May 2020 Hatch-A-Long

[LadiesAndJane]

So, finally able to see into my lavender ameraucana eggs, day 9 of incubation. Challenging to say the least. These eggs were shipped, and I think the post office was especially hard on them. I guess "fragile" means use the box for a kick ball! One of the eggs was broken upon delivery, so that should have given me a clue. They were well packed overall. Today was the first day I was able to see anything. One was infertile, so I cracked it open to see if I was right, and I was, thankfully. 5 appear to be "early quitters" I could not see any clear air cells, saw some things floating around and no sign of movement. 7 have veining and movement and also huge saddles. They are all now sitting upright in little cartons and will be babied and hopefully a few will hatch but I am not very hopeful. These eggs sat 24 hours before being set and I did not turn them for another 24 hours after placing them in the incubator. I guess there is only so much you can do.
So, 2 questions: how long should I hang on to the "early quitters" before culling them? I have middle aged eye sight and first time candling these gorgeous blue eggs.
Secondly, I do have another dozen ameraucana eggs coming at the end of the month. Is there anything I should do differently to increase the odds with the next bunch?
I bought them as a "back up" order in anticipation of the problems with shipped eggs.
Thanks for any suggestions! You guys all rock!

 

[FortCluck]

All my maran eggs look AMAZING. I had to only pull one so 10 have officially made it to lockdown out of 12. Lots of good movement!

 

[CindyinSD]

how long should I hang on to the "early quitters" before culling them? I have middle aged eye sight and first time candling these gorgeous blue eggs.

I usually give them at least day or two. If they're dead, the eggs will just keep looking deader. It won't hurt to leave them until you're certain.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I usually give them at least day or two. If they're dead, the eggs will just keep looking deader. It won't hurt to leave them until you're certain.

Thanks! I will give it to next candling day 13-14.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I tried all day to refrain from candling today ... and.... I caved lol I’m one oh those people too I can’t help myself

I’ll be curious to see how this chick does for you a The internal pip and time inside is the changeover in respiration. The ones I’ve had externally pip at the same time that they internally pip they have passed. Not though that my experience is all with exotics not chickens so that may make a difference but the stages I believe are the same. I’ve had 4 Malpositions pip external in their attempt to pip internal and 2 died in shell one pipped through a vessel, one seemed to have completed respiration change over but never tried to zip. The two that got out one had half his yolk still out and was dead when I found him and the fourth was perfect looking when I returned to check after work but he was dead still curled as if he was in the egg though the shell was no where to be found it looked like it had maybe hatched and layed curled up exhausted and passed Malpositions are hard especially if you aren’t there when they pip and if they are with the parents it an added challenge

I used to breed, hatch, and hand raise conures, lovebirds, parrotlets, etc. back when I was a teenager. It was WAY more effort than hatching poultry, lol, so if you have done that then poultry should be a breeze for you!
I've hatched hundreds of poultry chicks now and those that have done hatch-a-longs with me in the past know that I have zero ability to leave any remaining stragglers without at least trying to assist, lol. I'm very hands off in the beginning of a hatch as long as everything is going smoothly but once a hatch winds down and I see something is haywire, I poke around and see if I can help. I've had many successful assists so it's definitely possible! I don't think I've lost any chicks that have managed to pip externally. It's those malpositions where the face is difficult to locate that are the hardest to assist.

 

[CindyinSD]

The two poults that made it are having a bit of trouble. One leans and falls to the left, the other can’t peep! You can see it making the motions and sometimes a tiny noise comes out, but it’s pretty much mute 95% of the time. So weird...

Vitamin b complex good idea to boost a little in some water? They both hatched yesterday evening.

Vitamins in the water, yes. A bit of sugar or honey could be helpful. How are they doing now?

 

[CindyinSD]

Thanks! Hope these little things pull through. They are so weak compared to chicks. Very surprised at the difference. Is this normal though? Holy cow I feel like a noob at the moment lol

They're actually not typically that weak. They're more delicate than chicks, though. As long as they're healthy, they're pretty perky.

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Vitamins in the water, yes. A bit of sugar or honey could be helpful. How are they doing now?

They’re not doing so hot. Hand feeding and watering them in hopes that they’ll flip in the right direction. If my son and I haven’t been taking turns feeding/watering them, they would be dead. My guess is whatever happened when the power went out, they were affected too

My son has wanted these turkeys for quite some time, so he’s not going to give up until they do.

 

[kelseyk]

Candled my OE eggs that got held at the post office of origin for 3 days before shipping (day 14)....down 2 more....only 3 left. (Started with 7) The double yolk may have started but quit and the other that I was questionable if it was a clear was still not showing anything.

3 bad batches of eggs in a row definitely stinks! Hopefully my June hatches go better than these last 3.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I want to candle my eggs so bad but I’m trying to wait because I know I probably won’t see anything now anyway