@Tbjenkins2007 I've hatched enough eggs now that I can look at them in the face when they're still wet and see if they're likely male or female. Not 100% but way better than 50/50! Depending on what they are the fluff color will tell me. Total about 12 years of hatching, there was a break in my 20's when I didn't have chickens.
Today was the end of day 22, with 22 chicks out, 7 confirmed dead in the shell (3 of those had pipped) and 2 that weren't dead but hadn't absorbed yet and so I couldn't take them out either. They'll likely not make it, but just in case they're set up with a bump in humidity since I took the top of the shell off. I wet the membrane with warm water as well.
Significantly better than last year, when those numbers would have been 7 hatched and 22 not coming. I'll take this as a win!
Next week's hatch I'm going to set up in egg cartons for lockdown and give that a go. Maybe it'll save the ones who pip but then don't make it out from getting knocked around or whatever it is that causes them not to finish.
