First hatch! Mystery eggs!

[onfurtherreview]

If I were you, I'd post in emergencies, you might get an answer quicker there! I've heard of people wrapping the chick with the shell/un-absorbed yolk together in a moist washcloth in the incubator to help it absorb the yolk and keep it moist, but I've never hatched before so I don't know if it'll work

Now that I've looked a lot closer, I'm not too sure it actually was yolk - it's clear, but has a yellowish tint to it - looks more like egg white than yolk to me. At first glance, I saw a big glop of yellow stuff inside the shell and freaked out, but the chick seems fine and looks healthy. Here's a picture of what was in the shell - sorry my phone's camera is so bad:

 

[onfurtherreview]

On the bright side, all six of the ones that had pipped are now out of the shell! Two are still wet and resting, but I pulled the four dry ones out and put them in the brooder (actually an aquarium with a screen top on it). A couple of the eggs that haven't pipped are wiggling and making noises!

Here's a shot of the four in the brooder:

 

[mrsguardian88]

Awwww they're adorable!! Congrats!!! I hope the others make it okay!!!

 

[onfurtherreview]

So, I did a quick search and found out that the yellow goo is leftover egg white, which would explain why the little guy looks like he took a bath in hair gel. The chick seems to be okay, but looks frightful with those plastered-down feathers. I guess I must have let the humidity get too high at some point.

 

[mrsguardian88]

So, I did a quick search and found out that the yellow goo is leftover egg white, which would explain why the little guy looks like he took a bath in hair gel. The chick seems to be okay, but looks frightful with those plastered-down feathers. I guess I must have let the humidity get too high at some point.

Aww I'm glad it's okay!!!

 

[SavvyPractical]

Congrats on healthy chicks! I love all the pictures of babies, so sweet! Any idea what the mystery chicks are? I have been scouring pictures of breeds that lay brown speckled eggs to see what mine might be. Its tough, baby chicks are so cute I think I won't know until mine are fully feathered out.

 

[deserthomestead]

That's so exciting! You did such a great job!

 

[AvianEgo]

Yay!! Love watching the progress of this threat. I put my eggs into lock down yesterday. As I am typing this I noticed (Ok Ive been staring at it for 20 minutes) that one of my eggs is moving!
When I whistle to it, it rocks even more!
This is my first hatching experience and I am thrilled.
I have 15 mystery eggs simply because they are ALL mutts!
Keep us updated with more picks of your fluff balls!

 

[aart]

I really enjoyed reading this entire thread, sorry you didn't get more attention/support earlier but it was great to read thru the whole thing without a lot of chatter and it sounds like you had a good handle on it all.

Questions....you didn't use any kind of thermostat, or just used the dimmer to fine tune the amount of heat coming off the bulb?

Was the digital thermometer recording temps somehow? What brand model is it?

Keep the chick pics coming, aquarium as brooder is great I think, and would love to see some more detailed pics and info on the incubator build when all eggs are done.

 

[onfurtherreview]

I really enjoyed reading this entire thread, sorry you didn't get more attention/support earlier but it was great to read thru the whole thing without a lot of chatter and it sounds like you had a good handle on it all.

Questions....you didn't use any kind of thermostat, or just used the dimmer to fine tune the amount of heat coming off the bulb?

Was the digital thermometer recording temps somehow? What brand model is it?

Keep the chick pics coming, aquarium as brooder is great I think, and would love to see some more detailed pics and info on the incubator build when all eggs are done.

I really did just use a screw-in lamp dimmer ($6 at Lowe's) to fine-tune the temperature. It was not ideal, and I'd recommend a thermostat if at all possible. I was trying to put something together as quickly as possible because the mystery eggs were getting old, and I couldn't find a suitable thermostat locally. It takes a LOT of attention and constant fine-tuning to keep the temp steady with only a dimmer, which I think is why my hatch rate was so low.

The digital thermometer (about $8 at Lowe's or Walmart) records highs and lows, and can be reset by pulling out the battery. It's an Acu-Rite, but I'm not sure what model - it was whatever they had at Walmart at the time for cheap. I had a problem with accuracy at first, because the black plastic housing was heating up from the light hitting it directly, but I made a lampshade out of aluminum foil and it settled down. The analog thermometer is also an Acu-Rite, and was $8 at Lowe's.

If you're interested, I'll try to put up some pics of the details of the incubator when I clean it out - right now I'm just keeping it running, hoping against hope that a couple of the eggs that looked like they were a few days behind in development might still have a chance, but I'm pulling the plug on Sunday if none of them have done anything.