July Hatch-a-Long

[dancechick915]

Ok 4th of 4 has pipped... on the bottom. These chicks are trying to give me a heart attack

 

[AUChickenGal]

How long can I safely wait to up the humidity in my incubator? I candled again this morning and removed the turner. The air cells have drawn down dramatically in two of the eggs, but the others aren’t quite there yet. No internal pips yet. Day 19 officially begins in about 12 hours.

 

[MichelleBelle]

Ok 4th of 4 has pipped... on the bottom. These chicks are trying to give me a heart attack

I had one pip on the bottom but somehow managed to get the zipping done and get out without issue. He/She seemed really worn out after the ordeal, but a bit of rest overnight and the chick is just fine this AM.

 

[MichelleBelle]

View attachment 1466534 View attachment 1466535 Just got home and I have two that pipped but they’re both in the wrong spot and I’m freaking out. Someone tell me this might still be ok?

This might still be ok. As long as your chick has an external pip hole and you can see a little beak breathing on the other side, the little one will be okay for many hours in that position. I forget, did you get your eggs via post? I wonder if the air cells formed in an atypical location. There's a wealth of information on here about malpositioned chicks and how/when to intervene. I'll see if I can find a link to those very helpful articles and send to you.

 

[MichelleBelle]

View attachment 1466534 View attachment 1466535 Just got home and I have two that pipped but they’re both in the wrong spot and I’m freaking out. Someone tell me this might still be ok?

How long have they been pipped for? Read this article in the event you feel it necessary to intervene in the hatching of your aberrant pippers. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/intervention-helping-your-chicks-hatch.9316/ I'd give it some time though, remember that they may very likely still be absorbing the yolk and if you intervene too early or unnecessarily, it may mean death instead of help for the chick. It's nerve wracking, I know, but take a deep breath and try not to worry too much (I know harder said than done) while you give them a chance to work it out on their own.

 

[dancechick915]

How long have they been pipped for? Read this article in the event you feel it necessary to intervene in the hatching of your aberrant pippers. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/intervention-helping-your-chicks-hatch.9316/ I'd give it some time though, remember that they may very likely still be absorbing the yolk and if you intervene too early or unnecessarily, it may mean death instead of help for the chick. It's nerve wracking, I know, but take a deep breath and try not to worry too much (I know harder said than done) while you give them a chance to work it out on their own.

All four have been pipped for 12 hours (two of them maybe a few hours more or so... I wasn’t home so I don’t know the exact time). The one that pipped on the bottom side of the shell I flipped over quickly (the humidity didn’t drop below 55% and came up pretty quickly after I did this). One of them I see the beak peeking through and it’s hole is bigger than the other. All have made the hole slightly bigger and have broken through the membrane but one has made its membrane very slightly blood stained. I have to leave for work in 5 hours and then will be back home about 12 hours from now so I’ll probably make some decisions if they need help starting then... for now I’m just letting them do their thing and hoping for the best!

 

[dancechick915]

Here’s the progress so far (first and third have been pipped for the longest and the third has a little blood)

 

[AUChickenGal]

Fingers crossed for you, @dancechick915!

What a difference 8 hours made for my eggs! I just candled/checked again, and they're looking much better. I think I even have one internal pip! I upped the humidity; it got a little higher than I wanted, but I'll probably be in and out of the incubator a few more times monitoring the questionable eggs, so I think I'd rather err a bit on the high side at this point.

Here's a quick rundown of the status of each egg:
#1 - BWAm x RIR - air cell drawn down, definite movement observed
#2 - BWAm x RIR - early quitter, discarded at day 14
#3 - BWAm x RIR - accidentally dropped/destroyed
#4 - BWAm x SF - air cell drawn down
#5 - BWAm x SF - air cell drawn down, internally pipped
#6 - BWAm x SF - small air cell, lacks development, possible late quitter
#7 - BWAm x SF - air cell drawn down
#8 - BWAm x SF - air cell drawn down
#9 - BWAm x SF - small air cell, lacks development, possible late quitter

 

[mcclucker]

5 babies in lockdown! Hatch Monday. 2 crested cream legbars, 1 lavender ameraucana, 1 black blue splash ameraucana and a blue-green “mystery” probably easter egger. All moving, air cells look good. Humidity is at 65! Hard to keep it steady in this bator so will keep fingers crossed.

 

[dancechick915]

Fingers crossed for you, @dancechick915!

What a difference 8 hours made for my eggs! I just candled/checked again, and they're looking much better. I think I even have one internal pip! I upped the humidity; it got a little higher than I wanted, but I'll probably be in and out of the incubator a few more times monitoring the questionable eggs, so I think I'd rather err a bit on the high side at this point.

Here's a quick rundown of the status of each egg:
#1 - BWAm x RIR - air cell drawn down, definite movement observed
#2 - BWAm x RIR - early quitter, discarded at day 14
#3 - BWAm x RIR - accidentally dropped/destroyed
#4 - BWAm x SF - air cell drawn down
#5 - BWAm x SF - air cell drawn down, internally pipped
#6 - BWAm x SF - small air cell, lacks development, possible late quitter
#7 - BWAm x SF - air cell drawn down
#8 - BWAm x SF - air cell drawn down
#9 - BWAm x SF - small air cell, lacks development, possible late quitter

Thanks! So far not much progress... but the one who pipped towards the ground does appear to have actually got in the air cell and I’m still seeing movement in three of the eggs (the bloody one chirped at me I think). One of the eggs I don’t really see any movement and there hasn’t been any progress in a while but it pipped around 12 hours ago so I think there’s still hope