Hands on hatching and help

[casportpony]

Quote: Not positive, but I think the spots were visible on the outside of the shell as well. Forgot to take pictures of that.

And like Amy said, bacteria entered from the outside through the pours. Keep in mind that this is just my best guess as to why this one died.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Exactly! That's for writing that.

-Kathy

 

[pipAchick]

Not positive, but I think the spots were visible on the outside of the shell as well. Forgot to take pictures of that.   And like Amy said, bacteria entered from the outside through the pours. Keep in mind that this is just my best guess as to why this one died.

-Kathy

Seems like a REALLY good educated observation to me! I have read&heard bacteria can enter espically thru porous shells but I hadn't seen proof for myself yet,,,feeling bad now because 3 I put in my 31April hatch are really pourus- I validated doing it because they are easier to candle since shells are so dark.

 

[RubyNala97]

The 20th

Yup! That's the day mine are due too! So funny and we didn't even plan that. Lol.

Hey guys, I am getting my FI bator ready for lockdown tomorrow. Since the floor in the bator is so low beneath the screen the eggs will lie on, I can't find an extra container for water to get my humidity up that will fit under the screen. So, my fix was to put an ice tray on top of the screen and start filling up squares in it until I hit my target humidity of 75 %. When those ducks start to hatch, is it okay if they drink the distilled water or will it hurt them??? Or maybe, is it bad to have water available to the chicks so soon after they hatch??? Lemme know what you guys think. My other option would be to go to town and get a funnel with a hose on it that will fit in my vent and then feed that down to a wet paper towel as needed.

I would think it's a bad idea only because when they hatch they flop all over the place. And then I'm positive one would think it's a bed and lay down right over it. It will be spilled and messy in no time. I had one this hatch that was set on sleeping right on top of my hygrometer. It could have picked anywhere but it had to be there! Could you section it off so they didn't have access?

More embryo pictures and a video. Muscovy egg - Day ? [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]-Kathy[/COLOR]

This might be obvious but how is that duck still alive and moving with the egg open?

Wow did you manage to get any sleep with the chicks in there with you?

No, not really. As soon as I would dose off they would start scratching on me, almost like a kitten kneading its paws. Plus I had a nursing baby (human) sleeping on the other side of me!

I can relate I just went through it myself last night. hoping all your eggs will be ok! We had a wood stove to help keep everyone warm but even if you don't- if you have an outdoor bbq grill or patio fire pit etc and can heat up some uncooked rice in a pan, put the warm rice in baggies and into bator to keep eggs warm. It kept our bators about 84 degrees.

Oh, you know what I bought after the chicks in bed fiasco? Those instant hand warmers! It's like $1 for 2. And they get hot! Up to 107 degrees. Good to have for keeping animals warm if power goes out!

Hey guys. Have an odd question,,im new at trying this&something went wrong last time I want to avoid this time. SO I opened up some of the ones that quit or never piped,I took pictures but I don't wanna dramatize sensitive sorts,would anyone be willing to peek&see if they recognize what went wrong? I wanted to get permission before posting.

Does not bother me! It's part of the process. It might help if you can take pics of the egg with the air cell off, so you can see the membrane and then more of the chick and egg once the chick is out of the egg.

-Kathy

That yolk on the left. Doesn't look "healthy" to me. Whether it was because it was an early quitter or the reason, I don't know, but it's not a nice healthy yellow.

X2

That was my first hatch but from what I had read(on here BYC) it seemed too dry like. The membranes seemed sorta crusty,flaky like.?

How long after hatch did you wait to open the eggs? And are you talking about the inner membrane or outter membrane?

 

[pipAchick]

How long after hatch did you wait to open the eggs? And are you talking about the inner membrane or outter membrane?[/quote]


(still learning where quoted end&start so bear with me)

It was a staggered hatch,,,the quitter I took out probably 4days over due.
The two feathered ones ,, I think 2days over due.

 

[RubyNala97]

How long after hatch did you wait to open the eggs? And are you talking about the inner membrane or outter membrane?

I'm not good at gaining info from eggtopsies but sometimes others can help you figure out if your humidity was to high or two low, if it was a defect with the chick itself, etc. I hope you can get some answers and try again!


(still learning where quoted end&start so bear with me)

It was a staggered hatch,,,the quitter I took out probably 4days over due.
The two feathered ones ,, I think 2days over due.[/quote]

 

[BigWeenMachine]

EEEEK!!!! Okay, so I'm not ready for this but I just checked the eggs before bedtime and I have a pip on one that hit the beginning of day 26 about 4 hours ago. I was thinking they would be behind because the temps were low for a few days early on and I could set all 6 eggs at the same time tomorrow afternoon. Guess plans have changed and I am moving them over tonight. First lockdown and I've only had the hatchery running for 10 hours so I hope it all works out.... I've got it running steady for the last 4 hours with humidity at 75% exactly on 2 hygrometers while one hygrometer is reading 84..... I'm gonna try to find a screen to put over the ice tray filled with distilled water to prevent drowning cos I don't have time to adjust and move forward with a new plan so wish me luck....!...!....!... Hopefully I can send pics of 6 healthy ducklings in a few days!!!!

 

[BigWeenMachine]

I'm nervous. I've got one egg pipped and that lil guy's beak is fluttering around like crazy in the shell when I candled. The air sack is still not as big as I'd like on him, and the other two that were due to be put on lockdown tonight do not have pips or as big of air sacks on them as the pipper does. The other 3 eggs in the Lyon incubator with the autoturner aren't pipped either and 2 of them still have very small air sacks compared to where they are supposed to be. I left those three in the Lyon incubator with humidity around 10-15% RH to try to dry those sacks down. Gonna try to insert those into the lockdown hatchery tomorrow night or Tuesday morning if I see no pips start up. Hope I don't shrink wrap the first 3 I just put in and hope the two non-pipped eggs were ready to go in there. I guess I will see what we have in the morning. Gonna be a tough night to sleep......

 

[chicapee]

I'm nervous.  I've got one egg pipped and that lil guy's beak is fluttering around like crazy in the shell when I candled.  The air sack is still not as big as I'd like on him, and the other two that were due to be put on lockdown tonight do not have pips or as big of air sacks on them as the pipper does.  The other 3 eggs in the Lyon incubator with the autoturner aren't pipped either and 2 of them still have very small air sacks compared to where they are supposed to be.  I left those three in the Lyon incubator with humidity around 10-15% RH to try to dry those sacks down.  Gonna try to insert those into the lockdown hatchery tomorrow night or Tuesday morning if I see no pips start up.  Hope I don't shrink wrap the first 3 I just put in and hope the two non-pipped eggs were ready to go in there.  I guess I will see what we have in the morning.  Gonna be a tough night to sleep......

Good luck!

 

[BigWeenMachine]

Thanks Chicapee. I am already second guessing myself on putting the other 2 eggs in the hatchery with the pipper. I saw one move when I candled and it's beak was pretty close to the where the air sac meets the shell. Now I'm worried it's gonna try to pip without hitting the air sack and drown because the sack isn't big enough. I have no idea where the 3rd duck is at in it's egg cos I couldn't see it moving. I don't wanna open the hatchery to fiddle and drop the humidity so I am at a crossroads. Can't sleep now so I'm gonna take a sleeping pill and hope it knocks me out so I don't meddle. Just gotta find a way to walk away and see what happens at this point....