MARCH 2021 HATCH-A-LONG 🌷🌸🌼

[abpatchy]

Thats amazing, when you have that many does it scare you taking some out when there is a chance a few of the 65 others could be pipped?

I don't take them out. They stay until Tuesday morning (I am a wee bit early putting them in lockdown because I have to work tomorrow) Tuesday morning I take them out and take them to have their Marek's shot. This machine is very accurate... so I can be very certain, who does not make it by Tuesday morning would not have made it anyways. Everybody stays in the incubator until then.

 

[Skyle]

Day 15. I candled and all 14 are well thriving. 6 days until hatch and I really hope everything goes well.

 

[AUChickenGal]

8/8 eggs in lockdown! Some look a wee bit "behind" to me still, but a couple are starting to draw down. Now to buckle down for tonight's weather. Still no signs of imminent foaling from my mare, which I'm thankful for at the moment, given the weather forecast!

 

[WallyG74]

8/8 eggs in lockdown! Some look a wee bit "behind" to me still, but a couple are starting to draw down. Now to buckle down for tonight's weather. Still no signs of imminent foaling from my mare, which I'm thankful for at the moment, given the weather forecast!

Yes, I’ve been dodging tornadoes and hail all day. I had a couple of baseball size hailstones hit my windshield today. Thankfully it was only a couple. The rest were marble size. It’s been a full day of it. It’s clearing out from here but prayers going out for those north and east of us still dealing with it after dark.

 

[The Cave]

I wrapped up my hatch today, after the last one pipping popped out I decided to candle and see how everyone was doing. I had 4 internally pipped but dead the remainder were dead in shell no attempts of hatching....I noticed a few unabsorbed yolks and then others I have no idea what it was. I wasn't expecting a great hatch rate with these eggs and I definitely wasn't expecting the fate of my eggs to be determined on day 21. This was my first time hatching shipped eggs (my first batch didn't survive the journey). So I am happy I got my 5 hedemora and 1 55 flowery all healthy baby chicks. I hope its a little girl and my next batch of shipped eggs thats in the incubator now do much better.

I am going to move them around the incubator a bit incase cold spots are happening, that may have been a factor with this batch.

Photos to come tomorrow, just waiting for last baby to dry off!

 

[gimmie birdies]

My 3 are going into lock down tomorrow, they all have the nice drop down air cell...

They were in with some other eggs due on the 10th...

I have a good sitting hen, she will get the eggs due the 10th, she is not good with chicks, so these 3 can have the incubator for hatching, and then I can clean it up and after put the eggs due on the tenth back in incubator.

 

[TJAnonymous]

8 days left until hatch day! So excited.... I'll candle my Easter eggs again tomorrow but so far all but 2 seemed to be developing!

 

[Chickeria]

Today (day 14) we candled for the second time.
From my 15 bantam silkie eggs 13 showed clear development and the other two (one of the three smallest eggs and one of the middle sized eggs) showed clearly a complete glow/nothing dark inside and I took these two out.
One of the 13 developing eggs (it is one of the biggest ones) shows a weird air cell compared to the others. All the others aircells are about the same size and have straight neat borders; this egg's aircell is much bigger and has a curve on one side. So I'm a bit worried abot the little one developing in this egg.

My friend's 20 bantam Brahma x Deutsches Buschhuhn mixes:
His eggs are from 3 hens. The one who lays the brown-rose eggs is named Pummel. From Pummel's 8 eggs 3 showed clear development, the other 5 showed a glow/nothing really dark inside and I took these 5 out.
The blue and the green eggs were difficult again... Even with two light sources we couldn't make out what is happening inside of/for every egg. The aircells are all - with one exception - about same size with straight neat borders. In some of the eggs we could make out veining, but not in all. There was no 'glowing through' anywhere, all seemed dark inside.
One green egg shows no aircell at all - it looks completely dark...is this something to expect with blue and green eggs? That you don't see anything, even not an aircell?

I did eggtopsy with the two silkie eggs and Pummel's 5 eggs I took out.
The small silkie egg was not fertilized, but did have a nice big yolk.
The middle sized silkie egg did have a small pale embryo embedded in yellow yolk - no veins, nothing pinkish, just the tiny pale body in the yellow. I think (compared what I saw in pictures showing chick embryo development) the little one developed about 5 days, then sadly quit.
4 from Pummel's eggs were not fertilized, in one there was a white ring in the yolk with a grey tiny thing (size and shape as a mini rice corn) in the middle - I guess it was a little one developing about two days and then sadly quitting?

...I'm kind of worried. I think it is not possible that 4 Pummel eggs were not fertilized and ALL eggs of the other two hens are fertilized. I'm afraid we just couldn't make out the green and blue unfertilized ones.

 

[Derangedplanet]

So I have 2 eggs from my eggs that were due the 23rd that still haven't hatched but still have veins. I tossed the rest that hadn't hatched due to no veins/no burst air sac. They're a wyandotte and a buff. If I opened said eggs would there be any chance of finding a living chick?
All the other eggs that did hatch, hatched at least 48 hours ago.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Today (day 14) we candled for the second time.
From my 15 bantam silkie eggs 13 showed clear development and the other two (one of the three smallest eggs and one of the middle sized eggs) showed clearly a complete glow/nothing dark inside and I took these two out.
One of the 13 developing eggs (it is one of the biggest ones) shows a weird air cell compared to the others. All the others aircells are about the same size and have straight neat borders; this egg's aircell is much bigger and has a curve on one side. So I'm a bit worried abot the little one developing in this egg.

My friend's 20 bantam Brahma x Deutsches Buschhuhn mixes:
His eggs are from 3 hens. The one who lays the brown-rose eggs is named Pummel. From Pummel's 8 eggs 3 showed clear development, the other 5 showed a glow/nothing really dark inside and I took these 5 out.
The blue and the green eggs were difficult again... Even with two light sources we couldn't make out what is happening inside of/for every egg. The aircells are all - with one exception - about same size with straight neat borders. In some of the eggs we could make out veining, but not in all. There was no 'glowing through' anywhere, all seemed dark inside.
One green egg shows no aircell at all - it looks completely dark...is this something to expect with blue and green eggs? That you don't see anything, even not an aircell?

I did eggtopsy with the two silkie eggs and Pummel's 5 eggs I took out.
The small silkie egg was not fertilized, but did have a nice big yolk.
The middle sized silkie egg did have a small pale embryo embedded in yellow yolk - no veins, nothing pinkish, just the tiny pale body in the yellow. I think (compared what I saw in pictures showing chick embryo development) the little one developed about 5 days, then sadly quit.
4 from Pummel's eggs were not fertilized, in one there was a white ring in the yolk with a grey tiny thing (size and shape as a mini rice corn) in the middle - I guess it was a little one developing about two days and then sadly quitting?

...I'm kind of worried. I think it is not possible that 4 Pummel eggs were not fertilized and ALL eggs of the other two hens are fertilized. I'm afraid we just couldn't make out the green and blue unfertilized ones.

Sounds like the one silkie egg has a saddled air cell. If it is solid and no jiggly edges, then these can often hatch just fine. It may even straighten out a bit as the chick develops.
If you are not sure about the darker colored eggs, then leave them in the incubator for now. You can reassess when you candle again at lock down. It is unlikely that they are not fertile, but in my own experience my cockerel does not mate with all the hens, so you never know.