First hatch going south and sideways at same time

[kslizza]

I'm on day 20. Lockdown madness has set in. Temp is stable in bator. Humidity looks good. No movement, no peeping, no nothing no matter how hard I stare at them and will them to do something . . . anything! I wasn't as emotional or on edge during my own pregnancies. Since I can't mess with the eggs, I must use my hands to type.

I should have known it was going to be a roller coaster when six hours after setting $72 worth of eggs (2 dozen), my previously stable incubator was at 109 (warning - tipping a Hovabator 1602n triggers the heating element be on constantly) . Day 3 showed I hadn't baked them, leaving many more opportunities to screw this up.

On day 13 when I couldn't get my temps stabilized as the chicks started generating their own heat, I moved four eggs - one of each breed - under my broody hen to hedge my bets. Day 18, I moved four more to the broody before I went into lockdown as I have more faith in my hen than myself.

This morning, I went to check broody's water and give her some encouragement. It looked like there had been a rainstorm entirely concentrated inside the coop - like one of those cartoon characters with a cloud over their heads. Something is hinky with some nearby irrigation - I'm not about to turn it on to find out - and the water must have been spraying directly into the coop and nesting box. Poor hen had water drops on her back and the pine shavings under her were drenched. I did my best to clear out and replace the wet shavings around her, but I can't get the ones under her without disturbing the eggs. Talk about increasing the humidity during lockdown.

I think my only option at this point is patience to see how it all shakes out. Just needed to vent to people who would understand.

 

[marzullol]

hope all turns out well.

i have been tempted to move some of the eggs from the incubator to under a broody hen.

what breeds did you set?

 

[kslizza]

I've got wheaten ameraucana, buff and lavender orpingtons, and a half dozen "grab bag" chicks - I wanted black silkies, but there were also black frizzled bantam cochin hens in the mix so I don't know what I'll get until they hatch (if they hatch). There were also some free mutt eggs in there that were supposed to be my test batch, but I knew I was going to get my official eggs in a few days so I held off and set them all together. With my luck, if I get anything, it'll be the freebies.

I think the incubator to broody trial could have been an interesting experiment if the sprinkler hadn't interfered. Depending on which group hatched, I'd be able to tell the time frame of something that had gone wrong in the incubator.