January 2023 Hatch-a-long

[3KillerBs]

I'm now in the stage of sitting on my hands for the next couple days.

They *ought* to hatch Sunday.

 

[WallyG74]

You did better than my 53% with eggs from my own hens. Of the ones that made it to lockdown, 8 didn’t hatch. Ima check them out today and see what’s in there.

I need to correct my hatch rate. I checked all my unhatched eggs and found 2 clears that got by me during candling. 60% still isn’t great but it’s better than 53%.

 

[FunClucks]

So the final count - 20 babies out of 24 set eggs!!!

All 24 set eggs were fertile. (Kudos to my rooster!) One stopped developing after Day 13 or 16, two didn't finish growing after they visibly looked like a chicken, and one had to be culled after a successful (unassisted) hatch due to having a lot of viscera that did not go into its body through the umbilical area when they should have, and I couldn't fix it .
In addition, it was a staggered hatch (newbie mistake!), with one due a day after the main hatch (Egg 22), one due three days after (Egg 23), and one due 8 days after the main hatch (Egg 24).

I couldn't afford to buy another incubator for three eggs, and wanted to give them the best chance of success, so I threw together an incubator from what I had around the house, and created a still air incubator using a pressure canner and my old reptile supplies. Egg 22 stayed one day in the still air incubator, Egg 23 stayed 3 days, and Egg 24 stayed 8 days in the pressure canner still air incubator before I moved them each individually to the Nurture Right 360 for lockdown and hatching. Eggs 23 and 24 hatched on time without incident! (Not sure why Egg 22 died, but upon eggtopsy it wasn't full grown)

I thought it was pretty cool that I was able to successfully create an incubator last-minute and successfully incubate eggs using a pressure canner and my old reptile supplies, especially never having done it before, and in a unique setup, so I wrote an article about it. Check it out!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ubator-for-rescue-of-a-staggered-hatch.78314/

 

[chfriedmam]

I'm now in the stage of sitting on my hands for the next couple days.

They *ought* to hatch Sunday.

Hi me too. Today is day 19 and ~5/27 have pips. All 5 are from my hens. None of my shipped eggs r starting yet

 

[gimmie birdies]

Even if you set shipped and your hens eggs the same day, every day you hold an egg, it may take another 6 hrs to hatch. Shipped eggs can be 4 or more day old by the time you get them.

 

[Ridgeback825]

I've had week old eggs go 12 hours early. Odd.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

I've just put 15 eggs into lockdown. Expecting them to hatch on Sunday.

Most were moving when I candled them, a couple were nice and full but not moving. One is dubious.

View attachment 3386989View attachment 3386990View attachment 3386991

I'm a little dubious about the size of the air cells.

I'm now in the stage of sitting on my hands for the next couple days.

They *ought* to hatch Sunday.

I’m right there with you

 

[3KillerBs]

Brooder setup today. I have to run my DH's very best, "You can borrow it but not keep it", super-heavy-duty extension cord so that I can run both a lamp and the plate.

The lamp will keep the area in the 40-50's so the plate will work to keep the babies warm enough and the water won't freeze.

 

[sevenhelmet]

Chicks in the octagon… yes, that is a perch made of legos.

 

[3KillerBs]

Setting up the brooder for dual heat. I'll put feed and water in and turn on the Big Red Bulb once they're hatching to get things properly warmed up and ready.

Those broken pavers are where the feed and water will sit. I like them up off the bedding a little to limit how much bedding gets into the feeder/waterer.