard time with temp regulation for the first few days.  Then, seemed to get a handle on it by turning the fan off, and repositioning the eggs to get them into the right "zone".  Occasional temp spikes.  So, currently, I have 18 dancers.  I need to remember to use a table lamp for candling.  I took the "bail" off it, cut the bottom off a shampoo bottle, wrapped the bottle in a sales flier to make it the right length, wrapped tin foil around the top part of the bottle, and slid the bottle down over the bulb and stem of the lamp.  Using 7 W CFL.  It gives a view of even the most reluctant eggs.  For some odd reason, most of the brown eggs are not fertile.  but, I think all of Nellie's eggs have dancing babies.  (Jack must really like her!)  And it looks like most of the green/olive eggs have dancers, though it is harder to tell with them.

How did the hatch go?

 

[lazy gardener]

Thanks for asking. First baby pipped Sunday night, and did not emerge until 12:25 PM Monday. They were off to a slow start. 3 babies out by 9 PM Monday night. This morning, there were ? 14 out. I moved the twelve driest ones to a MHP brooder, and left 2 to dry and cheer on the remaining pips. As of now, there is one wrong end pip, 3 other pips in bator, and 3 chicks stumbling around like drunken sailors. Final count should be available this evening.

 

[Alaskan]

Sounds like a good gatch!

 

[lazy gardener]

The last few egglets needed a bit of assistance. One was chirping up a storm, but had not externally pipped. I used a drill bit to chip a hole through the shell, and opened the leathery membrane so she could breathe. Several others had pipped, but made no further progress, so I opened the shells a bit and pulled back some membranes. I have one busy little chirper running around in the bator. He was dangling quite an assortment of shell bits from his umbilicus. So, I trimmed those off, as well as soaking the shell off his butt, and then swabbed his umbilicus with betadine where it had pulled a bit. Several others had pipped, but made no further progress, so I opened the shells a bit and pulled back some membranes. There are also 2 chicks on the half shell. Dry membranes (in spite of humidity above 65% when pipping) and malpositions appeared to be cause of failure to progress. One egg still shows no signs of life. So... if the 3 remaining chicks in the bator survive without complications this will bring my hatch stats to: 27 set, 6 not fertile/failed to develop. 20 hatched/ing. ? 1 DIS.

 

[Alaskan]

That is a very nice hatch rate.

Congrats!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Thanks, Alaskan. You still doing Doms? I have 3 coming on Friday.

So here's my question: Of the 2 chicks on the half shell, one made an exit last night, and was dangling an unabsorbed yolk that was about 3/8" in diameter. As of this morining, if it has receded any, it's not much. The chick is active and moving pretty good. My question is: should I wait, and see if it completely recedes? Of course he's been dragging it through all the stuff in the bottom of the bator. No way to keep something like that clean. I did swab around the umbilicus with betadine. Should I cull now, or wait it out. Looking for response from folks who have had similar circumstances, time frame, treatment, and what the outcome has been.

As for the other chick on the half shell: she popped out and is a bit crusty around the edges. But her feet and her belly look good.

This brings my hatch rate to 90% if the yolk belly and the DIS are counted as losses.

Hatch rate if yolk belly makes full recovery is 95%.

 

[Alaskan]

That is an excellent hatch rate. Congrats.


As for the unabsorbed yolk.....

I have heard that they can end up just fine... however after having two that I decided to try to keep, and both managed to pop open the yolk sack.. now
I just cull.


I just finished a hatch...and it sucked. I am trying to figure out what went wrong, I am thinking it was still too cold (way too many infertile eggs, and I think some of the early deaths were from eggs that had gotten too cold), also I hadn't been as good at giving them nutritional yeast, which I think helps a great deal in general, and lower nutrition might have also led to some of the early deaths.

Just crud.


I am still breeding doms.... but I didn't keep any replacements from last year, and so my breeding flock is too old, and their production is so low...the number of eggs that they are giving me is causing me to rip my hair out...what I have left.

Ah well.

 

[lazy gardener]

That is an excellent hatch rate. Congrats.


As for the unabsorbed yolk.....

I have heard that they can end up just fine... however after having two that I decided to try to keep, and both managed to pop open the yolk sack..

now
I just cull.


I just finished a hatch...and it sucked. I am trying to figure out what went wrong, I am thinking it was still too cold (way too many infertile eggs, and I think some of the early deaths were from eggs that had gotten too cold), also I hadn't been as good at giving them nutritional yeast, which I think helps a great deal in general, and lower nutrition might have also led to some of the early deaths.

Just crud.


I am still breeding doms.... but I didn't keep any replacements from last year, and so my breeding flock is too old, and their production is so low...the number of eggs that they are giving me is causing me to rip my hair out...what I have left.

Ah well.

If you have even a couple hens and a single Dom roo, perhaps you can build your stock back up. All it will take is just a few chicks... then a few more... and...

I've ordered Doms, SLW, Colombian W, BE, PBR, BA, and a few EE. most of these breeds will produce sex linked chicks.

 

[Alaskan]

I love the fact that the doms make sex linked chicks. I like sticking the girls under my Ameraucana for EEs.

And yep, I can easily build my Dom flock back up...it will just take longer than expected.