Incubators Anonymous

[ChickNmamma]

Well, we candled quickly last night, and while most of the eggs were very "full" looking, quite a few still had very visible veins up by the air cell. And now I'm nervous. This afternoon will be day 20, so I'm hoping to have some hatchlings starting tomorrow through Saturday. But those veins are making me doubt myself. My husband kept asking me, "are you SURE they're supposed to hatch this week?" Wonder if I have a bunch of day 14-16 quitters.

If the egg looks very full with just a ring of visible veins right next to the aircell that is ok. There is a ridge around the egg where the veins extend up above where the chick is. The only ones that aren't good are ones you can see a really big clear space at the bottom of the egg.. those are quitters

.

Good Luck with the hatch tomorrow - the hardest part is to leave them alone!

 

[Flowerbh]

Uggg...tired. No sleep last night....hatching eggs in the bator! So far 16 of 27 are out. More coming out all the time. Problem is is that I had several breeds that were going to start out as yellow chicks. I had built little separators and carefully planned which breeds were in which sections. It was apparent from the first chick that the dividers were too low....just hopped right over it....soooooo, now I am going to have a heck of a time trying to decide which chick is what for a while. I have wheaten Ameraucanas, some Lav. Ameraucana/white leghorn mixes (super blue egg layers), Lemon Orpington, and Crested Cream legbar/leghorn mixes (more blue egg layers). The cochins and Salmon Favorelles are ok....easy to tell them from the others....oh well, maybe the legbar mixes will have some kind of crests and the one Lav/ameraucanas/leghorn mix that has already hatched was more of a darker chick....

The important thing is that they are hatching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love the little cuties. Will get photos later after they all hatch and dry out and get into the brooder!

By the way....today at noon starts their hatch due date...so they were a little early. (I guess that means the temps were a little warmer than the two thermometers inside the bator said) They actually read 99.1 the whole time and the built in one said 100. Maybe the built in one was the right one>

 

[ddpbk1]

Is 8 clear and 3 blood rings out of 14 shipped eggs crazy? The box didn't have a dent on it. None broke or leaky. I tried to let the BYC member know but no response. Frustrated. I bought off eBay and got a better response when I let them know that I had gotten a low hatch rate.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Is 8 clear and 3 blood rings out of 14 shipped eggs crazy? The box didn't have a dent on it. None broke or leaky. I tried to let the BYC member know but no response. Frustrated. I bought off eBay and got a better response when I let them know that only 2 hatched from 14 eggs. That seller is reshipping eggs, I didn't contact her for more eggs she automatically offered. Said it was the right thing to do, they are some honest caring people out there. Sorry for the venting.

I am sorry you don't have more developing.

Shipping is very hard on embryos. There can be damage inside you can't see on the outside if the box is shaken or jarred. How did the air cells look when you candled them? Any floating air cells, scrambled air cells, yolk at the top (broken tether)? The candling/air cells will tell you more of what they went through - but if there was heat/cold shock it will still kill the embryo before it even gets to the blood ring stage and that wont be visible.

Shipped eggs are a gamble. If you aren't willing to take that gamble - don't buy them. I know its sad when they don't make it - but that is something you need to expect. Three out of fourteen is not terrible. Two out of fourteen hatched isn't either. How about one out of 16? Or none out of 30? Don't get your hopes up so high and you won't be disappointed. Leave feedback on your outcome - but don't place blame on the sender unless they did a terrible packing job. If there is a trend where none of their eggs ever hatch from anybody they ship to - then you don't buy from them. Maybe their post office is very mean to the boxes, or maybe it is something else - but you make your choice by not buying their eggs.

If the shipper packed them well and sent them off with hope in their hearts that USPS is going to be nice, I am pretty sure they are disappointed too. Nobody wants to hear their special eggs that they carefully packed are not developing. Sending more is not something all small time chicken owners can do. Some won't reply because they can't send more, and all they could say is "Sorry". Please go back and study the tone of your PM to the member here to see if you unintentionally sound accusing or demanding or hinting at getting more because its "the right thing" or "honest" or "caring" because of your disappointment. If so, chances are they will not reply. I would not reply to you if you sent me what you posted above. If you are just letting them know the outcome with understanding, then they will probably reply, if only to say they were sorry it was so low for you. Walk a mile in their shoes.....

 

[HughesFowlFarm]

Ok so after a horrible fail. What are the rules to incubating.
Temperature?
Humidity?
Egg turning?
How many days?
Anything else I should know.

 

[ddpbk1]

2 had the yolk at the top and 2 has saddle air sacks but others good. I understand the risk of hatching shipped eggs and didn't mean to sound mean. When I PM the member I was thanking them again for sending me the eggs and to let them know that some had developed and some had not. I was not looking to get anything from them. I just wanted a simple "thanks for letting me know" not simply no response and that was what I was trying to state. The eBay seller offered to send more eggs I didn't ask and told her I understood the risk of shipped eggs and never expected to have someone send more. I just let the seller know the outcome of the hatch for future reference to the ship rate and hatch rate to different areas of the country. Again I apologize if I offended anyone not my intent.

 

[ozexpat]

In my humble opinion...........

When we read the instruction manuals on how to be near as good as chickens when it comes to hatching there is a paragraph about egg storage. It generally says to store at about 60F and the eggs are good for week. After a week the eggs diminish in viability rapidly.

Shipped eggs are more often than not may reach temps that may trigger development in transit. Those eggs the cool as we let them rest for a day before putting them in our incubators. This may decrease hatch rates.

I have started to get eggs from my door step and put them straight into a warmed bator. I don't turn them but do get them to temp as soon as possible. It will take a lot of eggs to make the experiment reliable but its a good start.

Opinions?

 

[ChickNmamma]

2 had the yolk at the top and 2 has saddle air sacks but others good. I understand the risk of hatching shipped eggs and didn't mean to sound mean. When I PM the member I was thanking them again for sending me the eggs and to let them know that some had developed and some had not. I was not looking to get anything from them. I just wanted a simple "thanks for letting me know" not simply no response and that was what I was trying to state. The eBay seller offered to send more eggs I didn't ask and told her I understood the risk of shipped eggs and never expected to have someone send more. I just let the seller know the outcome of the hatch for future reference to the ship rate and hatch rate to different areas of the country. Again I apologize if I offended anyone not my intent.

That is really sad when there was that little visible disturbance and yet they didn't grow.

Makes me wonder just what does happen to the eggs once they get in the "system". I have heard some people are going to do tests with sending damage monitors - I think maybe sending one of those electric thermometers that registers highs and lows might help too - to see what the eggs are going through.

I don't think you offended anyone, and I understand the frustration of not having eggs hatch that you really wanted to hatch. It is nice when they say "thanks for letting us know". Usually I try to put a question in there so that I get a reply - it tells me they got my message. I just didn't want anybody reading what you wrote thinking that there was something wrong with the low hatch rates and getting expectations.

 

[ChickNmamma]

In my humble opinion...........

When we read the instruction manuals on how to be near as good as chickens when it comes to hatching there is a paragraph about egg storage. It generally says to store at about 60F and the eggs are good for week. After a week the eggs diminish in viability rapidly.

Shipped eggs are more often than not may reach temps that may trigger development in transit. Those eggs the cool as we let them rest for a day before putting them in our incubators. This may decrease hatch rates.

I have started to get eggs from my door step and put them straight into a warmed bator. I don't turn them but do get them to temp as soon as possible. It will take a lot of eggs to make the experiment reliable but its a good start.

Opinions?

Please do let us know how this works, and if it helps development and hatching for you. A true test would be to split a shipment in half and let half rest outside cooler and half in the warmth of the incubator (all internal indications being the same)....

I did think the idea of putting a thermometer in there to read the temperatures that the eggs in transit were subjected too, then you would know.

Another idea I had considered is maybe eggs that are pre-cooled will withstand the shocks of transit better? Thickening of the white protecting the yolk and embryo? Stasis?
Cool packs?

 

[ChickNmamma]

Ok so after a horrible fail. What are the rules to incubating.
Temperature?
Humidity?
Egg turning?
How many days?
Anything else I should know.

Do you have a hatching manual for your incubator?

What kind of incubator are you using (still air, forced air, small, large, home-made, etc..).

What is the temperature and outside humidity where the incubator is being kept? What is your altitude (it changes humidity requirements).

Where did the eggs come from? Were they all the same - or mixed?

Egg turning is required to keep the embryos from sticking to the sides. It can be as often as once an hour (automatic) to as few as three times a day (odd numbers are best - they sit on different sides during the night when not being turned).

What eggs are you setting? Different birds have different numbers of days for hatch.

I think you might want to read this topic index and see if your answers are here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...hing-eggs-important-topic-index-please-review

For troubleshooting incubation problems you can check this:

http://www.natureform.com/kb/index.php?article=1003

If those didn't answer your questions and you have specifics to share.. we can try and help. Each incubation is a learning experience, the best way to track if what you are doing works is by the hatches. If anything does not work right tweak it - until you are getting the best you can get.