March 2018 Hatch-a-long

[PippinChicken]

Check to see if the pip is where the air cell should be. I lost a chick last week that pipped in the middle of the shell, he was malpositioned and couldn’t get out by himself. By the time I intervened it was too late.
(I don’t normally advocate helping if they can’t get out on their own, but in this case he was perfectly healthy, just turned around.)
be/

I traced all the air cells before lockdown and marked their lowest point. The pip is definitely well within the air cell, thankfully. I think he pipped internally around the same time that others did, so if he hasn't at least made himself a good hole through the outer membrane by the time I'm back home then I think I'll open up the pip a little to make sure he's getting enough air in there.

 

[ChickenMath101]

First baby is out! A second egg is zipping. I’m starting the countdown to see how long it takes all 6 Olive Eggers plus my Orpington to hatch. The goal is everybody out within 2 hours!

 

[PippinChicken]

View attachment 1306916 First baby is out! A second egg is zipping. I’m starting the countdown to see how long it takes all 6 Olive Eggers plus my Orpington to hatch. The goal is everybody out within 2 hours!

Two hours?? Wow, that would be nice. My first hatched sometime between 7:00 AM-4:00 PM on Tuesday, then another overnight, and then the bulk of them Wednesday throughout the day and night...and still waiting on that last one!

 

[ChickenMath101]

Two hours?? Wow, that would be nice. My first hatched sometime between 7:00 AM-4:00 PM on Tuesday, then another overnight, and then the bulk of them Wednesday throughout the day and night...and still waiting on that last one!

Haha! I read some literature that Precocial chicks like chickens synchronize their hatch with clicks and chirps. The faster the click, the closer they are to hatching. In the wild they can get everybody out within two hours of each other. The trick is to make sure the eggs are touching, because there is a tactile response as well as an auditory one.‍

 

[ChickenMath101]

(The three eggs which were physically touching the first hatcher all have pips now...interesting!)

 

[PippinChicken]

Haha! I read some literature that Precocial chicks like chickens synchronize their hatch with clicks and chirps. The faster the click, the closer they are to hatching. In the wild they can get everybody out within two hours of each other. The trick is to make sure the eggs are touching, because there is a tactile response as well as an auditory one.‍

I'd read about that too...in one of my incubators it wasn't possible for them to be touching, but in the other I put them all in contact with each other. That's the incubator that had the most staggered hatches I guess mine weren't very good at synchronizing!

 

[ChickenMath101]

I'd read about that too...in one of my incubators it wasn't possible for them to be touching, but in the other I put them all in contact with each other. That's the incubator that had the most staggered hatches I guess mine weren't very good at synchronizing!

Well that isn’t reassuring!!!

 

[PippinChicken]

Well that isn’t reassuring!!!

I'm curious if breeding has anything to do with it. My 3 Marans eggs, while they weren't touching, started and finished hatching within an hour of each other. 2/4 of my Ameraucana eggs (also not touching) hatched in about an hour of each other, several hours earlier than the Marans. The incubator where they were all touching was full of OEs. Three hatched over the same night so I'm not sure how close they were. And then the two early hatchers were OEs that I suspect were from the same hen.

 

[mcclucker]

My Marans hatch up to a day after My Ameraucanas!! You won’t be able to see squat when you candle. Pull the babies if you must but leave the dark brown one alone.

You were right, couldn’t see a thing. Not even an air cell. However it weighed a LOT less than when I candled it Sunday so something is going on in there. I pumped the humidity in there again now that the babies are out.

 

[PippinChicken]

View attachment 1306916 First baby is out! A second egg is zipping. I’m starting the countdown to see how long it takes all 6 Olive Eggers plus my Orpington to hatch. The goal is everybody out within 2 hours!

Well, did they make your two hour goal??