JANUARY HATCH-A-LONG come join in

[pbjmaker]

Here is muy update after one week:

Started with 39 eggs

21 are definitely good
2 were not developing
1 was starting to "weep"
1 was very cloudy when I candled it - think it would have been a bomb if left. The thing is there is no bad smell.
4 are "?"

and I have 10 that are dark enough I can't tell yet if they are developing, some greens and some black copper eggs.

I did add one more egg. The biggest double yolker I have ever had.

My hubby wants to try to hatch "twins". Yes I realize it is a near impossibility that it will develop and or hatch and that I would have to help it along if it did.

I really don't even think it will develop at this point.

flgardengirl: What did you use to candle your FBCM eggs?

 

[Ariel301]

Well, I'm down to 20 eggs now. I candled last night and found one that never developed. When I opened it up, it was definitely never fertile to begin with. The cats enjoyed it very much for dessert. Three more look questionable, but my flashlight and candling skills are not perfect, so I'll leave them and see what happens. The little cracked-egg chick seems to be doing well with his repaired shell, though I wonder if he may need help hatching, with his wax-reinforced shell. I'll just have to keep a close eye on it.

Now I've just got to get their brooder pen finished before they hatch...I've been trying to build chick and goat baby pens out in the wind, with the swine flu that just doesn't want to go away, so it's slow going. Ick.

 

[pbjmaker]

Ok - this is somewhat amusing. My eggs are only a week along, but I keep hearing this peep. Of course automatically my mind goes - "HATCH!" Duh - it's just my 7 week old serama chick that we moved into the living room the other day. I keep forgetting she is over there and then she will give a little chick peep.

I need to find patience...

 

[hcammack]

Ahh I took the 3 eggs due on monday out and put them in the hatcher today its only a little early I am struggling to get tempeture stable again in the bator it spiked up to 104 for about 30 minuets so I am still working on it but they all look good still.

Henry

 

[chickenmeadow]

pbjmaker: When ever I'm incubating, my ears a more "atune" to bird sounds & I hear peeps often. That worried my until I realized that I was picking up on the birds in the trees on my long drive from home to end of the driveway. Wheeuuuuu! Then on my last hatch in December, the day after "lockdown," I heard a bunch of peeps & staired at the incubator for awhile. Well, then I looked out the window to see a flock of little Black Capped Chicadees. Wheeuuuuu! I'm ok! You're ok!

 

[hcammack]

I just candled again and I am not sure but it looks like I have a heck of a lot of blood rings what would have caused it its day 6 I am not sure if its blood rings or just part of the embryo I didn't through anything out and I am going to try and make a stronger candler right now I am just using a flashlight.

What should I do help me! There are more eggs with the dark circles then not I can still see the embryo's above the dark circle and the darkish circler moved mybe its part of the embryo I don't know what I am looking at really what do you guys think?

Also what created bloodrings? I did have a small temprature spike but only for a little and it was only up to about 104 or 105.

Henry

 

[hcammack]

Well aparently to me yolks look like development about 1/2 of the eggs I candeled and cracked open had barely any development and the other half I cracked had blood rings and little chicks that were probably on day 4 or 5

I suspect the whole hatch is lost! I cracked one little guy that was moving which made me really sad so I but the rest that looked like they had bloodrings back in the incubator and I will candle on day 10. So here we go out of 42 eggs I have 1 due on Monday that look like he is right on board and filling up the entire egg. Then I have 12 out of 39 that look like they have bloodrings or something wrong in them.

What did I do wrong? I know that I candled and handled the eggs a bit to much but what else did I do wrong to make this happen. I am using a hovabator and an LG as a hatcher I am using two thermometers in the incubator both read consistently 102 intil this morning when it read 104! I am using a cheap hygrometer from petco and I am not sure how acurate it is I am going to buy an expansive digital humidty/ temp reader now. But I kept the humidity at 35% the whole time.

SO what did I do wrong we will see how the 12 eggs are doing on day 10 but about half the ones I cracked had no development so that can be due to shiping or freezing or infertility or anything.

So what do you suggest I do diffrent I will most likely try another set on the 1st or so and we will see if these hatch on the 29th.

Thanks,
Henry

 

[flgardengirl]

pbjmaker: I have a nice flashlight that is strong enough to see through light brown eggs but apparently it isnt strong enough to see clearly through the fbcm eggs or the blue marans eggs I have. They are equally as dark. I just candled them once at 10 days and could hardly see anything, so just . I really need to get a better one.

 

[chickenmeadow]

hcammack: Wow, there are so many factors that play into why some eggs are not viable.

Here's a site for calibrating hygrometers. I guess the cost of the meter is not important, just calibrate, find the difference if any from the standard 75%, do the math (example: 75% divided by 65% (if 65 is your reading with the calibrating test)= 1.154. So, when reading your hygrometer in the incubator always take the # you see & multiply it by that 1.154 reading to find the current correct reading (1.154 found in the calibrating test-I just wrote 1.154 with a blk marker on that Springfield thermometer/hygrometer for reference each time). I have 2 of those Springfields & each on read different in the test; wrote 1.154 on one of them & 1.186 on the other. Be sure to read the correction at the bottom of the post below, it corrects the way you find the current correct reading on your hygrometer by multiplying.

CALIBRATING A HYGROMETER
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=271098&p=25

I see that you had your humidity at 35%. Just for fun, here's the "dry incubation" method for humidity at 40% (I used 40 to 42) for day 1-17 (with occasional drying down to no lower than 25% for air cell growth-to be monitored at 3 candling days 7or10, 14, & 18) , & 55% for "lockdown" days 18-21 to hatch (do not open incubator till hatch is done, can leave chicks for 12 -24 hrs). This all worked very well for me. I plan to candle & handle less by doing day 10 & 18; it's so tempting to over do that.

"DRY INCUBATION" METHOD
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=113681&p=3

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Woohoo, got another serama chick today!

The other one is light with little stripes, this new one is a little smaller and black with a light brown face and light brown wings. They're both so cute! I want to post pictures, but I'm going to give it a few days to see if the other three that are due soon hatch in that time. The first chick is thriving! Splash is being such a good mother, it's wonderful to watch her with her chicks!

The only thing is, thanks to my broody I haven't really gotten to use my incubator I bought!

I feel so silly now with it sitting in my room, egg-less! Oh well, I'm sure I'll use it when I introduce my spangled OEGB rooster to my flock, once he's old enough to be fertile (he's only, what, a month old right now?). That should cause some interesting and pretty mixes! Also, I'll bet once all my seramas hatch I might go on Eggbid and Ebay and, er, see what's available. Shhh, don't tell anyone!