July 2021 Hatch-A-Long

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Two of mine hatched late yesterday, Day 21. I set the eggs in the incubator late in the evening, so it's not quite Day 22 yet. A third egg is pipped and peeping. One that I dropped on Day 16 and sealed with wax has a little movement and the very beginning of a pip on the pointed side of the egg. Here are Chick #1 and Chick #2.
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I dab bloody bits with flour.
I have stypic, bc trimming the goons nails doesn't always go smoothly. But this was coming from where the yolk had absorbed. I knew it cld happen bc I'd read all 243 pages of the twin duck egg story..but everytime it happened they'd go offline to tell her what to do. Lol. But it didn't slow him down, he was the first on his feet checking out everyone else while they were still recovering and it stopped fairly soon.
 
Joining! I have my first broody hen (a white leghorn, this was definitely not something I expected) and she's happily sitting on 4 eggs. They should hatch around the 20th, though one of the eggs doesn't seem to be developing. I'll give it a look in another couple days and pitch it if need be. But 3 are definitely developing well so fingers crossed!

We have 2 roosters, a barred rock/EE mix and a bantam cochin, and I've seen both of them doing their job so it'll be interesting to see what babies we get 😂
 
The most heartbreaking thing today. I discovered my silkies gone, feathers everywhere, and three bodies left behind. 8 grown hens and roosters and 6 chicks. I'll hold out hope that maybe someone will return over the next few days, but it's looking very grim.

What my family decided to do was gather all our eggs collected from them the past few days and buy a new incubator (another tragic misfortune caused our last one to break along with the batch that was meant to be hatching inside).
We have 12 eggs. One collected freshly today the last laid before the disaster, several more from the fridge and counter.
I'll be using a nurture right 360 I picked up today. I really loved my old machine so I have high hopes for this one too.
I'm setting them tomorrow to let the chilled eggs warm up a bit and make sure the incubator is working right tonight. So the hatch date will likely be around August 1st.
I'd start an august thread, but this is a bit too sad for that. So I'll just borrow this one for a bit and hang out here until the mood is lighter again.

I'm so sad to lose my fluffy birds. I'm hoping I can still have something of them left.
 
I’m so sorry 😞 I had a similar thing happen last year. Lost all including 4 young pullets who never got the chance to lay. Had raised them from a day old. We unfortunately didn’t have a rooster so babies were not a possibility for us. But we have now gotten more and raised some of them from a day old and I’m about to hatch out an accidental grandchild. I wish you a large hatch ❤️
 
Today was day 7 for the 18 egg batch, two had blood rings and one was not fertile, but 15 are looking good. My humidor/temp gage batterie died, so I had to order new ones. So just filled the first two trays with water, so that will give me about 45% until I get the new batterie. Luckily I swapped the eggs around. The small batch is now in the still air where the gage died, and the big batch in the forced air with my weather sensor.
 
Yesterday eggs #3 and #4 still had not hatched. Both had been pipped for over 24 hours. Both were also shrink wrapped. Chick #3 came out easily when I helped, but chick #4 was in an egg that had been dropped and repaired with wax, and was pipped at the narrow end. That baby was already dead when I tried to help. Here is chick #3 right after hatching. This morning it is standing up in the incubator. :D

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Day 8 ..... Had a stinking mess in the nest box yesterday. 4 of 12 eggs broken, and partially eaten.

That leaves 8.

Tarasita, and all the eggs were covered with a stinky, slimy goop. Cleaned momma, and the Tupperware nest box, but the eggs were covered with a smelly, sticky layer, with feathers and straw glued to them. :eek: Can't be good.

What a mess !!!

Against my better judgment, I washed the eggs as gently as possible before they completely dried.

Probably a mistake ??? I'll candle tomorrow.

I'm about ready to give up, and break Tarasita's broodiness, and just go ahead and buy some chicks. :( Should I try slipping a few day old's under her first though ???

I had visions of a happy momma, with a mess of babies gracing my coop.

Any advice is welcome.
 
Day 8 ..... Had a stinking mess in the nest box yesterday. 4 of 12 eggs broken, and partially eaten.

That leaves 8.

Tarasita, and all the eggs were covered with a stinky, slimy goop. Cleaned momma, and the Tupperware nest box, but the eggs were covered with a smelly, sticky layer, with feathers and straw glued to them. :eek: Can't be good.

What a mess !!!

Against my better judgment, I washed the eggs as gently as possible before they completely dried.

Probably a mistake ??? I'll candle tomorrow.

I'm about ready to give up, and break Tarasita's broodiness, and just go ahead and buy some chicks. :( Should I try slipping a few day old's under her first though ???

I had visions of a happy momma, with a mess of babies gracing my coop.

Any advice is welcome.
I don't have any advice to give, but can relate. Mari did the same thing to her eggs the other week, with the broken eggs, goo, and feathers. Since she's barely a year old, immaturity probably has something to do with it. The only chicks I got were the ones I incubated.
 

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