Incubator temp went crazy!!! Update: A chick has hatched!!!!!!

[The Lisser]

Thank you, wpalmisano, stanglover2001, and Criskim. This is my day off from work and I am doing everything I can to keep myself from pulling out an egg and candling/listening to it . . . you may have helped save a hatch, if the chicks are still viable. (My house and barn are really clean now, lol).

I guess I'll give it another day.

 

[Tsagirl]

cheep at them or whistle and see if you here any cheeping back! come on babies!!!!!

 

[The Lisser]

Thanks Tsagirl - I tried that but didn't hear a thing . . . however . . . .

I have a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He/she is peeping up a storm in the hatcher right now!!!!! I had given up hope - went to bed. Woke up once, thought it was my silkie babies fussing - checked their temp, they were fine. Went back to bed - couple hours later woke up again - usually I can sleep through a train - this baby could be heard 3 rooms away and over the noise of 2 fans!!!!!!

I don't see any other pips but if no one else hatches, he can be with my silkie babies. I'll wait at least a day though.

I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone for your support!

 

[Tsagirl]

Yeah for you!!!!!!

go babies go!!!!!

 

[The Lisser]

 

[Mahonri]

Hope you get more!

 

[The Lisser]

Thank you, Mahonri. It doesn't look like it at this point, but I suppose anything's possible!

I went ahead and moved the one chick in with my week-old silkie chicks. I can't believe the size difference! The baby is 1/3 their size! I'm sitting right here at the brooder watching to make sure they don't pick on it. I am not sure if I can trust them with it - they seem to want to peck at it a little bit. I'll watch it and maybe I'll make a divider in the brooder so it will be safe when I'm not here.

I'm itching to candle the other eggs so badly!!!!

 

[xyresicchick]

candle them then! just spray in the hatcher with a warm water filled spray bottle as long as the humidity fine you're good

 

[The Lisser]

Well, I did candle and there was no movement. I went ahead and "hatched" the eggs - very carefully, at the air cell in case I was wrong - but they were all deceased.

Two of them had pipped into the air cell but not through the shell. They were all full-sized, nothing apparently wrong with them, other than they did not hatch. The yolks were partially absorbed. The inner membranes did not seem to be dried out.

Since they apparently survived the temperature spike, this makes me wonder what else could have been responsible for their death. I had my incubator humidity a bit high - 55-60%, based on what my husband found online from our state agricultural department's recommendations. I wonder if they got too big and couldn't hatch - is that from humidity? The one that survived had a porous shell.

On the other hand, 5 out of 7 silkie eggs hatched in the same conditions - only difference was they didn't have the temperature spike.

Any help would be very much appreciated!!!

 

[Criskin]

Hmmm...not sure about that. Hopefully someone else knows more about it. I am happy you got at least one baby from your hatch, though!