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

[Maah]

Today is day14 for me and all of my eggs are clear

I don't know what I'm doing wrong

Not again! Dirty bugger.

So... there's got to be something going on & that's what we're here for! Gonna help you get this sorted out so you can hatch some babies!

Lets start with the basics.

First check out your incubator. Calibrate your thermometer/hygrometer and make sure your thermometer is reading correctly at the 99.5 or 101 whatever it needs for circulated air vs. still air. Here is a thread on how to calibrate a thermometer (I have a digital thermometer & just placed it in a ziplock baggie, sucked out as much air as I could and put it in the ice water bath... left it in there for 10-15 min & it was right on): https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/110385/how-to-calibrate-a-thermometer And here is a thread for calibrating a hygrometer: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741034/calibrating-a-hygrometer

Next, try local hatching eggs, that aren't shipped. Check out craigslist or go to your local farmer that has chickens and ask for FRESH fertile eggs. Also ask them if they've checked their fertility rate and had any hatches. Preferably get white eggs, or very light shelled eggs, because those will be the easiest to see into during incubation. Plus you should know by day 7 if anything has started to develop.

Once you know your thermometer is correct and your incubator temp and humidity are holding steady. Next I would crack open one of those eggs and check it for fertility. Don't just take the person's word on it.

The way to check for fertility is to crack it open into a bowl... and check the small white dot on the yolk. If the dot is a little bit larger and has a "bullseye" look to it = Fertile. If it's still just a small pinhead dot... = Not Fertile. Better to sacrifice 1 egg first thing, than to wait 2 weeks. Here is a thread that shows great pictures to identify the difference: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

Lastly, Don't give up!!

 

[Ninaj]

Hello, I am new to this thread. I have a question for any one with experience. This is my first time incubating and I have 10 eggs that are due to hatch this coming week. 6 are due to hatch on Monday and the other 4 I added 2 days later. Can anyone tell me if it is best to stop turning them as well during lockdown or should I continue to turn them for 2 more days by opening the incubator while the other eggs should to be in lock down? I am thinking that maybe it would not be too bad to stop turning 2 days early as it might probably be worse to open the incubator during lockdown. Any ideas? I would appreciate any advise. Thanks in advance!

 

[jhfamily5]

my husband was trying to do a head count yesterday- but there were so many running around he gave up. He said well I know all I need to know- it's too many! I said yes & don't forget the 2 full bators!

I have a FULL bator too (36 bantam eggs in my Brinsea Octagon 20) and two broodys. lol At least they know it is something we have a passion for and it makes us happy. (At least mine does and I hope yours does too.) He doesn't understand it, but he knows I love them as much like he loves hunting and our kids love them too. Funny thing is, he was raised "backwoods Kentucky" and I was raised "big city California". He wanted to live in the country and I wanted to be in town. After 13 years of living in town, I compromised and we moved onto 3+ acres a couple of minutes out of town. At first I really didn't like it, but then we got 6 (which ended up 9) chickens "for eggs". Chicken math took over when we discovered all of the beautiful and sometimes crazy looking breeds (okay snowballed-lol) and now I am thankful and glad for the 3 acres I have to mow all summer. He can't argue with ANYTHING that makes me like country life!

 

[jhfamily5]

What a great picture!

Thank you I took it with my phone so it's a little blurry, but I knew if I went for my camera the little stinker would be under her again. She is a great momma and her adopted babies jump all over her and peek out from all over her all day long. It's such a treat to just stop and watch them love on each other.

 

[ladyrsanti]

Here's one of my little guys. BO/EE mix all fluffed up and headed to the brooder. The six of them are all snuggled and sleeping at the moment. Of the remaining ten eggs, four have pipped and are taking their sweet time.

 

[jhfamily5]

You all are going to think I am NUTS but.... how do I entertain these chicks?

I have them in a make shift brooder bin with a heat lamp and food and water and such. They are in my room, on a table across from my bed. They love to be talked to and like it when someone taps the side and sends them running to inspect. They also will all jump up and peep up a storm when they hear the theme song to Dr. Who (Guess what I have been watching every night for the past week in bed?) LOL

They go back to the farm in about 2 weeks, until then though our job is to keep them healthy. I feel like we are missing something though!

When we had ducklings we took them out of the brooder and let them follow the kids around the house a bit every day. Then we took them outside to follow the kids (About 10 of them) But we could trust the ducklings to follow the kids. I am not sure we could trust the chicks and trying to catch 22 chicks..... Our yard is not fenced in and is a common area for our neighborhood. The ducklings though always did great, got some bugs and such, and the neighborhood kids loved them. Not sure about chicks though...

How old are they? Once ours are at least two weeks old, if it's warm enough my kids take ours out a little every day. They do pretty good about staying with them as long as the dogs stay in the house. When we have a bunch, I make them a little playpen with chicken wire so they can't get too far but they LOVE outside time on a sunny day. We don't leave them unsupervised unless they are older and in a chicken tractor. Even then not for long though and it has to be a really warm day. We also always seem to have a favorite or two in every group that get preferred treatment. My oldest likes to get "his girl" (Porcelain D'Uccle pullet) out and let her roost on him while he watches tv.
.
Of course, our cat just LOVES that! Hehe...kidding. Julius loves the chicks and has never messed with them. He is declawed and lazy too. No worries, I keep my ALL my babies safe.

 

[Arkansas81]

Still nothing but it's only day 21 so still not worried. All I know is they better hurry up, we are leaving Sunday-we need to sell them by then.

Congrats to everyone 's hatches! Ethan-man I'm sorry to hear about the eggs! I have nothing to add in the way of experience but I will send you big hugs

 

[jhfamily5]

Hello, I am new to this thread. I have a question for any one with experience. This is my first time incubating and I have 10 eggs that are due to hatch this coming week. 6 are due to hatch on Monday and the other 4 I added 2 days later. Can anyone tell me if it is best to stop turning them as well during lockdown or should I continue to turn them for 2 more days by opening the incubator while the other eggs should to be in lock down? I am thinking that maybe it would not be too bad to stop turning 2 days early as it might probably be worse to open the incubator during lockdown. Any ideas? I would appreciate any advise. Thanks in advance!

Hi there. I don't have a lot of experience with incubators...just broody girls. I have read a lot however so I was prepared for using an incubator and several people have asked a similar question. A couple of experts actually recommended that turning be stopped even earlier than the typical three days and one swears his hatches are way better for it. (at 16 days if I remember correctly) If you don't have a separate incubator to use as a hatcher, I would just stop turning them all at once. The real issue is the humidity more than the turning though. You up the humidity at lockdown and that can drown chicks that aren't fully developed. I am not sure that two days is early enough to cause a problem or not. I have run into problems with broodys in the same pen fighting over eggs close to hatching so I went to Tractor Supply and purchased a base model styrofoam still air incubator for approx $40 and locked down in it. I filled all of the bottom water reservoirs with warm distilled water and added a warm wet (new) sponge too for the upped humidity and (both red plugs out for airflow) since it didn't have any kind of humidity gauge on it. I was winging it on the humidity, but it actually held the temp rock steady and I have hatched in it half a dozen times now perfectly. If you can afford the extra one time expense and plan on hatching in the future, it might be a good investment. I wish I could be of more help, but figured at least some input was better than none. Maybe try running a search about the humidity issue ( how early you can up it without drowning) and I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Brookhavens]

All the new babies!


And these in the bottom pic came out of the mysterious mystery eggs.


Woo hoo! First 100% hatch!

 

[chickydee64]

Sometimes they don't move when candled. They are "sleeping."

x2