Hatching at high altitude

[bumpershoot]

 

[lgc1970]

TWO small pips!! Many quiet - ish chirps!

... On time ... really. This never happens to me. I am rarely on time.
They must not be mine.

2 Chocolate Orpington Bantam eggs (received 9 eggs: 5 now in hatcher) that I went and picked up from Arvada. The parents are on the large side (of a small Orpington?) and gorgeous! A beautiful Hershey brown with touches of almost auburn and grayish fringe.

 

[trsturself]

 

[lgc1970]

All 5 Chocolate Orpington eggs are pipped and the holes are getting larger. Only 4 bantam eggs left to pip. None of the 18 LF have not yet pipped, but they're moving more.

Is that normal? Do other folks have the bantam eggs hatch before the LF eggs?

But 5 pipped!

 

[Pozees]

All 5 Chocolate Orpington eggs are pipped and the holes are getting larger. Only 4 bantam eggs left to pip. None of the 18 LF have not yet pipped, but they're moving more.

Is that normal? Do other folks have the bantam eggs hatch before the LF eggs?

But 5 pipped!

Yay! My Silkies are almost always 12-24 hours ahead of any LF eggs to hatch, so yes that's normal. Here's hoping!

 

[lgc1970]

Yay!  My Silkies are almost always 12-24 hours ahead of any LF eggs to hatch, so yes that's normal.  Here's hoping!

That's the best news I've had all day!
Thanks!

 

[lgc1970]

Okay. 4 more pips through the night, but the 2 new bantam eggs don't look like they are moving.

They were shipped eggs and went through A LOT! to get here. Not that that's any excuse, but of those 14 shipped eggs there were only 4 left.

Still 5 bantam and now 2 LF; 1 Brahma, 1 Mountain Mutt.

Wow, this is painfully slow...

 

[Mtn Margie]

Okay. 4 more pips through the night, but the 2 new bantam eggs don't look like they are moving.

They were shipped eggs and went through A LOT! to get here. Not that that's any excuse, but of those 14 shipped eggs there were only 4 left.

Still 5 bantam and now 2 LF; 1 Brahma, 1 Mountain Mutt.

Wow, this is painfully slow...

Yep! I always feel like I have a wry neck myself after watching for days on end. Come on chickies!

 

[lgc1970]

Okay, this is no fair... I went to refill my soda lime and found a hole in the bag that I was keeping it in . That means that the bag I have been using for the past 4 days is no good. This sucks! I am buying a storage container tomorrow, but that is not going to help this hatch.

I feel cheated!!!

So, far 7 peeps running around.

 

[lgc1970]

Here is the update...

I have 7 beautiful little hatchlings this morning. Last night the cat had knocked the light almost off the brooder; I don't know what time. So, we lost 1 through the night. I have made a couple adjustments to eliminate that from happening again. All of the chicks were huddled together in the brooder, which was 92 degrees.

10 hatched out all the way, but 2 didn't make it through their first night. When I found them yesterday morning they were moving like they were gasping for air. I am almost positive that the extra CO2 in the hatcher is the problem. I need the soda lime to be in the bator / hatcher the whole time. When the chicks got moved to the brooder the first morning, they started breathing normal immediately and 2 more hatched out. The soda lime needs to be in everything and working .

Found out a little more about the soda lime. It does not work as well at humidity levels over 80% and not at all in humidity over 90%, and towards the end of my hatching the humidity spiked up to 80 - 85% a couple of times. I know it would not have helped me since the soda lime got ruined, but it is good to know. I need to watch the humidity a little more and try to keep it right around 70% to a max of 75% for the hatch. I did several eggtopsies, and the embryos had stopped around Day 20 with only part of the yolk sac being absorbed. Could be any noumber of things: too high humidity, too low humidity, too much CO2.

So, in conclusion, I believe that the soda lime for me was the key. I have another set of eggs going in the incubator right now. I will try to keep you up to date with what happens to those eggs. I got working soda lime in on Day 5. Tomorrow is Day 7 and I will candle, mark air cells, weigh then and keep track of the eggs from that point on.