Help with first hatch

[rvbbz92]

This is our first hatch and they are e-bay silkies in a LG bator. I know thats like three disadvantages from the start. Here is how its going the first two pipped on19th night and was out of the shell on the 20th morning. The next two Pipped the 20th night and was out the 21st morning. Then three more one after another. It is the 22nd day and there are13 left to go. When we candled on the tenth day you could see that some looked more developed than others. The eggs were shipped from New York state and we live in Illinois, so they had several days in the mail. We are very happy with the 7 babies we got just need some experienced advice on what to expect and do from here.

 

[BasicallyHeather]

I am on my first hatch as well, so I cannot give you advice from personal experience. Every post I have read on the topic has said to wait until day 24 or even 25, as many experienced hatchers have had some arrive that late. If you are able to quickly remove the chicks that have dried and place them in their brooder, you should--I think that chicks can be in the bator for up to 48 hours after they have hatched; after that, they need access to food and water. Hope this helps!

 

[ameyesonly]

I always wait to at least day 25 since the temp being off by 1 degree will extend the incubation time just had that happen to me.

2 chicks came out on day 21 and 2 on 23 and then another 7 on day 25

Remember if you are 99.5 all time then you prob get it right at day 21
99 and you may get them to come out day 22-25
100 and you might get them to ocme out day 20

and the with a fan in the incubator

if you dont have a fan the temp is usely a little bit higher and make sure your termostat is accurate

good luck on the rest of the hatch

 

[ameyesonly]

Oh I also forgot to tell you I take them out after the are half dried and put them in an aquarium with a light and wood shavings making sure they are about 90 degrees in there I use a 100 watt light bulb works great the dry shaving help them dry fast and the 100 watt bulb keeps them warm

I dont leave them in the incubator to long they moved all the eggs around to much.

 

[rvbbz92]

Thank you for the info. we will keep are fingers crossed.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. I think you are doing ok. One point on shipped eggs, depending on how the eggs were handled during shipping can also affect the hatch. Most shippers aren't to gentle with them and the hatch rate can be quite low.