Guess I will join in for my very first post! This site helped a lot with questions I had during my first hatching run.
My May hatch was my very first hatch ever- 2 sets of 4 eggs from 2 pairs of polish chickens on two different dates. One blue pair, one buff pair, and the hens picked right up laying the day they were brought home from the swap where we purchased them. I expected the first set of four to be clears because the seller had the males and females separated, but one little 'silver' cheep beat the odds and hatched out on May 21st. Of the second set, all four eggs were fertile, but due to a horrible mistake on my part which induced an incubator temp spike, the two dark cheeps died in the egg. Fortunately I didn't manage to kill them all, and ended up with two little buff cheeps. I've since moved the incubator to a stable, temp controlled area and I swear that I won't place the temporary brooder box's heating pad against one side of the incubator ever again.
So now I am on my second batch of cheeps (I'm actually hatching them for a friend to house, since I can't keep them in the city). I started with 9 eggs (there'd be 10 if little kids didn't collect the eggs) that should be half and half, buff or blue/black/splash (but not mixed, the pairs are separated). I started them in my little Hovabator on the 1st, so they SHOULD hatch on the 21st or 22nd. I candled on the 10th and there were three clears, so I'm down to six. I was given another batch of 8 eggs that I set on the 3rd, so I'm looking at the 24th-ish I think. I'll candle on the 13th and see how many are actually going.
A second friend of mine was having major trouble hatching out any of her ducks' eggs. I offered to give it a try (as she'd begun to lose hope and get rid of them when she found them) in my incubator, so I've now got 23 duck eggs in there too. I don't know if they'll be able to hatch on the conditions I've got, but it's worth a shot. I set them on the.... 6th and I candled some of them on the 10th- about half looked like they were going to be clears, but I could see veins on some. And last but not least... I received 5 more polish eggs that I set today and should hatch in July, but they may have mixed parents as the two ladies are in with the blue male, since the buff male has gone insane pecking at skulls and had to be separated. I know those batches won't hatch till July, but they're in there keeping my June hatch company!
@ SweetMotherOfMars: While two of my cheeps died to the temp spike I had (around 106-107 for about half a day), two of them did make it. I have absolutely no science to back it up, but as it was only the dark chicks who died and the nearly-white buff chicks that lived, (and a dark chick had previously hatched, so I don't think it was genetics) their color may have something to do with how hot the chicks get. The dark ones may have absorbed more heat and been quicker to die off than the light ones. Of course, my experience may also be a meaningless fluke, but perhaps it can give you a some hope. Good luck!
~Ked