Hands on hatching and help

[AmyLynn2374]

In other news: I lockdown these green eggs on Monday. They better all be hatched out by Thursday night, because I am leaving Friday for a much needed weekend away!! My oldest sister, (the one that got me into the chicken "thing") is going to come and stay with dad and take care of the coops, and brooders. She's also taking these hatchers back with us as I am hatching for her.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm really disappointed in my bought eggs. I think I am only going to get one chick from a dozen eggs, with a ton of late quitters. One pipped internally yesterday and then died within a couple of hours. The only one that has hatched needed a ton of help. All three of my own eggs that I set are hatching so it can't be the incubator.
I think from now on I will buy chicks and only hatch my own. Can't take the heartbreak!

Did you buy them locally or where these shipped??? (I can't retain info these days, so I have to ask questions that have problem aready been answered...lol)

 

[ShanandGem]

Did you buy them locally or where these shipped??? (I can't retain info these days, so I have to ask questions that have problem aready been answered...lol)

I bought them locally but she sells table eggs and well and I am starting to think mine were in the fridge intended for someone's plate until I called and wanted hatching eggs.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I bought them locally but she sells table eggs and well and I am starting to think mine were in the fridge intended for someone's plate until I called and wanted hatching eggs.

Could be. People have success with fridge eggs, but at a much lower rate. I advertise eating and hatching eggs, but my hatching eggs never go in the fridge and are never washed.

 

[WildHens]

Could be. People have success with fridge eggs, but at a much lower rate. I advertise eating and hatching eggs, but my hatching eggs never go in the fridge and are never washed.

Yep..the first time I hatched eggs they were from my neighbors fridge and I had a good rate.. probably 35 chicks from 42 eggs... I just set some more from another lady n some were in fridge, some were not..
I think a lot of it is how cold a person keeps their fridge too.. figure, you can collect an egg that's been outside for 12+ hours in 40° weather n it'll hatch fine..but if it's in 33-38° degree weather that long, it may freeze or be a waste..

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Yep..the first time I hatched eggs they were from my neighbors fridge and I had a good rate.. probably 35 chicks from 42 eggs... I just set some more from another lady n some were in fridge, some were not..
I think a lot of it is how cold a person keeps their fridge too.. figure, you can collect an egg that's been outside for 12+ hours in 40° weather n it'll hatch fine..but if it's in 33-38° degree weather that long, it may freeze or be a waste..

Not to mention the age of the egg.

 

[WildHens]

Not to mention the age of the egg.

I definitely think that affects them more than temps.. just my xp so it may be 140% wrong..lol..
But I'll set a chilled egg over an old egg..and if there's a big air cell in one of the chilled eggs, it goes to my fridge for eating and not the bator..the last 12 I set, I started with 24..picked the best cells and shells from those.. there's a few green I can't see good in, but I'm pretty sure all have started

 

[WildHens]

I know age is what ruined my last hatch.. out of this:

I got 6 chicks...and according to cells..they were mostly 10+ days when set

 

[Blooie]

Did my day 14 candling last night, and overall am feeling more and more optimistic that Katie will get her Silkies! Eggs are so dark I can't really make out any detail in them anymore, and most of the dancing inside the eggs has stopped - although if I held an egg perfectly still and waited a couple of seconds I could see subtle shifts in the shadowing on the inside at times.

Air cells are always going to be my nemesis I think. First eggs I tried to hatch I had every variety of bad air cells you can name. And they all had one thing in common....they were large. Large and floating, large and loose, large and saddled......and some had more than one issue. We only managed to get 3 chicks out of 39 eggs. Not so good! This time around there were eggs shipped from @RubyNala97 that were so fresh the air cells were invisible - couldn't even see them! The air cells in those we could see were small. Out of 16 eggs, 4 had air cells (on day 7 candling) that were loose on one side, just a very small area, so I put them in carton compartments and within a few days they were firmed back up - the only way to tell which ones they were was by the dotted line where they were loose. Someone, (and I wish I could remember who to give proper credit) suggested that when tracing the air cells, make the line solid where the cell was solid and dotted where it was loose).

I kept my humidity at the 40-45% recommended by @RubyNala97 . Amy also incubates her Silkie eggs a little higher as well. When I candled last night the cells still look kinda small to me....but are they really or am I just used to seeing huge cells because of my first shipped eggs? I dunno. I do see changes in the lines, so maybe I'll just keep a sharp eye on them and reduce the humidity a bit, to between 35 and 40%.

Note: Candling has been invaluable to me. Re the comparison between candling and ultrasounds, my daughter had cancer when she was expecting her daughter. She found out when she went in for her first exam and refused to allow them to end the pregnancy to treat her. She had ultra sounds every week to monitor Little Diane's progress and keep an eye on the size of the tumor. Not one ill effect on the baby or my daughter. We knew our special little Kendra would be born with Spina Bifida, so my daughter-in-law had ultrasounds every week for 7 weeks, then twice a week for the last month of her pregnancy. Again, no ill effects for mom or baby, and without that ability to closely monitor both babies we could have had totally different outcomes with them both. All I'm sayin'.

 

[WildHens]

Did my day 14 candling last night, and overall am feeling more and more optimistic that Katie will get her Silkies!  Eggs are so dark I can't really make out any detail in them anymore, and most of the dancing inside the eggs has stopped - although if I held an egg perfectly still and waited a couple of seconds I could see subtle shifts in the shadowing on the inside at times.

Air cells are always going to be my nemesis I think.  First eggs I tried to hatch I had every variety of bad air cells you can name.  And they all had one thing in common....they were large.  Large and floating, large and loose, large and saddled......and some had more then one issue.  We only managed to get 3 chicks out of 39 eggs.  Not so good!  This time around there were eggs shipped from @RubyNala97
 that were so fresh the air cells were invisible - couldn't even see them!  The air cells in those we could see were small.  Out of 16 eggs, 4 had air cells (on day 7 candling) that were loose on one side, just a very small area, so I put them in carton compartments and within a few days they were firmed back up - the only way to tell which ones they were was by the dotted line where they were loose.  (Someone, and I wish I could remember who to give proper credit) suggested that when tracing the air cells, make the line solid where the cell was solid and dotted where it was loose). 

I kept my humidity at the 40-45% recommended by @RubyNala97
.  Amy also incubates her Silkie eggs a little higher as well.  When I candled last night the cells still look kinda small to me....but are they really or am I just used to seeing huge cells because of my first shipped eggs?   I dunno.  I do see changes in the lines, so maybe I'll just keep a sharp eye on them and reduce the humidity a bit, to between 35 and 40%.  

Note:  Candling has been invaluable to me.  Re the comparison between candling and ultrasounds, my daughter had cancer when she was expecting her daughter.  She found out when she went in for her first exam and refused to allow them to end the pregnancy to treat her.   She had ultra sounds every week to monitor Little Diane's progress and keep an eye on the size of the tumor. Not one ill effect on the baby or my daughter.  We knew our special little Kendra would be born with Spina Bifida, so my daughter-in-law had ultrasounds every week for 7 weeks, then twice a week for the last month of her pregnancy.  Again, no ill effects for mom or baby, and without that ability to closely monitor both babies we could have had totally different outcomes with them both.  All I'm sayin'.

I had u/s with both of my pregnancies.. both of my kids were just fine ♡♡
They were wrong on my daughters gender, but that's nothing..
If it weren't for an u/s, I would have never known that my son had bled internally and had calcification on his adrenal glands..
The ONLY way I could see candling hurting an egg (well, okay 2 ways) would be to candle with dirty hands.. or to drop the egg in the process. . If you medical grade gloves during candling..it will solve both issues
The gloves will keep anything from transferring from gross hands to the eggs and the material gives your fingers a better grip..
That being said, my 6 year old has grabbed more than a few of my eggs with less than clean hands and they still hatched perfect little chicks. .eggs are pretty hardy.. I'd say the number one reason for failed hatches that people overlook is breeder quality. .