July Hatch-A-Long

[KendyF]

So my broody just finally came off her nest this morning, day 23.she has 3 chicks out of 6 eggs! 2 didn't hatch (I still have to candle to see if they were fertile) and one hatched but died after hatching for some reason. Im really upset, does that happen often when a chick dies under a broody? I just hope it wasn't my fault...

I think young chicks have a fairly high mortality rate, whether they are under a broody or in a brooder. More times then not the average chicken owner does not know the cause of death. I doubt it was your fault.

 

[chickengirl1193]

I think young chicks have a fairly high mortality rate, whether they are under a broody or in a brooder.  More times then not the average chicken owner does not know the cause of death.  I doubt it was your fault.  :cd

Okay. Do you think the other chicks could have trampled it and suffocated it right after it hatched?

 

[KendyF]

Okay. Do you think the other chicks could have trampled it and suffocated it right after it hatched?

They might have, although doubtful with 3 chicks. I might have had a birth defect, or not fully absorbed the yolk during the hatch. There is a slight chance Momma stepped on it. It could have had bacteria in the egg, via a fine crack... etc... etc.. etc..

I am not trying to be cold, but sometimes baby chicks die.

 

[COsteveo]

Candled my possibly cooked quail eggs on days 12 and 14. About a third of them had to be tossed for lack of development/early quitters. Most of the rest appear to be developing normally (at least, developing beyond where they should have been when the temperature spiked on day 9). I left some that seem to be behind but they are probably toast.

I will be candling each night looking for signs of movement. I just want some proof that they are still developing before going into lockdown. If I don't see any movement in the next few days I will move them aside to give them a little extra time, then set the eggs I've been collecting since Wednesday. If nothing by day 20, they will be tossed.

 

[kristianhope18]

How do u candle Cortunix or button quail eggs? I can't see anything when I try? ;-( I've not had great hatch rates with shipped eggs! I ordered 7 malay eggs and only 3 were viable and just 2 hatched so I hada try 7 more I put them in the incubator about 2 weeks ago and now I've already threw out 2 stinky ones and I can't really tell if any is developing! Makes me so mad! I also ordered 16 cream Legbar from California I'm in ky and out of 16 2 hatched and only one lived the other didnt fully absorb the yolk! I'm so upset! I also ordered 6 Serama and 6 Ameraucana and I've threw out 2 Serama so far and I can't even really see through the Ameraucana eggs so I'm just really upset over it! I also have 80 Cortunix quail eggs in and 12 buttons and I hada make a temporary incubator for a couple days waitin on the 16 cream Legbar to hatch and I had a few temp drops and spikes (up to 102) so I sure hope they are ok! I moved all quail back into the good incubator now! I do have 28 barred rock eggs in that are all developing great! Those were not shipped though! If I have a bad hatch with these other shipped eggs I won't be buying any more! ;-( I've lost so much money already! I normally have great hatch rates! I did have some trouble with call ducks once before I tried one egg once an no hatch then 3 eggs the next time an no hatch so I gave up on them! I didn't realize they are "notoriously hard to hatch" makes me feel a little better about it!

 

[chickengirl1193]

They might have, although doubtful with 3 chicks.  I might have had a birth defect, or not fully absorbed the yolk during the hatch.  There is a slight chance Momma stepped on it.  It could have had bacteria in the egg, via a fine crack... etc... etc.. etc.. 

I am not trying to be cold, but sometimes baby chicks die. 

Yeah :/ its just sad because my last two incubator hatches had no deaths after hatching. I was going to inspect the baby after work but my mom burried it. So ill ask her what it looked like to see if there were any obvious signs. Shes sitting on the last 2 eggs still, will she eventually give up when they dont hatch? (I think at least one was a clear)

 

[KendyF]

Yeah give her a day or 2. Then u might take them.

 

[salsan20]

How do u candle Cortunix or button quail eggs? I can't see anything when I try? ;-( I've not had great hatch rates with shipped eggs! I ordered 7 malay eggs and only 3 were viable and just 2 hatched so I hada try 7 more I put them in the incubator about 2 weeks ago and now I've already threw out 2 stinky ones and I can't really tell if any is developing! Makes me so mad! I also ordered 16 cream Legbar from California I'm in ky and out of 16 2 hatched and only one lived the other didnt fully absorb the yolk! I'm so upset! I also ordered 6 Serama and 6 Ameraucana and I've threw out 2 Serama so far and I can't even really see through the Ameraucana eggs so I'm just really upset over it! I also have 80 Cortunix quail eggs in and 12 buttons and I hada make a temporary incubator for a couple days waitin on the 16 cream Legbar to hatch and I had a few temp drops and spikes (up to 102) so I sure hope they are ok! I moved all quail back into the good incubator now! I do have 28 barred rock eggs in that are all developing great! Those were not shipped though! If I have a bad hatch with these other shipped eggs I won't be buying any more! ;-( I've lost so much money already! I normally have great hatch rates! I did have some trouble with call ducks once before I tried one egg once an no hatch then 3 eggs the next time an no hatch so I gave up on them! I didn't realize they are "notoriously hard to hatch" makes me feel a little better about it!

You need a brighter light! I didnt realise they were hard to candle so I assumed my torch wasnt bright enough, I know can candle the duck and chicken eggs with the original torch, but with the quail I always use the torch app on my husbands phone as it is ridiculously bright so seeing through after day 5 is a doddle, either there is a bouncing jellybean or it glows like an eery green alien egg in which case I know its a dud! Anything in between I just hang onto for a few more days and it soon becomes obvious. Shipped eggs are a nightmare. Since I discovered that our post is so bad I always candle as they arrive to check the air cells are attached then I mark the detached ones (as I said all 18 of my duck had detached but a day early one has pipped so there is hope), after the 24 hours of settling Icandle again to see who has reattached and mark the reattached ones. I then incubate all those that were detached vertically including the reattached detached ones until day 5ish when if I feel the reattached cells are stable enough with their second membrane I incubate them normally (which for me is on their side) but the others I keep vertical until they hatch or quit-that seems to improve my rates but the best hatch I have had with shipped eggs was 17 out of 24 button eggs so not perfect! The cotunix was 7 out of 12 so not great at all, but as I said the little eggs seem to travel better in my experience!

 

[ChickyChickens]

So my broody just finally came off her nest this morning, day 23.she has 3 chicks out of 6 eggs! 2 didn't hatch (I still have to candle to see if they were fertile) and one hatched but died after hatching for some reason. Im really upset, does that happen often when a chick dies under a broody? I just hope it wasn't my fault...

It has never happened to me but it is not uncommon! Was your broody a first timer! She may have by accident squished the chick.

 

[grlnamedsue]

So my broody just finally came off her nest this morning, day 23.she has 3 chicks out of 6 eggs! 2 didn't hatch (I still have to candle to see if they were fertile) and one hatched but died after hatching for some reason. Im really upset, does that happen often when a chick dies under a broody? I just hope it wasn't my fault...

It seems to me it is common enough in nature for at least one to die. The same thing happened to me with both my broodies. One died from getting out of the nest and getting stuck, the other one didn't absorb it's yolk and didn't finish hatching. Then of course there are the bad eggs that don't hatch. It's all just luck of the draw, and since with a broody there are so many variables it's hard to tell. I think, in my limited experience, broodies actually have better hatch rates than those from an incubator! Not to mention the babies seem tougher from the get go. Don't best yourself up over it, it's all part of the experience of hatching chicks unfortunately.