JUNE - JULY HATCH-ALONG!!!!!!!

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I only ask because I had both sticky chicks and shrink wrapped chicks in my last hatch. Sometimes additional things are at play. I read once sometimes stuck chicks can be a result of turning too.

There’s so much at play, it doesn’t always fall into a formula of X causes Y. Sometimes X causes B which causes C which may or may not cause Y.

I’m also with cluckndoodle, opening even quick can set some things in motion. I use warm spray water to spike humidity. Or I wait until a chick hatched and it’s wetness spikes humidity.

It can be a crap shoot. A five second open could dry out a chick. But I’ve pulled an egg out at least five times to check progress, it had to be out at least ten minutes total to work on it, and STILL had them hatch on their own. No shrink wrapping.

I know none of this helps. Just passing along experiences ...

Well I’m violating all rules about opening the incubator during hatching, and I have this long staggered hatch going too! Bacteria grow wonderfully in warm, humid conditions, and my incubator is full of eggs encrusted in rotten yolk. So I’m keeping the humidity at the lower edge of acceptable for hatching, just barely over 60% so as not to encourage more bacterial growth than necessary. That means that I have no wiggle room in humidity, so it drops to 45% when I open the bator.

I don’t want to leave the newly hatched keets crawling around all of this yuck, so I’m pulling them out as they hatch. Just got two more out this AM! Humidity plummets every time I open it, and I still have pipped eggs, so I’m just hoping for the best. I also have eggs I’m still hand turning in there - should have left those out with guinea moms until after this hatch, but I didn’t know if they’d take their eggs back...

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hmm, I wonder, is their vision also bad at night to where you could sneak a few sure footed babies under the really committed broody?

I feel bad for the moms, and I’m kind of coming up with a list of which moms seem most interested as I hope to try again next year with my new nest boxes - maybe a large diameter pipe, open at both ends, that goes through a planter box? Does that sound crazy?? I got in the guinea forum and asked about giving keets to broody moms and got all doom and gloom. After all of this, I don’t think I have the guts to put these sweet little keets back under a guinea mama. Im very sad for them, but it’s still the collective group hanging out at the nest, and I think that one or more moms must be a baby killer, as keets seem to be hatching healthy indoors and doing well.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Well I’m violating all rules about opening the incubator during hatching, and I have this long staggered hatch going too! Bacteria grow wonderfully in warm, humid conditions, and my incubator is full of eggs encrusted in rotten yolk. So I’m keeping the humidity at the lower edge of acceptable for hatching, just barely over 60% so as not to encourage more bacterial growth than necessary. That means that I have no wiggle room in humidity, so it drops to 45% when I open the bator.

I don’t want to leave the newly hatched keets crawling around all of this yuck, so I’m pulling them out as they hatch. Just got two more out this AM! Humidity plummets every time I open it, and I still have pipped eggs, so I’m just hoping for the best. I also have eggs I’m still hand turning in there - should have left those out with guinea moms until after this hatch, but I didn’t know if they’d take their eggs back...

Yay more keets!! You've got this! Since I started my cycle of opening the bator during my turkey hatch I had to barely help just a couple as well that had dry membranes from me opening the incubator after they were pipped. For the most part they still unzip perfectly fine on their own, it's just that last push that usually tears the membrane that needs an assist because it becomes too tough, I just pull on the membrane gently until the chick starts to pop out on it's own and I let it finish in the bator. I think you're doing exactly what most of us would in your situation and while it may be a really long process, you really need to give yourself more credit!! So far your doing 100% better than nature, just saying!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I’m glad you’re feeling a little better. It’s all learning!!! Now that you mention it, I think you’re right about selecting for bad mothers, or, just not including selection for mothering at all.

There’s a woman near me that lets her Guineas sit free range on some eggs I don’t know if they ever hatch and raise I’m going to look into that.

I hate snakes SO much I think Guineas are in my future. Do you have any snake issues since getting them?

Yeah, I’ve hear that two, and that was even more incentive for me to get guineas last year, since we have a lot of copperheads. My dog was bitten and had to be hospitalized in ICU... I think guineas are more like watchdogs - they see a lot and react. I once heard my guineas alarm calling in the woods. I ran over expecting a coyote or raccoon, but found them all gathered around a wild rabbit! The guineas were young and hadn't seen one yet. I showed them that the rabbit wasn’t dangerous, so now they leave them alone. I’ve heard that they will surround a snake and alarm, but I haven’t seen that yet myself. We did indeed have a large black rat snake invade the guinea nest but the hens were terrified of it. Supposedly, a large flock of guineas is more likely to take on threats, which is why I want to add to my depleted flock.

 

[jolenesdad]

Yay more keets!! You've got this! Since I started my cycle of opening the bator during my turkey hatch I had to barely help just a couple as well that had dry membranes from me opening the incubator after they were pipped. For the most part they still unzip perfectly fine on their own, it's just that last push that usually tears the membrane that needs an assist because it becomes too tough, I just pull on the membrane gently until the chick starts to pop out on it's own and I let it finish in the bator. I think you're doing exactly what most of us would in your situation and while it may be a really long process, you really need to give yourself more credit!! So far your doing 100% better than nature, just saying!

100% agree and it’s really such a huge learning experience for all of us, you’re doing so well!

I’m a little nervous about the hatch I’m on. One of the eggs had a smelly smelly poop on it and a few others were dirty and one had dried yolk. I washed those all. But there’s a slight odor coming from the incubator and I’m going to have to id which egg I may have needed to wash and didn’t.

Then I’m like ugh do I just have cecal poop seared into my smelly senses?

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

100% agree and it’s really such a huge learning experience for all of us, you’re doing so well!

I’m a little nervous about the hatch I’m on. One of the eggs had a smelly smelly poop on it and a few others were dirty and one had dried yolk. I washed those all. But there’s a slight odor coming from the incubator and I’m going to have to id which egg I may have needed to wash and didn’t.

Then I’m like ugh do I just have cecal poop seared into my smelly senses?

Ugh. After I cleaned out the coop, with rotten eggs, dead keets, and dirty bedding, I just felt so foul, and that smell was seared into my nostrils! Maybe that’s why my smelly incubator is bugging me so, because it’s reminding me of that unpleasant scene...

So do you wash your dirty eggs before setting? I dipped a portion of dirty duck eggs in bleach or hydrogen peroxide last year, and rubbed a little of the dirt off, but otherwise have just tried not to set dirty eggs. How do you wash yours?

 

[jolenesdad]

Ugh. After I cleaned out the coop, with rotten eggs, dead keets, and dirty bedding, I just felt so foul, and that smell was seared into my nostrils! Maybe that’s why my smelly incubator is bugging me so, because it’s reminding me of that unpleasant scene...

So do you wash your dirty eggs before setting? I dipped a portion of dirty duck eggs in bleach or hydrogen peroxide last year, and rubbed a little of the dirt off, but otherwise have just tried not to set dirty eggs. How do you wash yours?

The first time I washed was last months duck eggs. I washed All the silver Appleyards and had that crazy good hatch.

100ish degree water, I run it all over it and let it soak the dirty ness then let it sit a minute and then rinse it. Anything that doesn’t come off I scrape lightly. Wrap in paper towel and unwrap and let air dry then right into incubator.

I was thinking yesterday I’ve seen several people SWEAR by spraying eggs with listerine.

@CluckNDoodle guess what listerine is? Chlorhexidine.

 

[Enigmius]

Speaking of snakes.. I had a snake in the duck coop yesterday. Luckily it was just a rat snake, so I encouraged him( with a water hose) to enter a trashbin and released him across the street from me, into a large field going the opposite direction of my house. I'm really quite shocked that the snake could climb that high to get into the coop!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

@CluckNDoodle guess what listerine is? Chlorhexidine.

Wait... seriously!!? I need to go get my bottle of Listerine. Lol

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Wait... seriously!!? I need to go get my bottle of Listerine. Lol

Hmm, mine doesn't appear to be so I guess I still needed to buy the bottle at least, lol. Maybe it's because I have original Listerine?