March Hatch-Along Thread- Come Hatch With Us!!!!!

[sparkle1974]

I only have to assist the twins that i have not the others...Mine is constantly at 99.5 also and the temp is very accurate no I never assist only if I have too after pip if they do not come out on their own I will help and I have never lost a chick My dad is a an vet and he has taught me well...I love and do very well and he is proud of me all he does is birds and i learned to do this with special care and being very careful...I usually dont have too but only with twins that I have...in this batch 4 eggs have twins in them...

 

[animaladdictions]

No, you shouldn't put them in lockdown when you have an external pip. You should put them in lockdown 3 days before the expected hatch date; Day 18 (for chickens).

I've been hatching chickens for several years and this is how I always do it... I either put them in when I see internal or external pipping. This is how most people do it. They don't need the humidity cranked up until actual hatch time. Doing it too soon can and usually does cause sticky chick and will sometimes cause the chick to go into heart failure because there's too much fluid in and around the bird.

 

[animaladdictions]

I do not have twins, as I thought I did, but I did run into a problem with them all. One pipped in the wrong end, and they are ALL too weak to get out of the shell! There is still blood in the veins in the membrane, so I dare not touch them yet. They can all breathe, so I don't need to worry about that. I don't know why, but whenever I get eggs, I always have to assist them! I don't know why! Every egg I ever had, besides ONE, I had to assist.

All I can do now is hope for the best!

Sounds like you're not giving them enough time to hatch on their own...a lot of us help chicks in distress every once in a while but it should be a rare occurrence and not something you do with every chick. If they are really weak at hatch time, there is a reason. It could be temps too low, temps too high, humidity too low or high, poor flock management...there are a number of different things that can cause poor hatchability. If you're helping and seeing blood, they're not ready and you've assisted too soon. It can take a Loooong time sometimes for a chick to hatch. If you are assisting before at least 24 hours has passed since internal pipping...that's too soon. As far as chicks pipping in the wrong end, I have found that if you stop turning them five days before hatch instead of three, it gives them more time to get to the right end of the egg and doing this has made a huge difference for me. Also, do not put chicks into "lockdown" until you see internal pipping at least...I wait for an external pip but some do it at internal pipping. They DO NOT go into lockdown on day 18...only when hatching is imminent. Hope that helps!

 

[Maah]

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Pug's back!! It's about time.

I am into the night of day 21 and have nothing. No pips, no cheeps and no rocking either. The eggs were all doing great when I went into lockdown day 18. I couldn't take it anymore and quickly candled two eggs this morning (my Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance EX holds the temp and humidity super steady and I had no ext pips) and they are alive, but look more like day 17-18 and I KNOW they are at a full 21 days. I marked my calendar (and the calendar in my phone too) when I set them. There are 17 silkie eggs in there and I am going crazy! I thought silkies were notorious for hatching early but didn't dare hope for that...day 21 though? I want to see some fluffy butts! Please talk me down and tell me they should still be fine...

Oh, they are going to do fine!! My last set of silkies (in my Brinsea Mini Advance) hatched on day 22. For some reason the little kiddos forget to check their calendars.

I think they all get together in some "chickie-doodle meeting" to come up with ways to stress us out. But your Brinsea knows what it's doing... They're awesome machines. This is me talking you down & telling you they will be fine. Oh, and now that Pugbug is back... be careful. She likes to tie people to trees if they start messing with eggs at hatch time. LOL

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Wonder hubby told me he's going to build her her own little area inside the coop under the nest boxes. She'll be trapped in there & won't have anything to do but have babies! He said he'll have it finished for me this weekend, & then I'll set her on some silkie eggs. I'm glad he's doing this. I don't dare put them under her in the box that's she's in. She has been trying to outsmart us. We have her sitting on fake eggs. The rest of the hens have been laying in a different box now and she moved over to their real eggs. Ah ha!! Nope, sorry honey... we are still smarter than you. Bugger off,... we're eating these ones. LOL.

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I'll be in the April hatch too! I won some OE hatching eggs here on BYC last weekend. She's going to send them to me next week!! Yippee!

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Thank you!! You too!

My first chick popped out and has a good are of healthy lungs

Congrats!!

Good luck with the rest of the kiddos!

 

[PugBug]

One of the col. wyandotte eggs is pipped, I am so surprised cause it's right on time- now let's hope they are all on time

 

[Maah]

One of the col. wyandotte eggs is pipped, I am so surprised cause it's right on time- now let's hope they are all on time

 

[TweetyNPetey]

How many hours is "many"? They can take up to 24 hours and usually take 8-12 hours before zipping. The fact that you know there are blood vessels in the membrane still tells me that you are going to assist way too soon. You should wait at least 24 hours after pipping to assist if absolutely necessary, unless there are obvious signs of distress.

Have you read this yet? https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

I was reading Sally Sunshine's assisting guide all night. I was waiting around 10 hours, and they were not even starting to zip the egg.
The good news: THEY ALL HATCHED AND ARE DOING GREAT! I am sooooo happy!

 

[Maah]

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10 hours is too soon to start helping. Hokankai is right, you should wait at least 24 hours from the time they pip the shell... and then only assist if absolutely necessary. I had a chick a couple of hatches back that took 37 hours from the time it first pipped until it finally hatched. The kiddos take time, and it's a good thing. They need time to acclimate their lungs and absorb the yolk and blood.

Glad your chickies all hatched!! That's great!

 

[Maah]

I have an internal pip!!!

I was worried that my EE's were getting too squished... which is why I locked them down at day 17. Today is day 19 and I heard cheeping from the incubator!! I might have a busy day tomorrow! Take your time chickie... absorb ALL your stuff before coming out. I'm ok with hatching on day 20. Take a nap. LOL. Healthy babies please!!

I heard cheeping!!! Woot Woot!!

The barred rock eggs look to be right on schedule for Saturday's hatching... they may even be a tad late. So, I may have set both breeds on the same day... but it might be a kind of staggered hatch anyways? We'll see.

 

[CamiLynn]

[COLOR=800080]VERY CUTE! So glad to see you back again   Oh and yes my 2 little lavender chicks are self blue d'uccle, a little roo & a little pullet. They are so sweet too![/COLOR]

Glad to see you as well That's great that you got a pair! I have gone into chick overload since I was last here, but got some really cute babies

I had to assist one that pipped under my broody yesterday that she left in the nest, at 4:30am. It's membrane was dry and it has barely started to zip but was stuck. After I assisted and it came out I was worried bcuz it just laid there for a couple hours, but before I left for work it was up on it feet so I'm relieved. Still have no idea what breed/mix it is or the other on that hatched. The watching paint dry mode is the worst!! Come on babies!!