I confess I am not a hatching enthusiast. I hatch because my breeds never go broody. I don't hover. I make sure the temps and humidity are where they need to be, but I don't watch. It's just too painful and makes me feel ghoulish to watch them struggle like that. I never help.
My last hatch the power went out for 6 hours on day 17 and I ended up with 2 pips and 1 chick out of 36 eggs. It happens, right?
This time Saturday was day 20 and every egg pipped and quite a few had started zipping when disaster struck. The power went out for 12 hours. I was able to keep the humidity up but even a hot water bottle wasn't able to keep the temps up. At one point it dropped to 78. Out of everything, I've got 4 surviving chicks. One looks good, but he was out of the shell before the power kicked off. The next 2 were only zipped and are now dragging around their yokes, so they could easily go either way. The fourth one, now he's the heartbreaker. He survived but appears to have nerve damage. One leg shakes uncontrollably and the other doesn't appear to function at all. He's only been out of his shell for about an hour and he, too, still has his yoke attached. But maybe he'll fool me and actually make it. The rest died in their shells.
Neither hatch was for me. I was hatching for a friend who wanted a flock of my Rocks for himself.
All in all, a sad, sad day. Makes me want to pack it away and not try this again.
Rusty
My last hatch the power went out for 6 hours on day 17 and I ended up with 2 pips and 1 chick out of 36 eggs. It happens, right?
This time Saturday was day 20 and every egg pipped and quite a few had started zipping when disaster struck. The power went out for 12 hours. I was able to keep the humidity up but even a hot water bottle wasn't able to keep the temps up. At one point it dropped to 78. Out of everything, I've got 4 surviving chicks. One looks good, but he was out of the shell before the power kicked off. The next 2 were only zipped and are now dragging around their yokes, so they could easily go either way. The fourth one, now he's the heartbreaker. He survived but appears to have nerve damage. One leg shakes uncontrollably and the other doesn't appear to function at all. He's only been out of his shell for about an hour and he, too, still has his yoke attached. But maybe he'll fool me and actually make it. The rest died in their shells.
Neither hatch was for me. I was hatching for a friend who wanted a flock of my Rocks for himself.
All in all, a sad, sad day. Makes me want to pack it away and not try this again.
Rusty