Did anyone else set eggs today on Valentine's Day?

[Piper1998]

I'm just dying here! I set my eggs on Feb 12 and go to the bator every hour or so to see if there's any action. Nothing so far. I've been candling every seven days and can't figure out if I see anything more than a blob on one end and space on the other end. There are 23 in there, and I'd be happy if even just two hatch.

I'm using the LG still air, and I removed the turner, added more water, and locked down Friday night. While doing this I burned my finger on the element and it occurs to me that a chick could get burned on this thing, too. Any thoughts on this?

 

[SkippyRoo]

I didn't even think about the heat of the element. It seems to high on mine to touch the chicks.
From what I've read, i was planning on just letting them stay in the bator for 24 hours. i'm setting up the brood box though and will have it ready.

I still have three that have hatched out. I don't even know how many have pipped because the chicks have rolled all the eggs around. They seem to be more calm in the dark. But I can't see that way.

I'm looking forward to see what we all have in the morning too!

 

[Jake1297]

I have four that have pipped as of 6am this morning. More to come I hope. On another note I wouldn't worry about the heat element burning the chicks. I have never had that problem and mine is also a still air.

For those of you that remove the turner, remember you are moving a lot of mass from the bator that stores some heat. When the turner is taken out the heat stored that the turner gave off is gone. Therefore the heat has to be turned up to compensate the loss. I don't want you to think the turner stores a lot of heat, but it does just enough to make a difference.

 

[SkippyRoo]

It is good to hear that yours are pipping Jake!!!!! I was worried for a little while.

so I've got around 13 that have hatched out and two that are zipping and another four or five that I can see have pipped. It is starting to look like a battlefield in there with all the busted up shells with blood residue and all. I probably won't do any more pics until i get them in the brooder, the windows are so fogged up it is hard to see well.

My EE eggs were the first to hatch all four of them pretty close in time. Then the Red Sussex which are still going i had about 13 of those and about 7 have hatched and just recently one Buff Orphington, which there are four or five more to go. So far none of the sex links have hatched there a few pipping though.

well thats the update for now. I'm looking forward to hear yours!

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

Five healthy vibrant chickies are bouncing around the brooder! We lost one that zipped on the side and couldn't go any farther because of the egg carton it was in. There are two eggs still in the bator... I ended up candling them since there was no pip. Both have pipped internally, saw one moving, but the other no action. I still see veins in the one that isn't moving. So I will keep my fingers crossed.

Not a bad hatch seeing that eight eggs made it to lockdown and this is my third time incubating.

Here's the five fluff butts that we have so far.

 

[SkippyRoo]

Comptons,

Those sure are cute fluffy butts!!!!

O. K. so 19 have hatched out so far. there are still 13 eggs left. 3 Pipping and one that has been zipping for quite some time now. The first to hatch pipped at around 11am yesterday and were zipped and out by 3:30pm, 4.5 hrs. I didn't really time any others besides the first. Anyone else have times on theirs?
So here they are!!!


I took them out of the bator and put them into the brooder. whew!!!! it is smelly in there!! Super nasty steam room!They definitely is a ammonia smell in the bator so I don't know how good it is for them to stay in there sooo long. It is what people here recommend. i haven't witnessed a broody hen hatch eggs but i hope it isn't as bad smell wise. I can't imagine it is in the open air and all. All dry and warm now though!!

 

[Jake1297]

I had three hatch out yesterday.and one early this morning around 2 am. 3 Silkies and one EE. The EE I bought on eBay (8 of them) and had them shipped a little over a 1000 miles. So if they don't hatch, it may be from the trip not the loss of power. My first one to hatch came out just before noon. Took her/him about 5 hours, I didn't time it exactly. I do know how ever one of them took less than a half hour. Must have wanted out really bad. I do have one zipping now as of 7:45am.
All the chicks are doing well. We moved them from the bator to the brooder this morning. I'll try and get some pictures before this afternoon.

 

[Jake1297]

Here's a couple pictures of the four I have in the brooder. Another silkie just hatched in the bator and another egg is pipping.

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

Adorable fluffy chicks! Nice job Jake and SkippyRoo!!!

Well, I had one zip on the side of it's egg last night and it suffocated

. That would have been the sixth one to hatch. Then before leaving for work, I checked on the last two eggs in the bator and one was pipping! It was pipping on it's side and I was afraid I would loose. So I cut a small ring from a toilet paper roll and propped the pipping egg up in the center of the ring. I then booste up the humidity since I opened the bator to help it out. A friend swung by the house to check on the zipping egg since I was at work and it had hatch!

As for the last little egg in the bator, I was about to throw it out but thought I would candle it before hand. Well, it was wiggling and peeping so I stuck it back in the bator. That was around 6:00 pm and there still is no external pip. The chick did pip internally so I will hold off and wait it out to see if it decides to join it's siblings.

So far we have a 75% hatch rate using the LG, dry hatch and egg carton method. I'm extremely happy with the outcome!

Congrats to everyone on their hatch. They sure are adorable!

 

[SkippyRoo]

Hey everything is looking good!

Jake it looks like that power outage didn't make a big difference huh? How resilient life is!

Yeah you gotta be happy with 75 percent Compton. Mine is a bit less. Out of the 32 that went into lock down 22 hatched out. So about 68 percent for my first hatch. I am thrilled!!! Of 15 total Red Sussex 12 went into lock down and 11 of those hatched.(these were shipped from Georgia to California) 4 EE all hatched. Out of the 5 Buff orphingtons 4 hatched. These were all good percentages. But out of 11 Red SexLinks only 3 hatched out. i ended up candling and there was no movement then i opened them and they were fully developed but dead.

One of the Red Sussex had started zipping yesterday and never finished. Today It looked dry even though the bator humidity was in the eighties. I kept getting a little towel wet and wrapping it in that but it didn't seem to help. I sat by and waited and internally struggled - on one hand i wanted to let nature take its course on the other, i wanted to comfort and help a little one who was struggling in life. I made a quick compromise that i could help it out but would not let it breed for hatching eggs. So i helped it get out and now it seems fine but it was the last one to hatch out and is behind it brothers and sisters a bit.

So my incubator is empty now and i am going to try not to load it back up yet. i have a new coop to build first! My brood box is four ft. by two ft. so i think it will be good for three or four weeks. in one to two weeks i'll let them go out on pasture in a moveable pen that docks on the brood box.