March Hatching Madness

[Madcap621]

Quote:
Good luck, Melinda~

I know what you mean about candling

I am trying to teach myself. I DO candle [see below] but DON"T throw anything out first go-round at 7 - 10 days. I make notes of what I think [clear-CL, blood ring-BR, early quitter-EQ]. At day 18 the clears and BRs are much easier to ID and get tossed. If I have any doubts, it stays. I ALWAYS eggtopsy to check my results. I also re-candle before the Eggtopsy. Checked the 2 friend's eggs that didn't hatch this weekend just now. They still looked "normal and ready to hatch", but when I opened them, one had quit at about 2 weeks, the other on day 19 or 20 [?] = fully formed and most of the yolk absorbed but never pipped the air cell.

On a lighter note

: I candled [day 7] the 35 LF test eggs.......................4 ? clears, 4 w/minimal cloudiness below air sac and 27 developing nicely! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!

Of the 10 Speckled Sussex: 2 probable clears and EIGHT [8] developing!!!

My friend's blue-green egg looked more like a 10-12 day developer. Hm-m-m-m, wonder if Mom had been sitting on it??????????????

Regardless, I won't re-candle until lockdown.


Wow Ronnie, Congrats!

 

[sevenchickens]

Day 21 and I have chicks!!! so far 5/7 have hatched and they all look like Cuckoo Marans even though 3 are EE, 1 Speckled Sussex (I think) and the other is SLW (I think)!

Another one pipped and that is RIR, can't wait to see what he/she looks like!!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

I put 10/12 LF Salmon Faverolles eggs from pasofinofarm into lockdown early this am!

 

[RHewittJr]

7 piped and 1 hatched so far on day 21. Only 19 more to go. Come on guys you can do it!!!

 

[greeneggsandham]

Quote:
sorry you lost one... that's why I pack extras, you never know. Happy hatching all those babies!

Oh don't be sorry. So far this is the best rate I've had on shipped eggs. I'm very excited about them.

 

[sevenchickens]

I have 2 remaining eggs. One has pipped on the bottom of the large side, is this a problem? The other one is just taking it's own sweet time. I see it moving around but it just isn't making any progress. While these two are dawdling they're brothers and sisters (the first one arrived late last night and the most recent was 8:30 this am) are getting sassy, I've been sitting on my hands, not opening the incubator but they are starting to pick and the sides of my bator?!?

 

[lisal124]

I need advice!! Yesterday was lockdown...I only have 11 eggs and when I candled at 14 days, I could actually see a difference, even tho they are BCM and difficult to tell. There were several that I could see the air sac and could tell that the rest of the egg was a lot darker..(I'm assuming filled with chick.)....2 that I was fairly certain were clear...and the rest..I don't know. When I candled yesterday, there were only about 3 that I could see a marked difference in the air sac and the rest of the egg....the rest didn't have that dark area. Are those called quiters? I am so sad and now I'm worried that I won't have any chicks! On top of that, the incubator that had been doing so well before lockdown became possessed and I can't get the temps to stabilize. The back side will read 98.0-99.6/65%...the middle will read 99.6-100.9/64%...and the front side reads 99.1-102.3/55%....I can't get these temps right. I have a small electric heater running in the room because the temps in the room drop at night and during days 1-18, everything worked great. I'm worried that I'm hurting any chicks that may be viable...and I just don't know what to do!

To those that already have chicks...congratulations! I LOVE the pics and have been paying close attention to how things are supposed to look like during the hatching. Thank you!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
Using three thermometers/hygrometers will make you crazy. Decide which one you think is right (probably the middle one) and take out the others, and then quit adjusting things. I KNOW it's hard! Do you have a fan in your bator? That makes a HUGE difference. As far as the eggs go, just leave them all in there. Like you said, marans eggs are so hard to see through, don't toss anything yet. Good luck!!

 

[sevenchickens]

Quote:
I had a whole slew of temp and humidity trouble at lockdown (my temp was only 97.8 for 12 hours). With a little help from fellow BYCers I got through the panic and you will too. I'm having a happy ending. 5/7 have hatched and the last two have pipped. What sort of incubator do you have?

 

[lisal124]

Quote:
I had a whole slew of temp and humidity trouble at lockdown (my temp was only 97.8 for 12 hours). With a little help from fellow BYCers I got through the panic and you will too. I'm having a happy ending. 5/7 have hatched and the last two have pipped. What sort of incubator do you have?

Thank you so much for the words of encouragement...panic would be the right word! I am not a "crier" but I have been close to tears several times today! I have 2 LG with forced air kits. I had set up one for hatching but had problems with temp differences. The one that I used Day 1-18 was fairly steady so I took that top and put it on the bottom of the one I had set up for hatching thinking..problem solved. So wrong! I finally went to bed around 3:30 this morning...up again at 6:00 to find the temps down again and all 3 thermometers reading differently.

I am taking advice and although I can't open the bator and remove the 2 thermometers, I am going to TRY to ignore them and only watch the one in the middle. I want these chicks to be healthy soooo very much! I have wanted chickens for 4 years and finally got to the place where I can take care of them (We built a new house..most of the work ourselves.). I have been so excited and here I am..almost at the end...and I'm scared to death! I'm an open heart surgery ICU nurse..I don't scare easily...but these darn little chick eggs have me worried!!