Hatch-Along - Setting eggs this weekend (Jan5/6) WHOS WITH ME!

[Conchis]

2 chicks now

 

[Sally8]

Okay, so I lied, one more post for the night! Chick #3 just hatched about 15 minutes ago- still no movement from my other one, I think I can see the tip of his beak under the wing, but again no signs of breathing I'm going to try to upload one of the chicks hatching if I can get the laptop and cell to play nice together!


One last question - the chicks have knocked the crap out of my thermometer and now its reading roughly 5 degrees lower than the 99.5 it was at when it was still sitting on top of the eggs due to hatch next weekend. Is this normal, or do I need to worry about this lower reading (sometimes the chicks are sitting on it so I really don't have too much faith in it being overly accurate at this point, but I have another 6 or 7 eggs that have pipped so I don't want anyone getting cold but don't want to really make any temperature adjustments at this point either.

Is it on top of eggs still? If it has fallen to the floor of incubator, it might be a little cooler down there. Not sure about 5 degrees though I wouldn't move it until the others that are pipped hatch. Then when you remove all the little hatch lings, I would place on top of remaining eggs. Is it covered with yucky stuff? If so, I would probably try to clean it up before I put it there. Just what I would do, you need to do what you think is best. Also, I think it is still pretty accurate. It's not like the chicks are sumo wrestlers. lol
Congratulations on all your new babies!!

 

[chicken pickin]

I woke up this morn to 7 babies total and one pip. So not too bad though I do have 19 eggs in the incubator Fingers crossed I get a few more

 

[Shellz]

Got my 2nd of 3 this morning! Thought it would never hatch! I think last one quit near the end. No pip. Will candlevit later, after i get these 2 dry & into brooder! Anyway, congrats to everyone with their new chicks! And wishing extra patience for those still waiting! Oh, the torture!

 

[CamiLynn]

Congrats Sparkyfam!!

I woke up to my starting to zip egg from last night, to just a bigger hole but, this time a beak was poking out. So, I actually got to watch it continue it's zip and hatch!! He/she is still working to get its legs completely away from the shell but, it's here!!! Chick 2 of 7! Oh and we have anther pip!!

So hoping my other 4 start doing something!

 

[CamiLynn]

No wait...two more pips!! So just waiting on 3 to do something! Fingers crossed!!

 

[tammir]

Is it on top of eggs still? If it has fallen to the floor of incubator, it might be a little cooler down there. Not sure about 5 degrees though I wouldn't move it until the others that are pipped hatch. Then when you remove all the little hatch lings, I would place on top of remaining eggs. Is it covered with yucky stuff? If so, I would probably try to clean it up before I put it there. Just what I would do, you need to do what you think is best. Also, I think it is still pretty accurate. It's not like the chicks are sumo wrestlers. lol
Congratulations on all your new babies!!

Thanks Sally8! It is no longer on top of the eggs, now its sitting at an angle with the bulb close to the seam for the top (maybe the cooler air by where the top & bottom meet is the culprit). We had two more hatch during the night, so I'm up to 5 chicks bowling for brothers/sisters right now. The thermometer still looks clean, but the angle it is sitting at makes it tough to read.
I was looking around the bator at the mess and noticed that the one chick that had pipped and was starting to zip that stopped moving after the first two chicks ran it over had a brownish/gold liquid had dripped out of the opening- could this be from the yolk sack rupturing?If you look at my blurry picture of the reddish brown chick, you can see the liquid caught in the grate. How long do you need to wait to remove known casualties? Thanks again for all the help & wonderful information!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

So excited to see how many pips and hatches are happening this morning!

The little chick that hatched last night is dry and in the brooder now with it's siblings. It's VERY noisy, like ten times noisier than the others. It actually kept me up last night, and it was on the opposite side of the house. I think they're louder in the incubator when they don't have other chicks to keep them company.

 

[Shellz]

Just eggtopsied 3rd egg. Looked normal. For whatever reason, it died with head to the side under wing. This would have been the proper position before the last push to break thru the air cell. No wonder it didn't pip. Still, it's good to know these things & I'm pretty proud of my 75% hatch rate! With a still air LG & staggered hatch & being a newb!

I have 6 healthy, beautiful chicks! Will post pics for Monday!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Thanks Sally8! It is no longer on top of the eggs, now its sitting at an angle with the bulb close to the seam for the top (maybe the cooler air by where the top & bottom meet is the culprit). We had two more hatch during the night, so I'm up to 5 chicks bowling for brothers/sisters right now. The thermometer still looks clean, but the angle it is sitting at makes it tough to read.
I was looking around the bator at the mess and noticed that the one chick that had pipped and was starting to zip that stopped moving after the first two chicks ran it over had a brownish/gold liquid had dripped out of the opening- could this be from the yolk sack rupturing?If you look at my blurry picture of the reddish brown chick, you can see the liquid caught in the grate. How long do you need to wait to remove known casualties? Thanks again for all the help & wonderful information!

Has the chick that was run over stopped moving? I would leave all casualties until the hatch is finished if possible. If a chick need assistance or if it's getting really chaotic or crowded, you can open the bator quickly and mist it, or toss in a warm damp sponge or towel to remove and examine the chick that needs help, or to remove dry chicks that are creating too much havoc.