March 2017! Hatch with us!

[Janetnva]

This is day 4 of my second try at incubating. First time was a total dud, so I’m anxious. I so want to candle them now, but will force myself to wait for day 7. I have 4 Salmon Favorolles and 4 Super Blues in a Brinsea Mini II. I’m turning them by hand. I’m afraid I cooked them all on the first day. I didn’t realize they would be in the afternoon sun. When I discovered it, the temperature inside was 103*F. I took the top off immediately and moved them to full shade. I checked on them every hour for the rest of the day and it stayed around 100*F. I’ve tried to bring it down half a degree, but I can’t seem to get that small an increment. Will 100* be too hot?

 

[Jessimom]

This is day 4 of my second try at incubating. First time was a total dud, so I’m anxious. I so want to candle them now, but will force myself to wait for day 7. I have 4 Salmon Favorolles and 4 Super Blues in a Brinsea Mini II. I’m turning them by hand. I’m afraid I cooked them all on the first day. I didn’t realize they would be in the afternoon sun. When I discovered it, the temperature inside was 103*F. I took the top off immediately and moved them to full shade. I checked on them every hour for the rest of the day and it stayed around 100*F. I’ve tried to bring it down half a degree, but I can’t seem to get that small an increment. Will 100* be too hot?

I run mine at 100.5. I get better hatches that way. I think yours will be fine. Eggs change temp slower than the incubator does.

 

[abbysilkys]

I just started my eggs in the incubator yesterday. So they are due on the 26th of march! It's so exciting!!

 

[orrpeople]

I just started my eggs in the incubator yesterday. So they are due on the 26th of march! It's so exciting!!

Welcome! Welcome!!! Here's hoping you have a fantastic hatch!

 

[orrpeople]

Question #1: what different pens/pencils are safe to marks eggs with vs which are absolute No-no's (toxicity etc)? One of my first hatches, I asked several experienced BYCers and they all used sharpie.
If I'm trying to get a hen to go broody I make very visible marks in sharpie. Those are for me to distinguish the "fake" real eggs from the new eggs that are being laid. However I'd think sharpie would be toxic to the embryo. Is that correct?
I've seen others' marks on the hatch-a-long threads made in pencil so the other day I did mark a date (when egg was laid) on a few eggs. Other options?

Question #2: when I try to candle eggs, especially in this "crazy-hatch" with eggs from so many dates laid, it looks to me like the air sack moves as I tilt the egg and that the dark part moves along with it. Do air sacks move? Or is the movement made from the mass of the hopefully live chick putting pressure on the air sack when I tilt the egg?
Thanks. 

I agree with Jessimom, detached air sacks are not likely to be conducive to hatching. But, I leave them in 'just in case!'

 

[Cerise1924]

I agree with Jessimom, detached air sacks are not likely to be conducive to hatching. But, I leave them in 'just in case!'

Yes, I would leave them in! My sweet little Sebright just hatched from an egg with a loose air cell, as did a couple of my Silkie chicks. It seems that half my shipped eggs have wobbly air cells, and I end up setting them upright and tilting them very gently. Some hatch, some don't.

 

[orrpeople]

This post here is sort of a run-on from the one above. I've been thinking way too much about eggs...

When/if you all have a hatch in which a certain number of eggs hatch in the expected time, how long do you wait before you remove the other eggs? When you candle them, give some taps and see if it moves - also, listen closely and see if you hear anything.
IF the situation (mine is from being an amateur but it could also be the darkness of the shells for other cases) is one where you can't tell much by candling, what do you all do? I mean do you discard and all done? Do you open the egg to see what may have happened? In such cases, do you open it at the air sack? If I have to open an egg that I think may have quit, I poke a small hole in the airsack, just above where I thought it would have pipped, then I listen very carefully. if I don't hear anything, or feel any movement, I gradually make the hole larger until I know for certain the state of the embryo.
What (the simple and the gross) have people found inside? Usually embryos that stopped developing before hatch dates, yolk still attached. Sometimes malpositioned chicks or chicks with deformities. I always open every one that quits, because it helps me try to figure out what went wrong. Usually with shipped eggs, I will see very badly formed air sacks or malpos.
*I once had a bad egg ferment and cracking it caused the egg to explode violently spewing disgusting smelling goo all over my legs. Is that simply a timing thing? or caused by some sort of bacteria getting in? Infertile eggs are usually the main explosion culprit, but any types of cracks can also allow bacteria to get in and grow.

I believe those are my left over questions though as you can guess, I'll probably come up with a few more before the month is over.
The olive egg that's still in the nest was set on either a Friday night or Saturday morning. This past weekend made it 21 days and over. 
Is there any harm done to open in--Outside the nest of course.
See? There was already another question...

And, despite saying I wasn't going to do this, I did add in the 2 remaining olive eggs. They were destined for the nature-recycle anyway as they'd been laid 2-12 and 2-14. It was a crazy reaction to the sadness of the chick that died yesterday in the shelll. Of Course Mima knows they're added. She's giving me dirty looks! How can one egg be cold like it came from inside and another right next to the cold one be warm to hot? That's so strange!

 

[HenLeia]

@yeye5
 So sorry about losing a chick. There's every likelihood that it was just not going to make it. If that was the beak out, then it could breathe - so there may have been other, unseen problems. It's very sad, but not every egg can give a healthy, living chick. That makes the ones we do get all the more precious. 

Well, I did assist a chick to hatch after it pipped and didn't zip. It was never able to stand up, even with extraordinary measures ( nutridrench, chick sling, scrambled egg), it still died 2 days later. So, although it's hard to loose a chick, often times it's out of your control. I agree that it makes you appreciate the ones that pop out of their shells all healthy and ready to get into everything.

 

[HenLeia]

Here's my second hatching attempt. 25 Crested cream Legbar eggs from my own birds. Set on Feb 27 so due around Mar 19. I'm going to try and candle them tonight.

 

[ARiesb]

I'm so mad at myself. I got out an egg to candle it and I dropped it on some of the other eggs. I don't see any cracks or breaks thank god. These eggs are pretty dark. Not sure I'm going to be able to see anything. Ugh. I will try again later