Half Shell Hatch-A-Long! (Caution, unsuccessful, please read whole thread before attempting)

[FortCluck]

Update!!!
We have a baby!!!
Day 5! We can visibly see the heart beating! It's hard to capture what I'm seeing with a picture, but here are a couple. The spine and heart were visible, and I could even make out the eye! Also, my sister will be mad if i don't add that this is her egg. Lol
Here it is View attachment 2141375View attachment 2141376View attachment 2141377

Your sister showed you up I like her already

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

Awesome project

 

[MGG]

Your sister showed you up I like her already

Lol! She's funny. She hadn't even checked this egg since yesterday morning, I asked her how it was doing after I already saw how developed it was and she said "I haven't looked at it since yesterday."
I guess I should completely ignore mine, maybe they'd do better

 

[FortCluck]

Lol! She's funny. She hadn't even checked this egg since yesterday morning, I asked her how it was doing after I already saw how developed it was and she said "I haven't looked at it since yesterday."
I guess I should completely ignore mine, maybe they'd do better

I think a lot of eggs would do better if they were left alone. I only turn mine once a day and you’ve seen my hatched (don’t follow my lead people)

 

[MGG]

I think a lot of eggs would do better if they were left alone. I only turn mine once a day and you’ve seen my hatched (don’t follow my lead people)

Lol. Wow, once a day? I turn mine 5x the first week and 3x until lockdown. I like turning the extra 2 times during the first week to keep them from sticking. I think so too, but I can't help checking them
I honestly have pretty good hatch rates, I just had some bad luck with my first attempt on these. I'm determined to hatch a chick in a cup! Lol

 

[Willawong Hill]

I wonder if leaving the plastic on while taking photos would help cut down bacteria getting in (though obviously the photos wouldn't be as lovely) and make your hatch more likely to be successful? Could you even seal it on with wax or something to make it less likely to let stuff in? Would there be enough shell left for the baby to breathe through as the plastic won't be breathable? Looking super interesting though and i'll be following along.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I wonder if leaving the plastic on while taking photos would help cut down bacteria getting in (though obviously the photos wouldn't be as lovely) and make your hatch more likely to be successful? Could you even seal it on with wax or something to make it less likely to let stuff in? Would there be enough shell left for the baby to breathe through as the plastic won't be breathable? Looking super interesting though and i'll be following along.

If I remember correctly you're either supposed to open it once a day or put holes in the plastic.

 

[MGG]

If I remember correctly you're either supposed to open it once a day or put holes in the plastic.

Yes this is what I had heard. So I open it once a day for photo shoot. I even have a little cup I drape the saran wrap over so it doesn't touch anything else. Then I stretch it over the cup and put the band back on.

 

[MGG]

I wonder if leaving the plastic on while taking photos would help cut down bacteria getting in (though obviously the photos wouldn't be as lovely) and make your hatch more likely to be successful? Could you even seal it on with wax or something to make it less likely to let stuff in? Would there be enough shell left for the baby to breathe through as the plastic won't be breathable? Looking super interesting though and i'll be following along.

I'll look into it. I think there's enough shell left intact that it can breathe pretty good through the shell, so I didn't put any holes in the saran wrap. I have taken the wrap off once a day to take pics. My sister's is still alive today, though she freaked out when she didn't see the heart beating. The baby just turned a bit, and the heart isn't as visible. I tipped the egg a bit though and the heart is definitely still beating. I'll go take pics in just a minute. Also, my take two egg is still in its shell, I thought the chick might become more tolerant if I left it in for a bit. We should also be able to see more. It is on day 6 I believe. I'm going to open the air cell on this one in just a little bit, I have a few things to do first.

 

[MGG]

Here's the egg, day 6!

In the last pic here you can see the heart, that little dark spot.