January Hatch Buddies?

[Lifesong Farm]

I wish I could tell what's going on with mine. I am going to try candling again Thurs or Fri since they have been in for 9 days tonight. Somethings going on but not sure if they are going bad or if a chick is growing.

hopefully I see movement soon.

I also have eggs at a friends house that are due to hatch tomorrow

Hopefully I have fluffy butts in the brooder by Sat!! I got 7 MF Cochins from Funky Feathers last month. My friend wasn't able to candle so we are not sure if they are good or not. They got cold during shipping.

 

[chkinut]

well, day 21 doesn't officially begin till 1pm today....but i DO hear some chirping every now and then...yea!! does anyone have any idea how long it takes for a chick to pip after you hear him chirping in the shell?

 

[DMSrabbit]

Quote:
I have candled alot of eggs, and i rarely check long enough to watch for movement (although i have seen it plenty of times.) I candle at day 10, look for embryo development and a capped air sack at the top, and remove all clear eggs. Then candle again at 18 before lockdown looking for a really solid dark mass. The "sticky" thread at the top of this forum is a great reference guide. For lights to candle with, there is a set of 3 tactical led flashlights for $20. They work real well for candling, heres it shining up a infertile, and porous looking egg. Anyways they do a great job and they are CHEAP (3 for $20)..

 

[Lifesong Farm]

Quote:
I have candled alot of eggs, and i rarely check long enough to watch for movement (although i have seen it plenty of times.) I candle at day 10, look for embryo development and a capped air sack at the top, and remove all clear eggs. Then candle again at 18 before lockdown looking for a really solid dark mass. The "sticky" thread at the top of this forum is a great reference guide. For lights to candle with, there is a set of 3 tactical led flashlights for $20. They work real well for candling, heres it shining up a infertile, and porous looking egg. Anyways they do a great job and they are CHEAP (3 for $20)..

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oh-EbQRUpQA/TSRdnLvhprI/AAAAAAAAA20/HEP_4ADbzg8/s400/DSCN2167.JPG

That is what the eggs looked like on day 5 but darker. My light isn't as strong as yours. The unincubated eggs looked clear.

 

[terrilhb]

DMSRabbit thanks for the picture that is exactly what my eggs look like. I take it that is a good thing? You are awesome.

 

[crazyforchicks]

Quote:
Ok so what would happen if one of them got stuck in the shell? Or if it got stuck by another chick?

its really up to you, some people help chicks out, some don't. I wait 24 hrs from pip,if they are not out in 24hrs then im going in after them. If i got them into the situation to begin with you can be sure as heck im going to get them out of it. Another chick usually can't get another chick stuck, unless they roll the egg over that's zipping by running into it. Then i remove the chicks once dry in the bator and position the zip'ing egg face up again to finish hatching.

Is it ok to open the bator to help out during lockdown?

 

[Chickenpoor]

Here are a couple pics of the homemade incubator im using. If you have any questions about it just ask.

 

[ms.cluckling]

very nice

 

[TrystInn]

We're on Day 3 of incubating 48 Silkie eggs and trying to pull a few more degrees out of our incubator. We use a combination of space heater and trophy light, any ideas?

 

[DMSrabbit]

Quote:
So this one is kind of a hard question to answer.. Most people (including myself) would say no. Every time you open your bator you are losing precious humidity and heat, the humidity allowing the chick to break free from the shell and not stick to it, and the heat (and digested yolk) providing them energy to escape. I know alot of people want to "help out" their chicks, by easing them out of their shell for them, but you don't really need to do this.. The chick will make it out on their own (sometimes even taking 15 hours or more to do it), but if your chick has pipped (broken the shell) but has not unzipped (broken out of the shell) 20-24 hours after their initial pipping, then you can remove the egg to help them out. This is a very scary process however; because alot can go wrong, you could puncture the baby, drop the egg, break it out too early, etc... If you do this, or open to grab fully fuzzed out chicks (after they have been inside for at least 24 hours; remember chicks can survive for 48 hours without food/water). To see how to "help" open the egg, there are several youtube videos showing you how to "help out" your hatching eggs. Make sure you spray the remaining eggs with a light mister as you are pulling the pipped egg one from the bator, this will raise the humditiy back up in the short term and will not impair the other chicks trying to pip..