EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[duluthralphie]

I have 3, very nice roosters who cause no problems (not including my silkies, which I think 3-4 are roosters, out of my flock of 8, but there's no fighting so far... so they all get to stay.)

But the two roosters who were harassing the ducks and girls, where eaten.

The best possible use of a bad rooster...Other than shipping to Iceland's free the rooster program. They need more wild roosters up there...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

...

It might have something to do with the WWD thinking 200 chicks is too many to have in the basement...She opened the door to the basement and screamed "WHAT IS THAT TERRIBLE SMELL?" at me for no reason...

The story of my life. I feel your pain. I swear my wife has the most sensitive nose.

When hatching the best results are to keep your hands off, and know in your brain and heart you did your best before lockdown. At lockdown and hatch time if you do anything, it means you will most likely just kill the birds.

Touching the eggs while hatching does no one any good. Back off, go read a book and check tomorrow, they will either hatch or not.

I couldn't agree more.
Almost every bird I tried to assist (because I thought it was my incubator's fault) never made it.
Complete waste of time.
It's important to remember that not all birds are meant to survive. 100% of those under broody hens over millions of years didn't survive either.
Survival of the fittest is a real thing that strengthens a species.

I don't agree because we are humans. I don't care how often you hatch. We are still relying on a machine to tell the truth about temperature and humidity. even if we go with weight, the scale can be off, or we can put the eggs on wrong. We can clean the incubator wrong, or use bad water. We can't hear the cheeps, or feel the movement. We are human. Sometimes (SOMEtimes) we need to touch.

I don't disagree with all that but once one has hatched several times, has known good equipment and has prepared well, it's best to set it and forget it.

Since it isn't just a mechanical failure but possibly genetic, nutritional, etc., sometimes they're not meant to hatch.

We can disagree that's tine. BUT I cannot help but thinking about the sign some businesses have that says:

"Lack of planning on your part is not an emergency on our part"


With incubation that is a lot of it. You do the work before the hatch, trying to save one bird during the hatch will inevitably end up harming others as you open the environment the birds are hatching in. When I opened my incubator the other day I had a dead bird and two cripples. Had I tried to save them, I would most likely have failed, and even if I had saved them, I would have killed others.

Part of being human is realizing some things are beyond our control..

And those dead/crippled birds were failures anyway that couldn't/shouldn't be saved.

I think you hit on it, two things we humans have that can actually hurt chicks, Curiosity and the desire to help.

You will learn with each hatch, and then it will be reinforced with each additional hatch.

A thing that brooding birds have is patience and the instinct NOT to intervene.

There is a small pip right in the middle, and on the side. This is a Welsummer egg that should be maybe just a couple days late. My kids kept adding after the originals were placed in, and it was always difficult to candle. I shouldn't turn the pip to the top should I? Just leave it? The eggs that were due on the 13th are still alive btw. Idk how but they are.

I'd leave it alone.
Clearly your temps have been low throughout.

I feel terrible for possibly having to do off with the eggs that could still hatch but I have another order coming in today and I heard they won't hatch at this point

Is there room for all of them? Can you keep those in and add the new ones?

Ours were sweet. My daughter use to love on them, and take them for walks. We definitely have one that's meaner than the other. I'm the only one that can pick them up now. Mr Pecker (named innocently by my son) got injured once and his wattle got infected. I had to give him injections and oral pain meds. Maybe that did it.

I can't and don't try to pick up any of my birds. The only time they get touched is when they've gone to roost at night.
I prefer them to be aloof. I've been attacked by tamer breeds but never one of these.
I'm supposed to keep my roosters down to 5 but frequently I have 10 to 20 while I'm deciding who to keep.
I try to get down to 4 by the time to blood test in September with lots of chicks growing as replacements.

Should I try lowering the humidity in it? Raise the temperature?...

Not now. It is too late to change the air cell with humidity. Humidity throughout incubation affects the size of the air cell. When pipping is about to occur, higher humidity keeps the chick from becoming shrink wrapped.

There's a 95% chance your temperature was too low throughout. Normally you would want to drop temp a degree or two the last couple days but in your case, I might consider raising it a degree above what the thermostat reading was throughout.

 

[oEch0o]

I raised it a degree yesterday and there's no extra room plus the auto-turner would turn the eggs that were supposed to hatch

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I raised it a degree yesterday and there's no extra room plus the auto-turner would turn the eggs that were supposed to hatch

The new eggs can go the first day without turning. The first 2 weeks, egg turning is imperative though.
I've had chicks hatch in a turner before when I forgot to turn it off.
You can wrap the new eggs in plastic and keep them cool for a couple days till the others emerge.

Verify your incubator temperature with a trusty thermometer before you set the new eggs or you'll be going through this again.
My favorite.
http://www.thermoworks.com/RT301WA

 

[oEch0o]

But there's already so many problems with this hatch. I don't really want to add another variable in

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Your eggs, your choice. We're just trying to give opinions.

 

[newchickmama91]

Help!!!! My nephew snuck into the room and took an quail egg out of lockdown and opened it up!!! Luckily it was by the aircell and the baby is moving around in there!! It's day 17. I've put some coconut oil on the membrane to stop it from getting dry and put it straight back in. I'm worried out of my mind

 

[kwhites634]

Help!!!! My nephew snuck into the room and took an quail egg out of lockdown and opened it up!!! Luckily it was by the aircell and the baby is moving around in there!! It's day 17. I've put some coconut oil on the membrane to stop it from getting dry and put it straight back in. I'm worried out of my mind

The nephew is the one who should be worried out of his mind!

 

[duluthralphie]

The nephew is the one who should be worried out of his mind!

I worried think the nephew would be worried about how he is going to be able to sit in school tomorrow...

 

[newchickmama91]

The nephew is the one who should be worried out of his mind!

yes he should!!