I'm on day 22. I had 26 silkie eggs that looked great going into lockdown and 2 I wasn't sure about. I had five hatch so far today and one has pipped. I did not notice the pipped one until I took out the five that hatched earlier and were already dried and fuzzy.
I'm a little antsy because my last hatch (last week, staggered) only 4 of 11 fully developed chicks hatched and those all hatched a day late. After the last hatch, I decided to double check all my instruments and discovered that I had been incubating at about 98.5 instead of 99.5. On this current batch of eggs, I readjusted the thermometers so they have been incubating at the right temperature for the last week. So I totally expected a late hatch. That being said...
While taking out the fluffy chicks, I grabbed a handful of eggs to candle them and see if any were alive. The first two, no movement. I probably shouldn't have, but I decided to open them up and see what was going on. These two were both already dead. I grabbed a couple more and these two were chirping, so I put them back. Then I discovered the pipped egg and added warm water to the reservoirs and closed the incubator.
So, now I am sitting on my hands again, waiting. I've already lost a lot of term chicks to my low temps. How long do I wait for these that are chirping now before helping? I only see one pip. The two that I opened up kinda looked malpositioned to me. One had it head between it's legs. It can't pip like that, right? The other had it's head and beak under it's wing, but it was not near the aircell at all.
The other sad thing that happened with my last hatch is that the last chick to pip died *I think* because it rotated itself away from its pip. It pipped on it's own and I could see movement near the pip. When I came back a few hours later, it wasn't chirping or moving anymore. I opened it up and it's head was on the other side of the egg and it was dead.
So... these are, of course, shipped eggs. On the few eggs I've incubated that were not shipped, I had much better hatch rates. Of course, I also had the right temperature on those, too. Anyway...
How long do I wait from here? How often should I check them? At what point should I help if they don't pip themselves? That being said, I hope I didn't shrink wrap the one pipped!
Help!
I'm a little antsy because my last hatch (last week, staggered) only 4 of 11 fully developed chicks hatched and those all hatched a day late. After the last hatch, I decided to double check all my instruments and discovered that I had been incubating at about 98.5 instead of 99.5. On this current batch of eggs, I readjusted the thermometers so they have been incubating at the right temperature for the last week. So I totally expected a late hatch. That being said...
While taking out the fluffy chicks, I grabbed a handful of eggs to candle them and see if any were alive. The first two, no movement. I probably shouldn't have, but I decided to open them up and see what was going on. These two were both already dead. I grabbed a couple more and these two were chirping, so I put them back. Then I discovered the pipped egg and added warm water to the reservoirs and closed the incubator.
So, now I am sitting on my hands again, waiting. I've already lost a lot of term chicks to my low temps. How long do I wait for these that are chirping now before helping? I only see one pip. The two that I opened up kinda looked malpositioned to me. One had it head between it's legs. It can't pip like that, right? The other had it's head and beak under it's wing, but it was not near the aircell at all.
The other sad thing that happened with my last hatch is that the last chick to pip died *I think* because it rotated itself away from its pip. It pipped on it's own and I could see movement near the pip. When I came back a few hours later, it wasn't chirping or moving anymore. I opened it up and it's head was on the other side of the egg and it was dead.
So... these are, of course, shipped eggs. On the few eggs I've incubated that were not shipped, I had much better hatch rates. Of course, I also had the right temperature on those, too. Anyway...
How long do I wait from here? How often should I check them? At what point should I help if they don't pip themselves? That being said, I hope I didn't shrink wrap the one pipped!
Help!
