Hands on hatching and help

[Sarkchick]

I also have a "how long do I wait question". I'm on day 30 of 12 shipped ducklings. Had 6 hatch day 29, and 4 hatch day 29. I still have 2 eggs in bator. One has no movement, probably DIS. The other has movement but has not even internally pipped yet. Why would 1 ling take so long? Is there still a chance for it to hatch and be normal? I know there is nothing I can do but just hate sitting here not knowing.
Thanks. Linda

 

[RubyNala97]

Sorry I've been MIA. I've got a nasty infection in my chest. Went out and bought an e-cig and haven't had a real one in 3 days. Which for me is a long time! But tomorrow is Monday, which I love! The house will be almost empty again!

Oh and I forgot who was talking about black dots. But in my last batch I had one egg that had this.

I'm out!  I feel like I should get some kind of medal or something.  News not real good - 8 eggs left out of the original 28.  Out of those eggs only 2 look okay to me. (our bathroom is always dark since there's no windows in there)  Candled them while I let the incubator start coming back up after taking out the turner and getting the thermometers and hygrometer reset in there, then put them into their respective cheery baskets as I finished and logged each one.  1 Green Magnolia and 1 Olive Egger seems to be all I have left.  And two with really wonky air cells...really saddle bag cells. I'm second guessing myself now and thinking I should have cut down an egg carton and used the cups to put those in.  I still might.

If this is a learning experience, I think I flunked.  I won't beat myself up though, because I am sure that I did everything right after they arrived....let them set, made sure the incubator was holding, turning, marking, and keeping an eye on development.  But for sure at least two more that were moving a couple of days ago are now deathly still, and the others are so dark in there it's hard to tell anything.  But they are all in their little welcome baby cradles and all I can do now is wait, watch, and take care of the new ones in the Brinsea.

How do you people DO this time after time??    

I just wanted to add that sometimes towards the end it's harder to see movement. Especially if you're kinda new to candling. So don't lose all hope yet. They do start to run out of room and move less. If you candle again in a day or 2, check and see which air cells look like they've grow a LOT (draw down). For me the ones that don't even draw down are usually gone but I've had one really surprise me.

Remember, you are starting with the hardest possible scenario - shipped eggs over long distances, change in altitude, first time, etc.  If you survive this, you can survive anything!

You've done a great job so far, and remember that no amount of perfect incubation techniques can resurrect scrambled eggs.  

Next time try some local eggs, or maybe some shipped from WY or an adjoining state, and you will see much better results.   

Or you can be like me and keep ordering eggs from far away and only getting 1 chick per dozen set.     (Although my homegrown eggs hatch great!)

Such a good post! And the last part totally reminded me of myself when I was determined to get eggs from Florida...made me laugh!!

Thanks! Glad that I joined a thread with experience! I have wanted to try hatching calls, but haven't been brave enough yet!  I know those babies can be tricky! I have the standard classroom issue bator...hov-a-bator circulated air, but they have hatched faithfully for me for years now!

Me too! I'm on day 15 of my very first call eggs. I have more on their way!

Can't wait for tomorrow though!!!  We have 3 female peacocks, an India Blue, a purple blackshoulder, and a pied.  They are all one year old so we needed a boyfriend for them.  Well, we've got a 2 year old 1/2 purple blackshoulder, half India Blue male coming tomorrow morning!!!  Females will be ready to breed at 2 years old and males are sexually mature at 3 years old so we will hopefully have peacock chicks next year! 

Are you going to try and hatch any of their eggs? Are the girls old enough to lay yet? I hatched and raised peafowl for a few months last summer. It was quite the experience!

I cleaned my hands with anti-bacterial soap and then rinsed them with hydrogen peroxide before every time I handle them, which was only 3 times on some, 4 times on the rest.  Can't be that my hands were not cleaned.  I think my problem is that my hygrometer was off after I cleaned it when pulling it out of my hatcher.  I had to put 6 times the amount of water I had in it a week earlier to get my humidity to read 60% instead of 45.  (I was trying to keep the air sacs from shrinking too much since they had gotten a few days ahead of where they were supposed to be).  So I think humidity is to blame on this one.....  The one thing I've learned from my first experience hatching is that you could have 20 thermometers and hygrometers and still not have enough of them that are accurate.

I hand turn almost all of my batches 5xday. I do wash my hands with regular (not antibacterial) soap before turning but I've never had a problem. So I don't think it's that. (The one with the black dots above was in an auto turner.)

So, end of day 29 (ducks) and the 22.5 hours after external pip I made the pip hole bigger to check on position. I added a small amount of olive oil around the opening with a q-tip so it doesnt dry out. Her (calling it a her) beak was right where the pip was - she hasn't turned to zip at all. I put her back in the incubator and will give her more time. There was a teeny tiny amount of blood at the edge of where the air sac was and it stopped right away (nothing against where the air sac was) so I didnt take off more shell. 


Where she's breathing comfortably, I'm guessing the right thing to do is put her back and give her more time? her beak is sticking out of the shell - I cant see her tucking it back in to turn around, and where she already didnt turn I'm thinking she probably wont zip...

Thoughts?


Also - one of the eggs has not pipped at all. Im thinking by day 29 it's probably a lost cause? I havent candled for internal pip yet, but will if I have to open the incubator again (which Im obviously hoping not to).

Wv, answered what I was going to say. Give it some more time. Any blood means to soon.

I also have a "how long do I wait question". I'm on day 30 of 12 shipped ducklings. Had 6 hatch day 29, and 4 hatch day 29. I still have 2 eggs in bator. One has no movement, probably DIS. The other has movement but has not even internally pipped yet. Why would 1 ling take so long? Is there still a chance for it to hatch and be normal? I know there is nothing I can do but just hate sitting here not knowing.
Thanks. Linda

I've had this happen a bunch of times. For me, they never hatch. I leave the incubator on until I don't see anymore movement but they never end up pipping. But maybe you had a cold spot in the incubator and it's delayed?

 

[Blooie]

Hey, Ruby! I'm sorry you have been sick! I can so sympathize with the no smoking thing....I had a heart attack in February and stents put in. I did really well with no smoking when I first got home, and that lasted a couple of days. Shoot, been smoking since I was 13 and I'm 65 now, so that's a long, long time!! (and NO lectures, peanut gallery. We've heard 'em all!

) So I had to try one more time. Been almost a month, and I absolutely still miss it as much today as I did the first day. So if you decide this is truly it this time (and ask me how many "this times" I've had in 52 years), grab my hand and we'll walk this tough road together. If you decide not to, that's okay too! I may end up not getting through this myself!

 

[Sarkchick]

Sorry I've been MIA. I've got a nasty infection in my chest. Went out and bought an e-cig and haven't had a real one in 3 days. Which for me is a long time! But tomorrow is Monday, which I love! The house will be almost empty again!

I've had this happen a bunch of times. For me, they never hatch. I leave the incubator on until I don't see anymore movement but they never end up pipping. But maybe you had a cold spot in the incubator and it's delayed?

Thank you Ruby. That's what I was thinking. I will give it a few days. Hope you get to feeling better
Linda

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Sorry I've been MIA. I've got a nasty infection in my chest. Went out and bought an e-cig and haven't had a real one in 3 days. Which for me is a long time! But tomorrow is Monday, which I love! The house will be almost empty again!

Oh and I forgot who was talking about black dots. But in my last batch I had one egg that had this.

I just wanted to add that sometimes towards the end it's harder to see movement. Especially if you're kinda new to candling. So don't lose all hope yet. They do start to run out of room and move less. If you candle again in a day or 2, check and see which air cells look like they've grow a LOT (draw down). For me the ones that don't even draw down are usually gone but I've had one really surprise me.
Such a good post! And the last part totally reminded me of myself when I was determined to get eggs from Florida...made me laugh!!
Me too! I'm on day 15 of my very first call eggs. I have more on their way!
Are you going to try and hatch any of their eggs? Are the girls old enough to lay yet? I hatched and raised peafowl for a few months last summer. It was quite the experience!
I hand turn almost all of my batches 5xday. I do wash my hands with regular (not antibacterial) soap before turning but I've never had a problem. So I don't think it's that. (The one with the black dots above was in an auto turner.)
Wv, answered what I was going to say. Give it some more time. Any blood means to soon.
I've had this happen a bunch of times. For me, they never hatch. I leave the incubator on until I don't see anymore movement but they never end up pipping. But maybe you had a cold spot in the incubator and it's delayed?

Get feeling better! Good job on the cigs!. This last time I went 3 months before it all went to "heck". Then after the deal with the taxes, and the transmission going on my car and not having a vehicle...yeah, back at it! So dissapointed in myself.

 

[Chickies2020]

Sorry to hear you're sick! Sending healing vibes. I'm very appreciative that you've been answering my anxious questions! So worried about these little guys.

I'm worried about all of the eggs. USPS lost the shipping box and I couldnt get them in the incubator until they were ~13 days post lay. 3 of the 6 didnt make it, so I feel like Im already working with eggs that might have issues.

Egg #1 has a hole made post-external-pip by me, and is breathing easily and just sitting around, absorbing whats left (I can see some thin veining left, so it obviously isnt ready). It never turned around though, I expect to help it out tomorrow if the veining is gone.

Egg #2 piped this morning, but nothing since 7am (I know this is normal, Im less worried since the other one did it and obviously wasnt ready)

#3 hasnt exterally piped still hasnt. I candled it and it's moving and tapping away, Im 85% sure it internally pipped. We're on the night of day 29 - should I make a hole and then cover it with a wet paper towel to see what's up or just leave it be? Maybe tomorrow morning if there's still 0 progress?

 

[BigWeenMachine]

Wow they are gorgeous! Are you going to hatch some of their eggs eventually?

I sure hope so. If I can find their nests next spring I will try to hatch some. The male we just got is a split purple blackshoulder. It's mom was purple and it's dad was an India Blue but it took the mom's purple genetics in coloring. So, next year, that guy could pass purple or blue genetics onto the hens. With one purple blackshoulder hen, one India blue hen, and one Piebald hen, we should get a good variety of chicks next year! I've heard it's tough to find the peahen nests though so we'll see what happens.... Maybe I need to catch them and pen them up next spring...

 

[BigWeenMachine]

Personally, I give ducks at least 40 hours before doing any assisting. I've had them take over 48 with no problems at all. According to Storeys Guide, they can need those 2 days to fully absorb the yolk. I think they just need the air sooner than chicks do. Day 29 is late of course, but if your temps were a bit low, I wouldn't be alarmed. I've also had ducks go to day 32 (although I had a long power outage with those)

I can vouch for duckchick on this one. I had one hatch at somewhere between 58 and 66 hours after pip (pipped overnight so dunno exact time) and I had to assist it. That lil fella is doing great at the 3 days old mark!

 

[BigWeenMachine]

Sorry I've been MIA. I've got a nasty infection in my chest. Went out and bought an e-cig and haven't had a real one in 3 days. Which for me is a long time! But tomorrow is Monday, which I love! The house will be almost empty again!

Are you going to try and hatch any of their eggs? Are the girls old enough to lay yet? I hatched and raised peafowl for a few months last summer. It was quite the experience!
I hand turn almost all of my batches 5xday. I do wash my hands with regular (not antibacterial) soap before turning but I've never had a problem. So I don't think it's that. (The one with the black dots above was in an auto turner.)

Ruby and Blooie, good luck. I know how you guys feel with the cigs. I have now went 1 year, 7 months, and 7 days without a cigarette or any kind of nicotine. I smoked for 17 years and finally kicked the habit after trying dozens and dozens of times. Not to rain on your parade, but the cravings never completely go away..... I crave one at least 3 or 4 times a week. I actually want one really bad right now since I'm thinking of it. My late father, after having quit for 24 years said he still had cravings whenever he smelled one or saw someone smoking one. It sucks and I feel your pain. Hang in there though because it is so worth it to kick the habit. I was just talking to my wife the other day about how glad I am that I don't smoke anymore. 99% of the time it is great to be a non-smoker... You just have to power through the 1% when you get those nasty cravings.

So Ruby, the peahens are only a year old. So from what I've researched they won't be able to lay viable eggs until they reach two years old. I definitely want to try and hatch some next year though. They have such curious and unique personalities for being birds and I am just amazed by them. Like today when I first brought the male in. With ducks or turkeys or chickens there is always some type of power play or pecking order ritual in which someone is gonna get beaten on by someone else. With the peacocks though, they immediately bonded and were purring and grooming each other through the fence. Such unique birds. I have watched them chase each other around like they're playing tag throughout the yard. God forbid I pull a trailer or anything new into the yard because the second something new shows up they have to come and investigate and climb all over it to see what it is. Extremely fun to watch no matter what they are doing! Anyways though, any special tips about hatching peacock eggs??? How much more difficult are they to hatch than ducks?

I think my bacterial infection had to have come from one of 2 things. The previously mentioned humidity issue in which I think my hygrometer could have went haywire when I cleaned it and got hydrogen peroxide on the sensor. Or, perhaps there was a previously unknown bacteria growing up inside the fan unit from a hatch the previous owner did not clean completely out. When I acquired that incubator, I was in such a hurry to get the eggs from my FI bator into the new Lyon bator. I sprayed and wiped down every surface I could get to with hydrogen peroxide and then stuck the eggs in once the temp looked consistent. However, I prob should have sprayed some hydrogen peroxide up into the fan and ran the bator full of a high humidity concoction of hydrogen peroxide air in order to clean out all the components in the machine. Dunno for sure, but I am guessing it's the humidity problem since all the embryos looked fine before I raised the humidity in the Lyon to keep the air sacs from shrinking too much. The ancona eggs are due to go into lockdown tomorrow morning so I will update on any movement when I candle and stick them into the hatcher tomorrow......

 

[WVduckchick]

Sorry I've been MIA. I've got a nasty infection in my chest. Went out and bought an e-cig and haven't had a real one in 3 days. Which for me is a long time! But tomorrow is Monday, which I love! The house will be almost empty again!

Oh and I forgot who was talking about black dots. But in my last batch I had one egg that had this.

I just wanted to add that sometimes towards the end it's harder to see movement. Especially if you're kinda new to candling. So don't lose all hope yet. They do start to run out of room and move less. If you candle again in a day or 2, check and see which air cells look like they've grow a LOT (draw down). For me the ones that don't even draw down are usually gone but I've had one really surprise me.
Such a good post! And the last part totally reminded me of myself when I was determined to get eggs from Florida...made me laugh!!
Me too! I'm on day 15 of my very first call eggs. I have more on their way!
Are you going to try and hatch any of their eggs? Are the girls old enough to lay yet? I hatched and raised peafowl for a few months last summer. It was quite the experience!
I hand turn almost all of my batches 5xday. I do wash my hands with regular (not antibacterial) soap before turning but I've never had a problem. So I don't think it's that. (The one with the black dots above was in an auto turner.)
Wv, answered what I was going to say. Give it some more time. Any blood means to soon.
I've had this happen a bunch of times. For me, they never hatch. I leave the incubator on until I don't see anymore movement but they never end up pipping. But maybe you had a cold spot in the incubator and it's delayed?

Great pic Ruby, and sorry you've been feeling bad. Good luck with the cessation challenge!

Hey, Ruby! I'm sorry you have been sick! I can so sympathize with the no smoking thing....I had a heart attack in February and stents put in. I did really well with no smoking when I first got home, and that lasted a couple of days. Shoot, been smoking since I was 13 and I'm 65 now, so that's a long, long time!! (and NO lectures, peanut gallery. We've heard 'em all!

) So I had to try one more time. Been almost a month, and I absolutely still miss it as much today as I did the first day. So if you decide this is truly it this time (and ask me how many "this times" I've had in 52 years), grab my hand and we'll walk this tough road together. If you decide not to, that's okay too! I may end up not getting through this myself!

Hope you stay quit! I wish I could be strong...

Quote:

Get feeling better! Good job on the cigs!. This last time I went 3 months before it all went to "heck". Then after the deal with the taxes, and the transmission going on my car and not having a vehicle...yeah, back at it! So dissapointed in myself.

Its a crowded boat we are in... but at least its a good crowd!