Hands on hatching and help

[bluejean55girl]

For anyone using still air, I yanked the water pan out of my Hovabator and put a 7w reptile heating pad in the bottom of it.  It's powered on 24/7 and I am finding this hatch my temperatures are rock steady.  It doesn't take forever for the bator to come back up to temp after opening it either.  Cold corners seem to have been eliminated as well.  The ring style heat element does still come on, but not nearly as much.
I do have my eggs in a tray so they are probably nearly an inch from the reptile pad.  I wouldn't go any higher wattage than 6 or 7 w.  I'm only a week into this hatch but am having good development so far.

keep us posted please. Sounds great so far!

 

[2crazyflockers]

Sounds like my coop, only mine all fight over the same nesting spot. Yes, naked neck and show girls This is a high quality Show girl- my dream chicken: LOL

that is amazing! That's a naked neck silkie?

 

[WVduckchick]

that is amazing! That's a naked neck silkie?

Yep, its called a Showgirl.

I had to answer and say I love your ID - 2crazyflockers!

 

[Laurel Meadows]

Well, my hatch isn't going as well as the last one.

Long story shortened, on day 18, I had 4 lavender orpingtons and 6 golden sebrights.  I knew 2 of the GS were questionable, but left them in.  I could tell by day 20 they were goners.  1 lavender hatched without problem.  Next lavender made a huge hole, but wouldn't spin.  First sebright zipped 3/4 of the way and stalled.  So I pulled each of those out and assisted, and they are fine.  Finally another sebright started zipping and made it all the way around, but didn't push the cap off.  Then I could tell it was stuck, so I had to help that one too.  Then a 3rd lavender pipped.. on the wrong end... through a blood vessel!  Andother sebright had internally pipped on day 20, but I couldn't see movement yesterday.  Pulled it this morning and its DIS, as is another one, I think.  When I left home this morning, 2 lavenders and 2 sebrights were out, with the wrong-end pipper still going.  I think the rest are gone. 

I need to recheck my hygrometers.  I think it was too dry, even though the readings were fine, and I was using the exact setup as I did last time, as far as sponges and channels.  Membranes were really crispy.  I swear, I still think it had to do with switching from heating to air conditioning in the house, mid-incubation.  :/

Sorry about your eggs that didn't hatch But it sounds like you did a great job assisting several!

I was concerned myself with this up and down weather we've had, and switching from heat to air and back and forth. My humidity has been much higher than usual (running dry 42% in the Hova, 48% in the Brinsea) with all the rain we've had. So I'm hoping it doesn't cause issues for my eggs too.

hope your wrong end pipper is working its way out soon!

 

[WVduckchick]

Sorry about your eggs that didn't hatch

But it sounds like you did a great job assisting several!

I was concerned myself with this up and down weather we've had, and switching from heat to air and back and forth. My humidity has been much higher than usual (running dry 42% in the Hova, 48% in the Brinsea) with all the rain we've had. So I'm hoping it doesn't cause issues for my eggs too.

hope your wrong end pipper is working its way out soon!

Thanks. I hope yours fare better than mine. What day are you on? Yea, this crazy weather is something else!

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach all morning, so I ran home at lunch. The sebright that I popped the cap off of was laying dead in the bator. I've never, ever had that happen! He pushed out of the egg on his own, and yolk was fully absorbed, so I don't know what happened. Maybe just the stress of the hatch, before I popped his cap off, was just too much. I moved the 3 others to the brooder. Will look over the dead one better when I get home. I just pulled it out, and put it in a bowl.

The wrong end pipper was still working, but not getting very far, so I moistened the membrane with Vaseline. It was getting brown and stuck already, he had made a pretty good sized hole already. While I was in there, I grabbed the last egg not pipped and candled. Thought it was dead, but could see internal pip, so I made a safe hole, but just a small one. Heard him peep so I put it back. I think my humidity was much lower than the hygrometers indicated. I wetted the sponges, so we'll see this evening. I feel horrible about it, but luckily these weren't sold or anything.

 

[2crazyflockers]

Yep, its called a Showgirl. 

I had to answer and say I love your ID - 2crazyflockers! 

lol thank you! Wow she's just awesome! So gonna have to add that to our farm!!

 

[arr36]

Looking for some advice. I'm end of day 22 with 8 (shipped) Marans eggs. 4 under broodies and 4 in the incubator. One of the incubator eggs internally pipped around 36h ago but hadn't shown any signs of external pipping so I made a viewing hole. I got a little enthusiastic (!) and its maybe 1.5cm-2cm across now with his beak in the middle. He's still cheeping away but doesn't appear to be progressing at all. I think the membrane veins are slowly being drawn in but I don't want to cause any bleeding so I haven't fiddled with pulling membrane off, except for his beak and nostrils which are clear. Position looks ok. None of the other incubator eggs have internal pips but all three are moving, and the broody eggs aren't showing any pips either.

We are almost on day 23!! Isn't it weird that just the one chick internally pipped so long ago? Maybe he pipped too early and is just resting up? Can I have hope for the other eggs? I so want a successful hatch. Brooder is all set up and waiting to the incubator crew and I'm losing heart. I really thought we would have chicks yesterday if not today

 

[arr36]

I should add - using a Brinsea octogan 20 with autoturn and temp has been a steady 37.5C with humidity 40-50% throughout, raised up high since lockdown.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Well, my hatch isn't going as well as the last one.

Long story shortened, on day 18, I had 4 lavender orpingtons and 6 golden sebrights. I knew 2 of the GS were questionable, but left them in. I could tell by day 20 they were goners. 1 lavender hatched without problem. Next lavender made a huge hole, but wouldn't spin. First sebright zipped 3/4 of the way and stalled. So I pulled each of those out and assisted, and they are fine. Finally another sebright started zipping and made it all the way around, but didn't push the cap off. Then I could tell it was stuck, so I had to help that one too. Then a 3rd lavender pipped.. on the wrong end... through a blood vessel! Andother sebright had internally pipped on day 20, but I couldn't see movement yesterday. Pulled it this morning and its DIS, as is another one, I think. When I left home this morning, 2 lavenders and 2 sebrights were out, with the wrong-end pipper still going. I think the rest are gone.

I need to recheck my hygrometers. I think it was too dry, even though the readings were fine, and I was using the exact setup as I did last time, as far as sponges and channels. Membranes were really crispy. I swear, I still think it had to do with switching from heating to air conditioning in the house, mid-incubation.

That sucks! Sorry to hear you are having trouble. I hope it gets better!

For anyone using still air, I yanked the water pan out of my Hovabator and put a 7w reptile heating pad in the bottom of it. It's powered on 24/7 and I am finding this hatch my temperatures are rock steady. It doesn't take forever for the bator to come back up to temp after opening it either. Cold corners seem to have been eliminated as well. The ring style heat element does still come on, but not nearly as much.
I do have my eggs in a tray so they are probably nearly an inch from the reptile pad. I wouldn't go any higher wattage than 6 or 7 w. I'm only a week into this hatch but am having good development so far.

that is amazing! That's a naked neck silkie?

It is. From a very established line. It takes a lot of work and time to get them to look that good. I've seen some pretty ugly SGs, but when you get them to this point, I think they are just beautiful.

lol thank you! Wow she's just awesome! So gonna have to add that to our farm!!

I've been wanting SGs for a long time, but everyone around here thinks they are ugly and I haven't wanted to pay the big bucks for shipped eggs and have them flop, so it's still on my "dream chicken" list....lol The end of last year I had one silkie/nn cross hatch, but my silkies that I've had the last year are just pet quality and no roo. I just hatched out last week 12 silkies from Ruby's girls and these will be excellent quality so I am hoping that I can cross my gen 1 sg back to a roo and finally start my line.

Looking for some advice. I'm end of day 22 with 8 (shipped) Marans eggs. 4 under broodies and 4 in the incubator. One of the incubator eggs internally pipped around 36h ago but hadn't shown any signs of external pipping so I made a viewing hole. I got a little enthusiastic (!) and its maybe 1.5cm-2cm across now with his beak in the middle. He's still cheeping away but doesn't appear to be progressing at all. I think the membrane veins are slowly being drawn in but I don't want to cause any bleeding so I haven't fiddled with pulling membrane off, except for his beak and nostrils which are clear. Position looks ok. None of the other incubator eggs have internal pips but all three are moving, and the broody eggs aren't showing any pips either.

We are almost on day 23!! Isn't it weird that just the one chick internally pipped so long ago? Maybe he pipped too early and is just resting up? Can I have hope for the other eggs? I so want a successful hatch. Brooder is all set up and waiting to the incubator crew and I'm losing heart. I really thought we would have chicks yesterday if not today

Since he didn't make the pip himself, it may take him a little longer to progress, but I would keep a close eye on him. I will say that even though I personally have never done marans, from what I've noted watching others, the majority seem to do better at lower humidity during incubation. When you add in the shipping factor, it becomes more dicey.

 

[Laurel Meadows]

Thanks.  I hope yours fare better than mine.  What day are you on?  Yea, this crazy weather is something else!

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach all morning, so I ran home at lunch.  The sebright that I popped the cap off of was laying dead in the bator.  I've never, ever had that happen!  He pushed out of the egg on his own, and yolk was fully absorbed, so I don't know what happened.  Maybe just the stress of the hatch, before I popped his cap off, was just too much.  I moved the 3 others to the brooder.  Will look over the dead one better when I get home.  I just pulled it out, and put it in a bowl.

The wrong end pipper was still working, but not getting very far, so I moistened the membrane with Vaseline.  It was getting brown and stuck already, he had made a pretty good sized hole already.  While I was in there, I grabbed the last egg not pipped and candled.  Thought it was dead, but could see internal pip, so I made a safe hole, but just a small one.  Heard him peep so I put it back.  I think my humidity was much lower than the hygrometers indicated.  I wetted the sponges, so we'll see this evening.  I feel horrible about it, but luckily these weren't sold or anything. 

Oh no! I'm sorry about your sebright

Glad to hear the wrong end chick and is hanging in there. Hopefully since you were able to add the Vaseline to the membrane and got the humidity higher it may be able to avoid getting too stuck. I had one like that my last hatch- wrong end pip I ended up assisting and it was sticky around the face and head but everything else was ok.

My shipped mottled cochins and Marans are on day 12 today. A couple of the shipped Marans eggs have the worst saddled cells I've ever seen. They extend almost down to close to the bottom of the small end. I'll have to get a pic of them up here later. I'll be shocked if they hatch without issues.