Haven't got my pics uploaded yet, but I have 15 new Marans and 2 new crosses today. This was a much improved hatch, but still could be a lot better. This time I ran the incubator DRY. It maintained at about 25% humidity the entire time, with no water in it at all. At the end, I added a tiny bit of water, and let it get between 45-55% humidity. I STILL had chicks drown. But at least it was better than before.
Easter Egger x Ameraucana crosses: 2 out of 2 hatched.
My own Marans: 9 out of 10 hatched; the other one drowned in the shell, air-cell was pipped.
Shipped Langshans: 7 out of 12 hatched; the other five were all perfect, fully developed, appear to have drowned. One definitely did, as it pipped at the bottom of the shell.
Shipped Marans (from
oblio13): 6 out of 12 hatched. I know, that's a great percentage for shipped Marans. But it's just frustrating because, like with all the others, the eggs that did not hatch contained perfectly developed dead chicks. Arrrrgh!
The shipped Marans had the hardest time of all hatching, and I did help a lot. They also had the longest time lapse from pip to hatch--over 24 hours for each of them. I still have three of them in the incubator, waiting for them to gain strength and get to their feet before I put them in the brooder. One is really struggling, still in the bottom half of its shell. I'm not sure he'll make it, but I'm letting him try.
Oh, and I got *one* sweet little Wheaten chick from Brad's eggs! It's adorable. Now, of course, I'm going to need MORE.
It's a never ending project.
