Hands on hatching and help

[AmyLynn2374]

Those are fine!  Some folks wash eggs, some just chip off the really dirty chunks.  All you can really do is try them, and smell the incubator often.

I'll usually wipe the worst areas with a wet paper towel, but I've incubated MUCH dirtier than those. 

Xs 2 those don't look bad at all.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Ok, so I have 9 silkie eggs due tomorrow. Went into lockdown yesterday. 5 are externally pipped, I believe 3 are internally pipped and one is very active but looks way off. Dark thick red veins, but way too much space in the egg. I'll be very surprised if that results in a live fully developed chick. So at this point 8/9 are looking fairly promising. The girl that was supposed to pick up the last two, never did so they are still in my brooder. I will most likely have to split the brooder to incorporate all of them. Most likely the older ones will pick on the smaller guys.

I have 7 eggs in there that will be a week tomorrow. Apparently I need to better my storing methods for the silkies and provide a cooler more humid environment if I am going to be collecting more than a week. My barnyard mixes are hardier and I just leave them in cartons at room temp and never had an issue. These I collected two weeks, got 9 eggs both weeks. Set 18. The nine from week one- I had 5 eggs start development and stop by day 2. Literally the only thing that developed was the blood island, the first circular vein around the surface of the yolk. Just enough to leave a blood ring. One other started developing from the first week and is still going strong. And 3 first week clears.
Now the 9 from the second week. Had 6 start developing and so far they are still going strong. Haven't candled today to see how they are, I'll be marking air cells tomorrow so I'll find out then. And 3 clears from week 2 so, 6 clears overall, still not great fertility, 5 very early quitters, and 7 developing well.
With so many quitters in the collection of the first week, I must surmise that storing is less than ideal for these guys, which is totally understandable.

I am not planning on setting anymore for April once the last ones hatch. I want to see how these sell. I am hoping to squeeze in a weekend away in April, so I want to keep my schedule open. That will give a few weeks for warmer weather. I want to trim my silkies' butts. We'll see if that helps fertilization. Then In May I may do one more hatch, change storage method and see what we got.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Well went out to candle my silkies suprise nest. Wasn't sure how close they were to hatching. Went out and had one external pip while the rest are all internally pipped. Suprised the heck out of me lol. Can't wait to see her babies!

 

[BigWeenMachine]

SWEEEEET! My new incutherm thermometer/hygrometers just arrived. After having a nightmare last year with never knowing what thermometers were reading right and which ones were wrong or meters just suddenly going haywire (we probably tried at least a dozen different ones), we finally found an accurate one from incutherm. So, after accidentally getting the one old meter wet while prepping the bators and ruining it to where it reads 10% humidity all the time, I ordered 5 more for this year.

Well, I just popped the batteries in all of em to test how accurate they are and it is uncanny how close they all are. On humidity, I have 2 reading 48% and 3 reading 47%. The temps are 69.3, 69.3, 69.3, 68.9, and 68.9. So excited to have such accurate meters. I highly recommend the incutherm brand!!!!

 

[rochesjourney]

Lol, yeah we had our share of run ins...lol not because I have any problem with people choosing to be hands off, but I can't stand the statements that opening the bator will kill all your chicks. Of course, trying it a different way if you are having bad results is never wrong. I've seen people afraid, scared to death to even add water to their bator when it was low during lockdown and that really bugs me. I love seeing the development and progression during incubation and I hate to see people that want that experience being so scared they can't enjoy that. Now I have always admitted, and the girls can attest to it, I have always admitted, I'm extreme. More extreme than even I need to be. And if I ever find it affecting my hatch, I will surely adjust to prevent that, but as long as I can have good hatches and get all the enjoyment of being a meddler, then, that's my style. And yes, it's obvious you like to help.

I think this is an excellent conversation. I am learning a lot from both sides. I think the big thing to know is that what works for one won't necessarily work for another. I have learned how different incubators recover differently. As a hands on hatcher, I am sticking with table top incubators because they recover their heat and humidity quickly. If I had a cabinet and was always in and out of it, it would take longer to recover and that could very well lower my hatch rates. The one big thing I try to remember if I'm opening the incubator during the "lockdown" period, is do what I need to do, get in and get out so heat and humidity can recover. Don't leave the lid off for 10 minutes at a time every 30 minutes. Try to peak and then wait awhile. I wait at least 2 hours before I go in again.

 

[rochesjourney]

Ok, so I have 9 silkie eggs due tomorrow. Went into lockdown yesterday. 5 are externally pipped, I believe 3 are internally pipped and one is very active but looks way off. Dark thick red veins, but way too much space in the egg. I'll be very surprised if that results in a live fully developed chick. So at this point 8/9 are looking fairly promising. The girl that was supposed to pick up the last two, never did so they are still in my brooder. I will most likely have to split the brooder to incorporate all of them. Most likely the older ones will pick on the smaller guys.

I have 7 eggs in there that will be a week tomorrow. Apparently I need to better my storing methods for the silkies and provide a cooler more humid environment if I am going to be collecting more than a week. My barnyard mixes are hardier and I just leave them in cartons at room temp and never had an issue. These I collected two weeks, got 9 eggs both weeks. Set 18. The nine from week one- I had 5 eggs start development and stop by day 2. Literally the only thing that developed was the blood island, the first circular vein around the surface of the yolk. Just enough to leave a blood ring. One other started developing from the first week and is still going strong. And 3 first week clears.
Now the 9 from the second week. Had 6 start developing and so far they are still going strong. Haven't candled today to see how they are, I'll be marking air cells tomorrow so I'll find out then. And 3 clears from week 2 so, 6 clears overall, still not great fertility, 5 very early quitters, and 7 developing well.
With so many quitters in the collection of the first week, I must surmise that storing is less than ideal for these guys, which is totally understandable.

I am not planning on setting anymore for April once the last ones hatch. I want to see how these sell. I am hoping to squeeze in a weekend away in April, so I want to keep my schedule open. That will give a few weeks for warmer weather. I want to trim my silkies' butts. We'll see if that helps fertilization. Then In May I may do one more hatch, change storage method and see what we got.

I wish I were more savvy with my candling. I haven't trained myself to see and know all that you do. I'm sure some will come in time just with experience. Some of my problem is most of what I'm hatching are dark colored eggs and I just can't see. I have 7 crested polish in a batch due to hatch tomorrow and I can see beautifully in those, so hope I can see an internal pip this time around. I'm also able to see real well in my Welsh Harlequin Duck Eggs. The rest of my eggs are Golden Cuckoo Maran, and Bourbon Red Turkey eggs, darker eggs. The Golden Cuckoos I can tell are full with chick, but that is all I can see at this point. The turkey eggs I'm still learning to know what I'm looking at. My Sebastapol Goose Egg, God Bless it, is white and I can see beautifully. Yep, down to 1 goose egg, the other one started and then quit almost immediately it looked like.

 

[WVduckchick]

Sometimes its as simple as fresh batteries. Or a new flashlight, the higher the lumens the better. Most that I see now list the lumens on the packaging. Look for 200 or more. 400-500 even better! Maglite makes a Mini Mag that is 325 lumens, it's awesome.

Just watch the battery size. AA or AAA of course are more plentiful, but I got one with an odd battery and the stupid batteries are expensive! Especially when you wear them out as fast as I do!

 

[rochesjourney]

Sometimes its as simple as fresh batteries. Or a new flashlight, the higher the lumens the better. Most that I see now list the lumens on the packaging. Look for 200 or more. 400-500 even better! Maglite makes a Mini Mag that is 325 lumens, it's awesome.

Just watch the battery size. AA or AAA of course are more plentiful, but I got one with an odd battery and the stupid batteries are expensive! Especially when you wear them out as fast as I do!

I bought 2 that are sold as candling lights and came with a clear tube. It just says it is a 5W LED. It has high, low, and strobe settings. My Golden Cuckoo Marans still just look like a black hole with an air sac!

I think I see a mini mag in my near future!

 

[Pyxis]

I bought 2 that are sold as candling lights and came with a clear tube. It just says it is a 5W LED. It has high, low, and strobe settings. My Golden Cuckoo Marans still just look like a black hole with an air sac!  
I think I see a mini mag in my near future!    

I use a really high lumen small flashlight that I picked up at Walmart for around $20 and it sees into marans eggs Might be something to look into if you're going to be doing a lot of them.

 

[Blooie]

I got the one that Amy suggested. In my case, the only bright bulb involved wasn't on the egg side of the light. <sigh>