Emu Hatch-a-long 2012

[Avie]

Hoping for a double hatch for you moonjelly !!! You should see the egg move or rock when you whistle to it after week 5 and around the 48th day you will hear chirping when you whistle to it.

Yeah Moonjelly!!! Good wishes from me, too

My one remaining egg is past the week 5 mark. No motion, though I know that's not conclusive. More worrisome is that I did a chill test yesterday and there was no residual warmth.

OTOH, my previous dud egg had a warm spot that stayed warm for a long time after removing it from the incubator. So, ?!?!?! Every egg is different, I guess!

Mine is scheduled to hatch around June 3rd. I don't have much hope for it, but there's always surprises, and I'll continue to turn it and talk to it.

I certainly know a lot more now, and if I try an emu hatch next year, I'll be a much better "emu mom" after having gone through this whole experience and living it along with you guys.

Quote: Ouch!! I wouldn't have guessed that would happen.

Looking forward to the latest baby pictures from y'all when you get a chance

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Yeh, Avie, every cloud has a silver lining and all that . . .

next year, you’ll know what to expect during the incubation. You’ll have gained knowledge about stuff like how to prevent splay leg, providing a great environment and food for new chicks, etc. etc.

I wonder if we’ll get any observations of chicks here this winter? Let’s hope so.

Supreme Emu

 

[moonjelly]

After successfully turning my eggs every 5 hours for the last 27 days, my roommate (who turns them only once in the morning before work) forgot to turn the eggs this morning. I am freaking out that they're dead. They haven't been turned for 10 hours because of the error (actually it may have been more closer to 11 hours). Could they be okay? I know it's most important that they're turned frequently at the beginning of the hatch, so I'm hoping they okay.

If they aren't okay, how long before I'll notice? I don't think I can let her turn them anymore, because I'll never know for sure if it was done. I guess I'll be getting up very early.

 

[Grassman 52]

they will be fine - relax.

In some of the reading I have done, a few sources claim that eggs will hatch when only being turned twice a day for the complete 51days. Turning more often is good, but one day not being turned will not kill your chicks. By 27 days the blood network in the shell is almost completely formed - 34 days and the chick is fully formed and just grows larger from that point on.

Keep turning until the chick has sounded - anywhere from 48 days on - depending on temp.

 

[moonjelly]

Okay thank you, that makes me feel a lot better.

 

[Kiril749]

I set 4 eggs in my Little Giant and turned them twice a day.......morning and night. 3 hatched so its perfectly fine......

 

[moonjelly]

Wow only twice a day? I've been turning like crazy in comparison. Hopefully you can't do it 'too much'. I think my eggs must be okay still, they're warm and don't give off an odor. I'm on day 31 now.

 

[29PalmsRanch]

Wow only twice a day? I've been turning like crazy in comparison. Hopefully you can't do it 'too much'. I think my eggs must be okay still, they're warm and don't give off an odor. I'm on day 31 now.

I've watched my ostriches many times with a couple of eggs in their nest before "someone" scooped them up and put them into the incubator. They turn them every hour or two. Sometimes they sit while the birds get something to eat, play, run, whatever. But they are never on any exact schedule. There are temp and humidity fluxuations that are natural in nature. If it was a rigid "you must turn this at 1 hour and 59 min or they will die" scenario, the Emu wouldn't survive in the wild nor would the ostrich.

I believe when we incubate eggs, we attempt to provide the optimum scenario for the successful hatch of the eggs. Steady humidity, temp, and turning schedules. However, one of my Natureform incubators decided to flip out with a full load of ostrich eggs in it week before last. The temp went from a steady 97.5 at 28% humidity to a high of 100.8. We transferred the eggs to a 'new' Hatchrite machine that we were stabilizing. Hatchrite's recommended settings are: 30% humidity, 97.5 F, 1 hour turning.

We'll see what happens I candled yesterday. Everything we moved is still viable.

 

[yinepu]

Wow only twice a day? I've been turning like crazy in comparison. Hopefully you can't do it 'too much'. I think my eggs must be okay still, they're warm and don't give off an odor. I'm on day 31 now.

just remember.. a chicken will turn her eggs on average 96 times a day (yes.. there have been studies done on it)

so more turning would be better than less

 

[ES Emus]

Quote:
I'm just glad that I did not have to sit there over a period of days and count the number of times that the chicken turned its eggs during that study!!!