Jan./Feb. 2014 hatch a long

[Whoops]

Quote:
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Very little liquid. Didn't see a yolk - looked like it had been absorbed. Looked like they just never made it out of the shell, poor things.

I wanted to check weights, but I found the scales I had were just not accurate enough. The shells were too dark to see air cells, even.
what happens sometimes... with shipped eggs they can get to hatch day but for whatever reason....could be they aren't positioned correctly ....they don't hatch
nothing I've read that you've posted seems off...you've done all you can!
I'm so sorry I know how disappointing it is! I've had some badly handled eggs have a few hatch...some that came looking great but never developed, I've had everyone hatch....you just never know until they hatch!

one other thing...we don't know the health of the parent birds with shipped eggs...that could be a big part

Maybe, but the shipper did a good job packaging, the eggs very definitely had air cells in the fat end of the egg - you could tell by the way they rested in the 'bater, (the eggs sort of "toed down" at the narrow end when it got near hatch day) and others hatched eggs from the same seller successfully. I am not trying to pick over it endlessly - stuff happens, but if there is something I can do differently or adjust to make it better, I want to figure it out before I try to hatch again. Having the same thing happen twice in a row seems like more than just chance. Maybe there isn't an answer, but I really hope there is something I can do for next time.

 

[Farmer Viola]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Very little liquid. Didn't see a yolk - looked like it had been absorbed. Looked like they just never made it out of the shell, poor things.

I wanted to check weights, but I found the scales I had were just not accurate enough. The shells were too dark to see air cells, even.

Argh, sorry, that is really hard

I think the dry hatching method, if you're not already using it, is the best around..
what about ventilation? tell me about your ventilation methods?

your location and altitude may contribute to special conditions that we/I cannot replicate where I hatch.. I like having a hygrometer in the hatching room so I can measure ambient humidity too. I am not sure if/how altitude could potentially influence the co2 exchange happening within the egg?

were the eggs shipped? when you eggtopsied them, could you tell if they were in the proper position to hatch? they should have their head tucked under their wing with a double bend in their neck and beak pokes upward toward the air cell. malposition is a common cause of death, with shipped eggs especially... when they run out of co2 in the egg it causes their neck to spasm and poke the beak into the membrane to breathe before they die. I am wondering if they were not in the proper position to pip in time to breathe. IF you somehow knew they were malpositioned beforehand (shipped? detached air cells?) you could theoretically pip for them artificially. this is a pretty extreme action to take and will depend on your personal views on intervention..

 

[Heidisgran]

Haven't been on in a while, so thought I would see what was happening. I have a Black Australorp that decided to start sitting on the 29th of January, so we put some eggs under her. She has some Australorps, RIR, Barred Rock and 2 Dark Brahma Bantams to hatch, 11 in all. Should know something by the 20th. The Roo is a Barred Rock. I kept telling my husband that I wanted to go to the swap in March and get more chickens. He said I might get my wish if more decides to start sitting this spring. I hope to get a couple of little bantam hens, she is such a little sweetheart, wants attention when I go out. When I call her name, she comes running,


Kathryn

I know how you feel...I actually feel bugged if someone says chickens are stupid!

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote: oops...that comment was meant for the person that said her hen is so smart....

dippy me

I love little bantams too....I have so many chickens I don't even know how many I have....5 coops and 2 more planned

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote:
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Very little liquid. Didn't see a yolk - looked like it had been absorbed. Looked like they just never made it out of the shell, poor things.

I wanted to check weights, but I found the scales I had were just not accurate enough. The shells were too dark to see air cells, even.
what happens sometimes... with shipped eggs they can get to hatch day but for whatever reason....could be they aren't positioned correctly ....they don't hatch
nothing I've read that you've posted seems off...you've done all you can!
I'm so sorry I know how disappointing it is! I've had some badly handled eggs have a few hatch...some that came looking great but never developed, I've had everyone hatch....you just never know until they hatch!

one other thing...we don't know the health of the parent birds with shipped eggs...that could be a big part

Maybe, but the shipper did a good job packaging, the eggs very definitely had air cells in the fat end of the egg - you could tell by the way they rested in the 'bater, (the eggs sort of "toed down" at the narrow end when it got near hatch day) and others hatched eggs from the same seller successfully. I am not trying to pick over it endlessly - stuff happens, but if there is something I can do differently or adjust to make it better, I want to figure it out before I try to hatch again. Having the same thing happen twice in a row seems like more than just chance. Maybe there isn't an answer, but I really hope there is something I can do for next time.
when were they shipped?? did they come through an ice storm? I had some between thanksgiving and Christmas shipped right when the temps dropped and only 1 hatched

 

[Heidisgran]

picking it apart...figuring it out....drawing on others experiences

that's what this thread is about....

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote:
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Very little liquid. Didn't see a yolk - looked like it had been absorbed. Looked like they just never made it out of the shell, poor things.

I wanted to check weights, but I found the scales I had were just not accurate enough. The shells were too dark to see air cells, even.
what happens sometimes... with shipped eggs they can get to hatch day but for whatever reason....could be they aren't positioned correctly ....they don't hatch
nothing I've read that you've posted seems off...you've done all you can!
I'm so sorry I know how disappointing it is! I've had some badly handled eggs have a few hatch...some that came looking great but never developed, I've had everyone hatch....you just never know until they hatch!

one other thing...we don't know the health of the parent birds with shipped eggs...that could be a big part

Maybe, but the shipper did a good job packaging, the eggs very definitely had air cells in the fat end of the egg - you could tell by the way they rested in the 'bater, (the eggs sort of "toed down" at the narrow end when it got near hatch day) and others hatched eggs from the same seller successfully. I am not trying to pick over it endlessly - stuff happens, but if there is something I can do differently or adjust to make it better, I want to figure it out before I try to hatch again. Having the same thing happen twice in a row seems like more than just chance. Maybe there isn't an answer, but I really hope there is something I can do for next time.
when were they shipped?? did they come through an ice storm? I had some between thanksgiving and Christmas shipped right when the temps dropped and only 1 hatched
you said both sets of eggs were from the same seller? hmm

have you tried local eggs? that would give you a better idea if it's something with the shipping, breeder or incubator conditions...

 

[butterflygrooves]

Gah! I can't post a pic but the baby I found pipped this morning has made a good sized hole and pulled part of the membrane away exposing its beak, it's alternately chirping and wiggling around. I found another baby pipped last time I checked on #1 (which, let's face it, is every few minutes).

This is so exciting!

 

[Whoops]

They were shipped, but if they were exposed to cold or frozen, it seems like that would have stopped them from developing at all, not resulted in fully formed chicks that had absorbed the yolk, but did not escape the egg. I could not tell if they were malpositioned. They seemed curled up like the chicks in the illustrations. Maybe that's it, but if so, how would I try to prevent or alleviate that in the future? Regarding ventilation, the incubator has a fan and air holes.

Maybe I will try the dry incubation method - but, where I live, the ambient humidity is often in the single digits. I read something about skull deformations related to dry incubation - is that a risk?

I will try local eggs for the next batch, when I work up my courage, again. Others, though, had successful hatches from eggs shipped from the same seller about the same time as mine.

 

[Heidisgran]

They were shipped, but if they were exposed to cold or frozen, it seems like that would have stopped them from developing at all, not resulted in fully formed chicks that had absorbed the yolk, but did not escape the egg. I could not tell if they were malpositioned. They seemed curled up like the chicks in the illustrations. Maybe that's it, but if so, how would I try to prevent or alleviate that in the future? Regarding ventilation, the incubator has a fan and air holes.

Maybe I will try the dry incubation method - but, where I live, the ambient humidity is often in the single digits. I read something about skull deformations related to dry incubation - is that a risk?

I will try local eggs for the next batch, when I work up my courage, again. Others, though, had successful hatches from eggs shipped from the same seller about the same time as mine.

I'm so sorry...I just can't think of anything! your so right...they wouldn't have developed if the eggs had gotten too cold

I dry incubate...the rule is don't let the humidity drop below 25%....right now it's difficult to keep it at that so dry! do you have a hygrometer? did they internally pip??