Jan./Feb. 2014 hatch a long

[Renee97038]

JD, what size of PVC pipe did you use, diameter wise? 3/4 inch high? Is that the height you'd suggest for large chicken eggs? I too had a pipped egg last hatch that got glued to the shelf liner. It died in the shell fully developed. Part of the reason it died there was a big pile of chicks on top of that egg after it pipped and it rolled over with the pip hole on the bottom.

 

[Whoops]

Wow - Ursula is a determined little thing. I had set up a cardboard box with a hardware cloth lid in the brooder for her, and she found her way out to be with her older siblings. They seem fine with her, and vise versa - should I just surrender and put her in with them? I thought they would kill her, but they cuddle with her.

 

[SilkieSensation]

SilkieSensation~~My directions were for someone with only 1 bator doing a staggered hatch. I prsonally have 3 & use 1 as a hatcher when I can. I am currently stagger hatching 3 batches in a single bator only because of the season & the fact that they are small batches. We also just moved, so 1 bator of eggs was much easier to move.


I'm just not good early.......like before several cups of coffee..........If my response was off, I'll blame it on that.
Otherwise.................I forget that not everyone is as nutty as I am and only want a few chicks...........
I want three bators............
Good Luck everyone.................

I want a cabinet bator! I try to remember not everyone else has managed to snag more than 1 bator yet too...lol
N

Wow - Ursula is a determined little thing.  I had set up a cardboard box with a hardware cloth lid in the brooder for her, and she found her way out to be with her older siblings.  They seem fine with her, and vise versa - should I just surrender and put her in with them?  I thought they would kill her, but they cuddle with her. 

I mix ages in my brooder all the time. I prefer to integrate them as soon as possible. If there is a huge age difference I wait until they are nice & mobile first but it's nothing for my brooder to have babies ranging from just hatched to 6 wks old running around together from 5-6 different hatch dates.

 

[Whoops]

I am planning to integrate them - the older ones are three weeks, and Ursula is just hatched. But, I thought I would wait until she was a bit more agile.

 

[luvmypets]

...

We think shes a month in. But I think more my dad is the one who thinks that. We never seperate them cause they're our only sheep now. If she's More in then I think it's any day. Dad is a big handsome tan dorper. We were told he was a common hair sheep. They were wrong. As for mammy we have no idea. We are keeping an eye on her. We want a lamb so bad. I think we have a few more months. I dont know can you help chickydee.

 

[dfreas]

Day 22.

We have 11 hatched chicks so far out of the initial 16 good eggs. 1 died at zip, leaving four in the incubator. One has pipped, the other three show no outward signs of hatching. I'm waiting for the last pipped egg to hatch, which will hopefully be sometime today. Then I'll candle the rest and make a decision on what to do from here.

Not bad for my first time hatching though, 69% hatch rate as of right now with a good chance of at least one more being added to the brooder.

 

[AmericanMom]

today marks day 17 for my eggs, Just did a test candle, I'm a bit worried, I see movement in those that I candled but they seem under developed, Air cell on top (fat end) looks good but none of the test candled eggs fill up the shell completely, there is space at the skinny end and I can still see the veining. I did not have this issue with my last hatch.
Question:
Should I hold off lockdown for another couple days or go ahead and raise the humidity tomorrow as planned and just hope for a late hatch??

 

[Farmer Viola]

today marks day 17 for my eggs, Just did a test candle, I'm a bit worried, I see movement in those that I candled but they seem under developed, Air cell on top (fat end) looks good but none of the test candled eggs fill up the shell completely, there is space at the skinny end and I can still see the veining. I did not have this issue with my last hatch.
Question:
Should I hold off lockdown for another couple days or go ahead and raise the humidity tomorrow as planned and just hope for a late hatch??

normally humidity is raised on day 19 for lockdown, but I prefer to candle and look for the internal pip (ideally it should be on day 19) before raising the humidity..
the purpose is so that the egg can continue to evaporate/lose water weight right up until it is ready to hatch.

what you are seeing at the bottom is probably the yolk with veins in it. the yolk and veins are beginning to suck into the chick's abdomen at this time, and eventually it will leave a small "hollow" in the area that you now see the yolk/veins.

 

[Farmer Viola]

this is really cool, you can picture what the chick looks like today: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/03/chicken-embryo-development-views-from.html

 

[JDchicks]

JD, what size of PVC pipe did you use, diameter wise? 3/4 inch high? Is that the height you'd suggest for large chicken eggs? I too had a pipped egg last hatch that got glued to the shelf liner. It died in the shell fully developed. Part of the reason it died there was a big pile of chicks on top of that egg after it pipped and it rolled over with the pip hole on the bottom.

It is a 2" pvc pipe. I sanded the top side so as not to be too rough for the chicks, and left the other side as is for grip. This was the first time using. Worked out well. Had originally made it out of wood, but had to throw it away cause I couldn't clean it. We decided on 3/4" high for the angle it would allow the eggs and 2" so that both bantam and LF could use it. The shelf liner keeps the egg from sliding, so we can adjust the angle for regular or saddle air sacs.