Incubators Anonymous

[Arielle]

Quote: Yup--white eggs soooo easy. Black coppers-- I'm happy to see the air cells. Which is rare.

Quote: WHEN IT HAPPENS dont say that!

okay, strike that!! make it "if" lol

 

[Arielle]

THe broodies are doing what I can't-- both broodies are popping out chicks.

I removed the broody muscovy when I found a chick dead under her. Big feet!

 

[ozexpat]

Hi guys

I had a 6 hour power outage on day 18. On day 21 three pipped and hatched. Today is day 23. No more pips or hatched.
I did three "eggtopsies" selected at random. All three were perfectly formed full grown chicks with a good yellow yolk, no signs of bacteria or any other issue - apart from being totally dead!
The night before the power outage all of them were moving inside their eggs.....

Really sad.

Have 12 eggs still in incubator, shall I sit tight or bin them?

The further along in the incubation process, the more havoc the power outage will create - after about 2 hours.

I use a 1000KVA UPS attached to a truck battery as a back up. It kicks in automatically when the power goes down. I had a day 19 with 5 power failures in 12 hours. I ended up with a 17% hatch rate that adventure.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Hi guys

I had a 6 hour power outage on day 18. On day 21 three pipped and hatched. Today is day 23. No more pips or hatched.
I did three "eggtopsies" selected at random. All three were perfectly formed full grown chicks with a good yellow yolk, no signs of bacteria or any other issue - apart from being totally dead!
The night before the power outage all of them were moving inside their eggs.....

Really sad.

Have 12 eggs still in incubator, shall I sit tight or bin them?

It is hard to loose them when you are that close. I think the cool down at that exact point causes a lot of problems for hatch. Earlier on it just delays it - but at that point the chicks start creating their own heat - and taking the heat off makes them use up all their energy keeping warm instead of using it to hatch.

Take the remaining eggs and do the float test. It will show heartbeats. If any of them wiggle put them back in and hopefully they hatch.

Float Test: Get warm (100 degree or feels warm to the touch) water and put it in a container big enough to put the egg in and get it out without bumping it - and deep enough for the egg to float. Take one egg out, put it gently in the water and watch it. If it floats at the top and wiggles, wipe it off and put it back. If it sinks it is no good. If it floats and doesn't move.. cry.

I hope you find some wigglers in there.

 

[RideRed93]

Help!
I have a pheasant chick in the incubator and it had internally pipped on Tuesday (possibly Monday) and has yet to pip externally... (today is now Thursday)
He is wobbling and tapping but only chirping every now and then - not in a constant pattern.
My question: when should I assist and make a pip for him? I don't want to be waiting for him to pip and have him ending up dying cause he's been sitting in there too long.. temp is 99-100 humidity is 70
Thoughts appreciated! Thanks

 

[ozexpat]

i would drill a small hole turning a 1/8th drill bit by hand.

here is an article on assisted hatching

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[RideRed93]

Thank you for your comment!! Assistance was definitely what my little guy needed, because when I got home this afternoon he hatched!!

 

[pepsiokay]

Sad image of an egg-topsie...
The chick looks under developed to me ( see my previous posts) should I leave the other eggs in the incubator or are they all a write off?

 

[Chucklecluck]

I'mhaving a similar problem my eggs are due to hatch tomorrow when I candles them they look as if they still have a week to go

 

[pepsiokay]

I'mhaving a similar problem my eggs are due to hatch tomorrow when I candles them they look as if they still have a week to go

I had a power outage did you? Maybe I should leave them.....????