Ground Hog's Day Hatch

[NotAFarm]

As suspected.... I believe I have had an unsuccessful first attempt at incubating! I am at day 31 of what should have been a 28 day hatch (power outage for over 24 hrs late hatch).

I returned home last night from 2 days away for work to no news. Candled today and I can see one definite bad egg. Two of the other have gone visibly grey and patchy on the outside and the other one has nothing but darkness and an air sac with no sign of anything.

I may eggtopsy.. I just need to build up the nerve!

This one could be something if you have a power outage or your thermometer is off on the cool side. Tap it and listen or put some 100 degree water in a bowl and "float test" it to see if it moves.

 

[TinaK]

Thanks for the suggestion NotAFarm... I float tested the eggs but decided they were all no good

I did an eggtopsy on them all.... a rather quick, very non-scientific eggtopsy! with the eggs sealed tightly inside sandwich bags.

Out of the 4 eggs I had left in the bator...
1. I had decided it was non viable a long time before hatch date.. I probably should have removed it before lockdown because it was just FULL of bacterial sludge.. no embryo seen in all the mess (although I didn't look closely enough to see if there was an early stage embryo there... It was such a nasty mess!)

2. Late stage embryo death I didn't take a very close look at the embryo to see if it had developed properly or not. I broke the yolk whilst trying to pick the shell apart through the plastic bag.

3. Early stage embryo death with some nice gunky fluid to go with it. No feather development on this embryo. Once again I didn't take a close look. I could smell nastiness even through the sealed bag!

4. Late stage embryo death. Yolk not absorbed. Yolk and chick both looked fairly healthy and in good condition (to my novice eye) but there was no sign of life

If anything it was a great learning curve! A little disappointing that I didn't get anything to hatch but hey that is life. Now I need to start looking for come chicken eggs to have a go with!

 

[NotAFarm]

Tina, I'm so sorry you didn't get even one out of your first hatch. Don't be discouraged..

..try again.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I'm so sorry Tina.

 

[Mahonri]

shucks Tina , we win some, we lose some.

I have no idea what woke me but when I got up I noticed that the lamp in the brooder was out.. OUTSIDE..

anyway, it's a good thing I got up. Normally if the light is out.. (I turn it off during the day because it got up to 80 today) the chicks will use my "backup"... the EcoGlow, in the corner. When I got out there they were huddled in two piles and NOT under the Ecoglow. Had I not awakened, I would have had dead chicks in the morning. I turned on the lamp and put them all under the EcoGlow and they all stayed there! They were COLD!... even though it's only 57 degrees out there... but they are only 10 day old chicks afterall.

 

[NotAFarm]

Good thing you woke up Mahonri!! Why do you think the chicks don't like the Eco Glow?

 

[cubalaya]

well it got down to 20 degrees last night. i remember now why i don't hatch this early. had 3 heat lamps on them in the shed. they are all still living this morning.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Good thing you woke up Mahonri!! Why do you think the chicks don't like the Eco Glow?

I think it's probably a case of without the light it got dark and they couldn't find the EcoGlow so just huddled up where they were.

I found mine will get under it just fine to sleep usually but if I turn a light on in the room and they come out, when I turn it off they shriek because they can't find it but if I shoo them under they are fine. If they were used to having a light on at night they may not have realized they needed to get under it before dark.

 

[viejo loco]

I think it's probably a case of without the light it got dark and they couldn't find the EcoGlow so just huddled up where they were.

I found mine will get under it just fine to sleep usually but if I turn a light on in the room and they come out, when I turn it off they shriek because they can't find it but if I shoo them under they are fine. If they were used to having a light on at night they may not have realized they needed to get under it before dark.

Maybe they need to build a small christmas light into it to prevent that problem.. Only one, for a locator, not for heat... Just a thought... Will

 

[twentynine]

Mahonri and all the gang;

I am beginning to think I have some sort of strain of super chicken. These things are proving to be indestructible, and super active. In 1 week 24 chicks have eaten 12-1/2 lbs of chick starter. If I open the brooder and the feeder is near empty they attack my hand, when placing the feeder back in the brooder I'll have a half dozen chickes riding on it by the time it is set down. Yet no cannibalism. I am brooding these in the same fashion I have always brooder my chicks. Wooden wall hanging booder 3'X6' with 3 heat lamps evenly spaced out across the top. First week I use the center 2'X3' area and open the additional areas as the chicks grow. At 10 days these chicks have the run of the whole brooder. Wire floored, I cover the wire with news paper and then add more shredded paper as bedding. These things shred their own paper. 28* here Saturday night I figured to have some problems with the cold, I don't believe they noticed it was cold. I checked on them twice, both times they were well spaced and quiet.

My wife says they are wild. My experience with these chicks have me nearly convinced to raise this bloodline of Rhode Island Reds. What I figure is the guy I bought the eggs from doesn't spend a whole lot of time and energy taking care of his birds. So for generation after generation it has been survival of the fittest. So through this natural selection process he has created a bloodline of strong birds.