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

[ChickenCanoe]

So - I'm pretty sure the goat's were premature, which is why she abandoned them. One wasn't fully "ready" looking if that makes sense? and the other isn't mature enough to walk. He's sure *trying* to live, and he eats like a champ, but he doesn't have the strength to stand on his feet for more then about 30 seconds.... so i'm hoping if I get him strong, he'll develop and catch up to what he needs to be. If he survives, hubby already said we could fix him and just keep him as a pet.

A preemie pet for our preemie toddler. ^.^ He's already been named Tarzan.

Good luck nursing them to health.

 

[Jessimom]

For all those wondering why their hatches failed, or why they were quitters at a certain point during incubation, I say the following.
I've had lots of failures but I know many of the reasons. Usually temperature or turning issues.
But, until you are absolutely positive the temperature was stable between 99.5 and 100.5, and the humidity made the eggs lose about 0.65% weight each day, and the eggs were turned at least 4 times a day during the first 2 weeks, you can't begin to ascertain if any of the other 20 possible culprits were responsible.
Get the most important things done first and then look for other issues.
Buying crappy thermometers and hygrometers from walmart or relying on those on the incubator is no guarantee those important things are addressed.
For the most part, no matter where you get those gauges, they are likely to only be accurate to within about 2% and likely farther off than that. That isn't accurate enough for incubation. I've had thermometers from incubator companies be spot on at 70F and 2 degrees off at 100F. I've had crappy hygrometers that I calibrated and 2 days later they were off by 30%. They went right into the trash and I got a good scale instead. RH% needed is a guess. Weight is not.
I'll get off my soapbox now - for a while.

I think someone on here - I think it was you - said you weigh the whole shelf of eggs....and average the weight loss? You don't weigh every single egg, right?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think someone on here - I think it was you - said you weigh the whole shelf of eggs....and average the weight loss? You don't weigh every single egg, right?

Sometimes I do. I weigh each egg before setting and that goes into the egg log. During incubation, I'll weigh a few eggs periodically to track.
If I am hatching 40 to 100 eggs, I will weigh trays. Occasionally there will be one or two that is not losing much or a couple losing too much. The latter probably had hairline cracks I couldn't find.
This way, candling isn't imperative and certainly there is no need to mark air cells.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Has anybody every had or seen a chicken growing an extra toenail? At first I thought it was a feather, but it is curled and the other foot has ones as well. Larry is Strange!

 

[5Sons Coop]

did you open any to see when dis occurred?
adopt I would love to adopt lol only ones I see are $ 2500 or more   I was grateful to take on sammy!

I did not open any yet because one is chirping inside the she'll yet. From what I could see when candled they are well developed.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I guess I killed the thread - AGAIN.

 

[dan26552]

 

[LittleLakePhil]

I guess I killed the thread - AGAIN.

 

[Pensmaster]

Out in the orchard today I found these on my apple trees. At first I thought lady bugs but not so. Have you seen these before? How to get rid of them?

Using my headlamp with a piece of foam to hold egg I was able to see into the dark egg fairly well. I did modify the foam tubing with duct tape to stop light leakage.

Here's the egg again

 

[Pensmaster]

Phil. Warming up there yet?