Day 17/18/19 here... CHICK PICS!!

[KKluckers]

Sorry about those chicks. I hate lossing them too. I have had the same problems with Orps. I wonder if there is some problem I have hatched bantams and had no where near the problems Ive had with the Orps. Good luck with the rest of the hatch.

 

[speckledhen]

I've about decided they are somewhat more difficult to hatch, but very worth the effort. Hang in there, Cara! Velvet's haven't ever given me trouble, so maybe that one will do fine.

 

[Cara]

I had the same difficulties with the Orpingtons I got from Jody. I wonder if they don't take shipping too well, as I didn't have any trouble with the two I hatched from my Buffs.

 

[speckledhen]

I don't know about the Buffs since I haven't had any shipped except for one RIR/Buff Orp cross egg, and she's running around outside right now. Can't see why they'd take shipping any harder than any other breed, but who knows?
We're crossing fingers for you, Cara! Keep us posted on all the new babies coming into the world.

 

[skeeter]

is that all there is needed to stop the hatching is 3/10s of a degree,cause i have no movement in my eggs at all and i had a bigger variance than that

 

[jkcove08]

Skeeter, that is not the total problem. A slightly low bator temp will usually just prolong the hatch by a day or so but if is it a couple degrees high or low then it can really make things go bad. If the temps go about 103 for an extended time, say 8 hours or more then you will probably have killed them. Once in a while you might get a resiliant one but not often. Also if the temp is low by a few degrees for most of the incubation time they might be to weak to hatch. If you catch it after a few days or even the first week there would be hope just a late hatch. There are soooooo many things that can effect a hatch from shipping, to size and shape of the eggs to shell thickness and many more reasons. You just have to pay attention to what is happening and learn from your mistakes. We all make them and if you can learn just one thing from each mistake you will become a better hatcher. Even those who have the expensive bators that do everything but lay the egg have problems with them and learn new things. Jenn

 

[speckledhen]

Jenn is right, those temps Cara mentioned are completely within acceptable ranges. Mine range from 99 to 100 and I have good hatches. There are so many factors, it's sometimes impossible to say what happened. Nature isn't always perfect, no matter how perfect our artificial methods have been during incubation.

 

[skeeter]

well thats good to hear,my temps havent been that high or low,but some of the eggs are pretty small,hmmm I now can see what all the stress is in the last few days,Ive been trying to figure out why everyone gets so crazy about this hatching thing,and now im second guessing everything ive done the last 18 days,i guess ill find out if any will make an appearance ,ive been wanting to do this every since i was a kid,now i have a kid and we are thrilled but its kinda scary,I can see its a learning process with trial and error but we want some chicks ha ha,
Thanks

 

[Cara]

The Ameraucana is doing well and in with the others. The last Blue Orpington hatched, and it seems to be ok, but it's recovering.

It looks like 4 Blue Orpingtons, 1 Sultan and 1 Ameraucana in total, out of 18 eggs. I don't even want to calculate that hatch rate! There's one egg left that developed but hasn't done anything. I'll leave it in, but I think it's dead. It looks like the Sultan is a rooster too

 

[jenichick]

I know exactly how you feel. I ended up with 6 chicks out of 15 eggs. Does it make you want to take a break from the incubator for a while. It did me, but I know I'll do again eventually.