December Hatch-A-Long 2014

[ChickyChickens]

first hatch. Trial run. I know not to expect much

It is mine's first hatch too and so far so good!!

 

[Kaylish]

i know the feeling....

so terrible at waiting! I'm prego myself and waiting for my baby to come at the end of Jan and waiting for chicks to come out starting Dec 19th. A LOT of waaaaaaaitiiiiiing! so I'm just sitting here ready to pull my hair out

Waiting on top of waiting! I'd be going Nuts! The last month of my pregnancy was sooo long; of course my DD was 13 days late so it was really long...(she's still just as stubborn)

LOL


First chick out...

Yea! Congrats! (day 18 is really early, were your temps a little high?)

Alright I just realized that for candling on day 7 I knew exactly what I was looking for, I knew exactly what I would see in order to decide to toss eggs but I am a little stumped for day 14 candling. I am thinking I won't see much veining anymore and mostly just a big black blob correct? How will I know if they are still alive though if I don't see any movement. Am I mostly just looking for any blood rings and making sure none of them stink? I am so nervous I will toss one that is actually good or that I wont toss one that may explode and kill the rest of my babies! Aggghhhh! Ok now I need to go study for my College Algebra final tomorrow.... I don't wanna think about that kinda math I just wanna think about chicken math!

Day 14 I'd remove any blood rings or clears (I don't pull clears until at least day 10). Sometimes you will see movement, sometimes not. If you're unsure and it doesn't stink, I'd leave it until lockdown.
Chicken math is waaaay more fun than Algebra

Okay...my incubators are finally working properly!!

 

[ChickyChickens]

Yea! Congrats! (day 18 is really early, were your temps a little high?)

Nope...from day 1-17 the eggs were under a broody...then she quit!! My broodies tend to have day 18 hatches!!

 

[ochochicas]

When I candle I don't worry about looking for movement. Personally I think candling too much is stressful on the embryos, plus you don't want to handle them excessively or have them out of the incubator too long. At day 7 I look for clears that were never fertile; they get tossed. At day 10 I do a quick check for blood rings and any eggs that stopped growing. My last batch I had 9 clears at day 7 plus six more that quit at day 8. At day 14 or 16 I candle again and weigh the eggs. Anything that has not lost about 10% of it weight is not a good sign. I toss anything that has lack of development, obvious black spots that are not growing into a chick, etc.

 

[Renee572]

I you candle on day 18 and you can see a smaller black spot with what appears to be liquid moving as you tilt the egg some---you can throw it out. A full developd egg will be "most" all dark except for the air cell.

Here is what I do (keep in mind everyone does it differently):

I candle on day 7 and day 14 for my broodies:
Day 7: If there is veining they are good and go back under momma, If I don't see veining or it just looks off I mark it with an X and it still goes under momma but I know to double check those later. If momma has a lot of eggs sometimes I will check the marked ones and keep or toss on day 10 to give her more room under her.

Day 14: should see a small amount of veining near the air cell (make sure you see an air cell! If not it may just be full of rotten yolk) and then should pretty much see a black blob. The blob is probably moving some. Usually the easiest place to see movement is right above the air cell. If moving it goes back. If not moving or looks odd it gets marked and still goes back. Those marks only help when after every other one has hatched I can say "oh well that one looked funny on day 14 so it is likely it wouldn't hatch"

Same concepts for the incubator but I candle days 10 and day 18

Waiting on top of waiting! I'd be going Nuts! The last month of my pregnancy was sooo long; of course my DD was 13 days late so it was really long...(she's still just as stubborn)

Yea! Congrats! (day 18 is really early, were your temps a little high?)


Day 14 I'd remove any blood rings or clears (I don't pull clears until at least day 10). Sometimes you will see movement, sometimes not. If you're unsure and it doesn't stink, I'd leave it until lockdown.
Chicken math is waaaay more fun than Algebra

thanks everyone. That was helpful.

 

[azoh10]

I hope I am in the correct form Help its cold in Ohio and I have my chicken in the coop. And two of my Silkie moms laid about 8 eggs on dec 10th and one baby is already here. My question is should I take the baby away and feed the one or should I move the hens and eggs and baby altogether in a warm area away from the flock. Thank you so much.

 

[Debs55]

I hope I am in the correct form Help its cold in Ohio and I have my chicken in the coop. And two of my Silkie moms laid about 8 eggs on dec 10th and one baby is already here. My question is should I take the baby away and feed the one or should I move the hens and eggs and baby altogether in a warm area away from the flock. Thank you so much.

here is what I would do since it is so cold. I would rig up a heat lamp where your mommas and babies are (also if you can block them off from other chickens without moving them. you could use cardboard or something). then when all babies are hatched. move mommas and babies to a warm area

 

[backyardjack]

Just candled mine on day 5 and all are growing, think Thats pretty good for shipped eggs I just hope that at least 1 hatches I'm sooo happy I started doubting myself but so far I can't have done anything wrong, I'm so so happy

 

[Debs55]

Just candled mine on day 5 and all are growing, think Thats pretty good for shipped eggs I just hope that at least 1 hatches

I'm sooo happy I started doubting myself but so far I can't have done anything wrong, I'm so so happy

sounds like you have a good start. Keep an eye on those air cells since they are shipped eggs

 

[frillydishes]

Hi all!! I'm joining in! I set 124 of RIR, B.Rocks, leghorns, and EE's, all due Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Best Christmas ever! I've got 2 bators without fans so I'm a little concerned about them, I've always had forced air. I'd love tips on how to increase my hatch rate out of those. Good luck everyone!