Hands on hatching and help

[jenniferlamar70]

Yay just in time. My eggs should be here in a few days.
Can someone explain to me about air cells? Also this one you have to manually turn the egg. I know it sounds sill but some directions on that would be great. I thought i bought one with an auto turner and its to late to exchange it now lol. Thanks in advance.

 

[Pyxis]

Alrighty, just locked down 11 Isabelle leghorns and 3 ACs. They'll probably hatch a day or two early as that's been the pattern this year. No internal pips yet though.

 

[mikeldb]

My shipped call eggs are on day 5 and it looks like 7 are developing! Air cells still detached. And wanna hear something crazy? On the local call eggs I could see development starting in 1 of them after only 24 hours of incubation! Right in the center. Duck eggs are so amazing to see into. And on one of them I do not see a yolk at all. Can an egg have no yolk? The whole thing looks clear!
Here's 3 sides of the egg:

looks like the yolk is rotating hold it above your head and shine the light down I've had some do this they usually aren't fertile or don't develop

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm all for assisting when it's needed! But only when it's needed. I kind of feel like not assisting because they are weaker is similar to not giving a sick person medicine when they need it. Sometimes the person will always be sickly, but sometimes they just need a little help to get back on their feet! I do think there's validity to not assisting though. If you don't know what you're doing and help before it's needed there could be problems, so I understand the hands-off approach.

I had my first ever hatch the other day and it was stressful, and wonderful and I'm so happy to see these little chicks running around the brooder!
I had several missteps along the way though. They were shipped eggs and the temperature got low, so we should've expected problems. My fiance helped one who got stuck in the middle of unzipping and he's now very healthy! There was another one who was similar who I might've been able if I had been a bit more confident and trusted my gut. He was overdue and others had already pipped, but we knew he was alive even though he hadn't pipped. Turned out he had his feet above his head! There's no way he could've pipped like that! Too bad I thought he just needed some more time... Lots of things go weird in nature and even more when we ship and artificially incubate eggs. Live and learn, right? Next time I'll be better prepared

And this is a big point. I think a lot of the "Every assist I've done has died or had to be culled" is due primarily to this point. People who jump the gun and "help" too early or people that have no clue whatsoever to what they are doing. I have only had one assist die after assisting and that occured 9 days after hatch due to what I believe was digestive issues. All of mine have gone onto become healthy productive chickens. My very first assist was a malposition #5 (feet above head). As a matter of fact when I extended the pip hole little toes wiggled at me from above her beak....lol She would have NEVER hatched on her own. She became one of my first layers. Perfectly normal and healthy. I think something else too that needs to be taken into consideration is the why and when. An assist on an on time hatchling is much more likely to produce a healthy chick. An assits on a day 24 or 25 hatcher that is delayed (due most likely to improper temps) and most likely very weak, is going to be a questionable success. But, it is all thrown into one category and looked at out of context of the situation. We aren't against the hands off approach and I feel most of us understand why many people are (to an extent), but we feel that a hands off shouldn't critisize a hands on because of their philosophy either.

My shipped call eggs are on day 5 and it looks like 7 are developing! Air cells still detached. And wanna hear something crazy? On the local call eggs I could see development starting in 1 of them after only 24 hours of incubation! Right in the center. Duck eggs are so amazing to see into. And on one of them I do not see a yolk at all. Can an egg have no yolk? The whole thing looks clear!
Here's 3 sides of the egg:

Chickens lay "fairy" or "fart" eggs w/o yolks, I don't know why a duck couldn't lay one w/o. (And yes, I understand they are usually tiny in comparision but is there a reason it couldn't happen in a standard size egg?)

Yay just in time. My eggs should be here in a few days.
Can someone explain to me about air cells? Also this one you have to manually turn the egg. I know it sounds sill but some directions on that would be great. I thought i bought one with an auto turner and its to late to exchange it now lol. Thanks in advance.

The easiest way I can explain air cells and humidity is right here: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity
I actually prefer to hand turn and stopped using my turner. Many people put an "x" on one side and an "o" on the other. At time to turn they roll or turn the egg to the opposite side. Preferably 3xs a day or more.

Alrighty, just locked down 11 Isabelle leghorns and 3 ACs. They'll probably hatch a day or two early as that's been the pattern this year. No internal pips yet though.

Good luck!!!

 

[2crazyflockers]

just now

congrats nice save! very cute!

 

[2crazyflockers]

Alrighty, just locked down 11 Isabelle leghorns and 3 ACs. They'll probably hatch a day or two early as that's been the pattern this year. No internal pips yet though.

I'm sooo jealous!!!

 

[jenniferlamar70]

And this is a big point.  I think a lot of the "Every assist I've done has died or had to be culled" is due primarily to this point.  People who jump the gun and "help" too early or people that have no clue whatsoever to what they are doing.  I have only had one assist die after assisting and that occured 9 days after hatch due to what I believe was digestive issues. All of mine have gone onto become healthy productive chickens. My very first assist was a malposition #5 (feet above head). As a matter of fact when I extended the pip hole little toes wiggled at me from above her beak....lol She would have NEVER hatched on her own. She became one of my first layers. Perfectly normal and healthy.  I think something else too that needs to be taken into consideration is the why and when. An assist on an on time hatchling is much more likely to produce a healthy chick. An assits on a day 24 or 25 hatcher that is delayed (due most likely to improper temps) and most likely very weak, is going to be a questionable success.  But, it is all thrown into one category and looked at out of context of the situation.  We aren't against the hands off approach and I feel most of us understand why many people are (to an extent), but we feel that a hands off shouldn't critisize a hands on because of their philosophy either.
Chickens lay "fairy" or "fart" eggs w/o yolks, I don't know why a duck couldn't lay one w/o. (And yes, I understand they are usually tiny in comparision but is there a reason it couldn't happen in a standard size egg?)

The easiest way I can explain air cells and humidity is right here: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity
I actually prefer to hand turn and stopped using my turner.  Many people put an "x" on one side and an "o" on the other. At time to turn they roll or turn the egg to the opposite side. Preferably 3xs a day or more.

Good luck!!!

Thanks for a good read. The more I learn the more nervous I get. Hopefully my eggs will hatch..

 

[WVduckchick]

u shound like me! She and I are close, but she knows I have 80 birds under 12 wks old

Again like you, most won't be here in six months. 20+ are CX who won't stick around long and then half the 15 quailing will be tasty plus any other cockrels who look yummy

I have my count at work, but its getting up there too!

Just locked down all 16 seramas. A couple have quite a bit of fluid still, but I could still see movement, so maybe the chicks are just really tiny. Er..tinier? Lol
Can't believe from 19 shipped eggs with 2 clear, 1 very early blood ring, the other 16 have made it to lockdown!

My shipped call eggs are on day 5 and it looks like 7 are developing! Air cells still detached. And wanna hear something crazy? On the local call eggs I could see development starting in 1 of them after only 24 hours of incubation! Right in the center. Duck eggs are so amazing to see into. And on one of them I do not see a yolk at all. Can an egg have no yolk? The whole thing looks clear!
Here's 3 sides of the egg:

Duck shells are awesome huh?? I don't think I've ever gotten a duck egg without a yolk, but I would assume its possible. Maybe its just really light? Or more clearish? If it was a shipped one, I'd say scrambled, but with local, its hard to tell. Guess you'll know in a few days

Good luck!!

 

[RubyNala97]

Yay just in time. My eggs should be here in a few days.
Can someone explain to me about air cells? Also this one you have to manually turn the egg. I know it sounds sill but some directions on that would be great. I thought i bought one with an auto turner and its to late to exchange it now lol. Thanks in advance.

My very first post on BYC was once my shipped eggs arrived (first time incubating) I could not find the air cell. I knew what air cells were but I just couldn't see anything! Practice candling and finding the aircell on any eggs you have in the fridge. When you shine the light into the egg you want to shine it right into the fat end. It's going to be important for you to see how much damage they have. And like Amy said, I prefer hand turning and didn't even use my auto-turner last hatch. I do put an "x" on one side and an "o" on the other. Then I just turn each egg from one side to the other. But that's local eggs. Shipped eggs go in cut out cartons and get tilted from one side to the other at a 45 degree angle. I do not recommend laying shipped eggs flat in early incubation. I'll post a pic...

Alrighty, just locked down 11 Isabelle leghorns and 3 ACs. They'll probably hatch a day or two early as that's been the pattern this year. No internal pips yet though.

Good luck! I have someone coming today to buy chicks from NJ and she was just telling me she got a trio of AC's...I always think of you!

looks like the yolk is rotating hold it above your head and shine the light down I've had some do this they usually aren't fertile or don't develop

I will try that. But the shell is pretty transparent and I see nothing in there. Have a feeling I will be cracking it open soon.

I have my count at work, but its getting up there too!

Just locked down all 16 seramas. A couple have quite a bit of fluid still, but I could still see movement, so maybe the chicks are just really tiny. Er..tinier? Lol
Can't believe from 19 shipped eggs with 2 clear, 1 very early blood ring, the other 16 have made it to lockdown!
Duck shells are awesome huh?? I don't think I've ever gotten a duck egg without a yolk, but I would assume its possible. Maybe its just really light? Or more clearish? If it was a shipped one, I'd say scrambled, but with local, its hard to tell. Guess you'll know in a few days

Good luck!!

can't wait for this serama hatch!! I'll let you know about the egg when I open it. Nothing going on so far in there. I set them Sunday and 1 is pretty advanced. I took a pic this morning. Most look like the second one.

 

[slordaz]

well incubator is locked down, there's some no matter how hard I tried couldn't see into them, pulled 5 more eggs that I could finally see that 4 clear and one that had blood ring, when I opened it must have happened first few days. The Amerecuana that looks like might be twins made it to lock down