Marans Madness March Hatch Along.....

[pinkchick]

That's great 3chickens! I can't believe that they hatched after hitting that temp either. Tough little buggers aren't they? Amazing!


Lots of little peeps are in lockdown for hatch tomorrow but I haven't seen or heard a thing.

 

[cthrash1]

Ya know I let the girls out today and the momma hen got off the nest too, so I checked... No pips and the eggs were kinda lukewarm to the touch. Not all but most. Maybe because my hands aren't frozen anymore so the eggs don't feel as warm? I hope that is it... Anyway I forgot this , and I also asked this same thing on another site so I have a better chance of getting an answer quicker. This is what I need to know, the night I set the eggs it was around 10 PM so technichally the 21st day won't start til late tonight right? If thats the case I won't worry yet. And do brooded eggs have more of a chance of being a little later than incubated? Since the momma gets off the nest daily to do her deeds?


ETA: Oh yeah and would it be safe to carefully candle tonight or should I just wait it out?

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
That's how I calculate it when I set eggs. If I set early in the morning I start that as day one and if I set later in the day or at night I start counting the next day.

Personally I would wait it out now that you are that close. Hope all goes well!

 

[cthrash1]

Thanks for your reply... Is it normal for the hen to leave the nest to do business this close to hatching?

 

[pinkchick]

My broody hen sitting on eggs to hatch on the 27th gets up off her eggs to get food and water. She's not off for long, gets what she needs and gets right back on her eggs.

 

[cthrash1]

Well she's been doing that too all along but I didn't know they did it at hatch time... And we are so careful with humidity and steady temps when we incubate instead of using a broody... Lol

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
What a GORGEOUS nest!

 

[pinkchick]

Update on eggs that I put in lockdown on Monday......remember in an earlier post I said I hadn't seen any movement or heard anything....well that funny feeling got the best of me so I candled. I usually don't candle eggs except before putting them in the incubator to check for cracks and such....well I tossed everyone of them. Looks like they all quit around day 10-14. Sitting here stupified and wondering what went wrong, I started going through everything that had to do with that incubator.....I must be losing my mind because I found that I put the wrong thermometer in it with out double checking and let the incubator run according to it. I should have tossed that thermometer right then instead of setting it off and forgetting about it.....let alone not looking for the marker that I stuck on it to remind me to toss it....

 

[Zgoatlady]

Im so sorry Pinkchick that hurts,

I had a hatch a few weeks ago that I only got like 4 or 5 chicks the other eggs nothing.

 

[cthrash1]

Quote:
What a GORGEOUS nest!

That is all her work. I put a big block of the hay next to her and by that evening she had it spread.