March hatch along

[christine9]

Seriously!! The chicken addiction is nothing until you've tried hatching.

 

[carcar80]

4th one just hatched....1 zipping and one pipped. Cant really tell if any of the others have pipped since i can only see one side of the eggs in the carton. 1 egg hs moved position but nit sure if it moved on its own.

Yeah!! I'm up to four also!! Another assist came while we were at church.

I also noticed, the hole I THOUGHT I made in the air cell for that last one, was not a hole at all. It was jus stretched all slimy over the beak.

BUT, once I DID get a hole in it the little stinker started talking to me! Still don't hold out much hope but at least I corrected that. Had to take more shell to get to the right angle to open the membrane so now it's totally topless. Lots more blood to absorb but looks good considering.

 

[carcar80]

Here's the latest hatch. And no, my temp is not correct on that "Accurite". I just use it for humidity.

 

[matlock585]

Here's the latest hatch. And no, my temp is not correct on that "Accurite". I just use it for humidity.

That's the exact same thermo/hygro I use. How bad off is your temp? I've always trusted mine because I've hatched lots of chicks with it, but a couple weeks ago I stuck the digital thermometer that we use to check the kids for fevers in the vent hole and took the temp. It read about a degree and a half lower than the accurite. I also have to add a few points to the humidity reading.

 

[carcar80]

I have to add around five to humidity (by my best guess.. Never did feel good about the test but I do know it's at least a bit LOW)..

Temp, I was adding seven but now it's even worse I believe. I stopped even paying attention. I do know, when my mercury (which I trust FULLY) reads 99.5, that one usually reads 91-93. Terrible!

 

[carcar80]

The humidity is all jacked up in there now bc of all the freakin towel-wrapped babies!

 

[chickenlisa]

I eggtopsied the shipped eggs, I can't really explain what happened. They both looked great! In the correct position, feathers present, air cells good, no bad smells, no fuzz (mold/bacteria) growth, all I can think of is that the temp in the hatcher was too low.

I also had 1 out of the 8 who didn't pip or anything, so when it was time to move the 7 who did hatch fine, I took that egg and candled it. It looked like the chick tried to pip internally, but didn't. It was raised up, but not moving. So I took the top of the shell off and broke the membrane to see what was up. That poor baby was fully formed, but the egg yolk wasn't absorbed yet...No idea why all 7 pipped, zipped (and the 1st was 50 min from 1st pip to all the way out of the shell) and hatched with no problems. They are vigorous little chicks and no idea why 1 baby out of a beautiful deep olive green egg didn't make it out. THese things happen, ut I'm sorry for your loss too.

 

[christine9]

I def had a hard time keeping things stable once they started hatching. I think I overcompensated for the rise in humidity and again when it dropped. Next time, I'll be a little more hands off. Hopefully.

 

[chickenlisa]

I see at least on NN in there

It is a NN baby- I have 1 hen in my flock from years ago who lays a nice big green egg...I know this little cutie is her baby and I think the Daddy is a big blue Olive egger guy...(he's BCM X Blue Ameraucana and hatched last year.) So this baby has some nice background genes...just hope it's a wee lass, and not a boy we'll have to find a new home for. My DD named her (

) Little Puff.

 

[chickenlisa]

Super cute!! Congrats.

Thank you! Congrats on your hatching too!!! We need pics now!
Lisa