*Sigh* So far, the three chicks that hatched are doing well. We got two partridge silkies and a cuckoo silkie. We had hoped for at least one white, but oh well. They've been bopping along in the brooder, drinking sips of water, and pecking at the food some. Right now they're curled up and asleep.
We had one silkie quit after zipping, one show girl that looks like it broke too big of an external pip at first and eventually quit, and one show girl that zipped half way and does not appear to be alive. (At least from the viewing window - I'm giving it until the morning.) We're going to take the brooder into the bathroom after getting it steamy to check the remaining eggs. I'm not sure why so many never pipped externally, and why the little guys that did quit. I charted the temps and humidity, and I know it to be accurate. I was good about maintaining humidity in incubation and lockdown as well. Some had air cells that developed into a saddle shape, and I know that is directly related to shipping. From what I've read, they can still hatch with those, though.
My showgirl eggs came from across the country, and so far I have 0 of 7. The silkies were in state, and I have 3 hatched from the original 34 eggs. I am glad for the three that we have, but it makes me wonder what happened to those eggs while they were in the mail. Kind of makes me want to mail some with shock sensors to test it out.
