How do EXPERIENCED hatchers live thru an incubation?! Temp issues NOW!

[rancher hicks]

I try not to stress about this hatching thing but I do. I had a domique in a unheated coop and the temps were going below freezing. She had to have gotten off to eat and poop right? Well she hatched 2 for 2 and both on the same day. Unbelievable. My point being ya just never can tell. I have a broody on two chicks but she hatched 11 out of 17. 9 of which I gave her from an incu that quit w/ 9 days to go. She to is in an unheated room. I did give her a heat light when I gave her the incu eggs. So like I said ya just never can tell.

It's just that hens is much better at this than I am.

I've never seen a hen pacing going "omg, what if I my butts to cold, what if it's not big enough to cover all these eggs, what if I can't generate enough sweat and get the humidity right" Hens say - Never give up , never surrender!

 

[walkswithdog]

Or Tundra Woman, Woman of the midnight daylight, etc...

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

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Mrs. AKBB works, or Tori.

LOL!
I usually wait at least until day 10 to clear out any non-developing eggs, but that's only because I need the space for the next set of eggs.

And unless you're really sure you're seeing a blood-ring, I'd leave those in until then, too. I've been surprised by a couple of eggs that I thought had BRs and didn't. They should have a small floating embryo at day 7, with some veins, though sometimes in the darker or more porous eggs they're not readily visible. So don't give up on them quite yet. I would resist opening the incubator until then, too... keep them warm and stable unless you're hand turning or need to add water.

If they're fresh eggs, you really don't even have to remove the clears at all... they just won't hatch. It's the ones that have been cracked or are really dirty that are in danger of getting bacteria build up so bad that they explode. It's good to candle to watch for stuff like that, but it's rare. I've only had one egg explode on me in 2 years.

 

[LALADY1101]

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[chickiebratt1971]

i'm still an incy newbie, My boss (who is also poultry crazy) gave me 30 mixed eggs last year. I managed to hatch 4. But it was really cold in the house and outside and we kept loosing power due to storms. And you never know excatly how the eggs are handled too. If their shaken or misshandled to much it can cause the embryo not to develope.
My second I placed 12 of my eggs in it. (that's how I found out the big white eggs were duck eggs) 6 white duck eggs and 6 green amerucana eggs. I had 2 hatch. We unfortuantly lost the baby duck thanks to neighbors stray. But the little chick is about half way grown and is already bigger than my full sized bantums.
I'm holding out hope that this spring I will have better luck.

 

[Mrs MIA]

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You will...

NEVER give up.

 

[gckiddhouse]

So, have you experienced folks ever encountered a chick with a large red ball on its abdomen??? My chick (first one out) has this awful red ball on its abdomen. I have found some information suggesting that it is a "rough navel". Is this chick going to be okay?? Thanks for any information you can give!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

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I have a couple of them in the incubator right now. Separate them so the other chicks can't pick at it, and leave it be. In a couple of days you'll never know they were that way.

They just weren't completely "done".

 

[Tala]

Well, really I find it faily easy to quit stressing after I got it all set. I think it gets worse closer to the end of the incubation though. I'll find out.

 

[gckiddhouse]

Here are the first 3 chicks:

And here, ladies and gentlemen, is "Steve". We were surprised to see that he is so black. His legs are also black. His mother is a cream colored Polish, his father, an Ameraucana. Hmmm...

And here is the most recent hatchling:

The one with the unabsorbed yolk seems healthy, but unfortunately, he ripped open the sack and has been trailing yolk all over the bator. After a while it seemed to stop leaking and s/he still seems healthy, so we will see.

There is one that was born and looked healthy, but is now laying on its back in the corner and really not moving much. Any ideas what might be wrong? I guess we will just watch and see.

We have one more that is almost here. That will make 7. I definitely put 15 live chicks in at lockdown. The interesting thing is that all the eggs on the right have hatched. The 8 eggs on the left have not even pipped. What is up with that??

 

[gckiddhouse]

Trying to sit on my hands, but I am really curious and upset that we have 7 hatched (those on the right of center in the incubator) and 8 that have not even pipped! Are they dead??? I will give them more time, but at some point I have to get the first 7 out. I did put 15 live eggs in at lock down. I did have trouble for about 16 hours getting the temps stable, but since then they have been very stable and the humidity has stayed between 60 and 65%. What is wrong with them?? I feel so bad that I may have killed them somehow. Thanks for any advice...