May 2020 Hatch-A-Long

[LadiesAndJane]

I have used scotch tape (clear tape on a roll, made for light jobs), split in half so as not to be so wide. That's my favorite for baby chicks.

Observe how the normies stand--how wide apart their legs are as related to their bodies. It's important to give your chick a wide enough stance or she won't be able to walk or maybe not even stand up.

IME, this tape lasts long enough to heal them and is easy, non-traumatic to remove. I do not like the vet tape. It's stiff, too sturdy to be easily removed, and it's hard to split down to a lesser width.

Thank you for all the details. I really appreciate it!

 

[CindyinSD]

I remember my mom going to classes and I would put the Mousercise (Mickey Mouse version of Jazzercise) record on the record player and do that when I was little. LOL!! (I just turned 39 by the way.....I know "record player" sounds ancient! )

Haha! And I remember my dad recording us kids on the reel-to-reel.

 

[FortCluck]

Haha! And I remember my dad recording us kids on the reel-to-reel.

I remember tape players and vhs but nothing much more than that

 

[LadiesAndJane]

So the much addled and saddled ameraucana eggs have the first external pip! It is egg number 11, that almost got culled 4 or 5 times during incubation, as I could not see any progress, but I kept putting it back in as I was not sure. These are blue eggs and VERY hard to candle. Goes to show that too much fiddling is not necessarily a good thing!
Of course I am keeping that chick now, have to right?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Haha! And I remember my dad recording us kids on the reel-to-reel.

I remember tape players and vhs but nothing much more than that

You know you are old when you have to explain what "shrink to fit" jeans are and tell the "youngsters" about the time that phones were mounted on the wall with a cord attached!

 

[sdm111]

Boy look at that structure

 

[LadiesAndJane]

View attachment 2166398

Boy look at that structure

Gorgeous and he knows it!

 

[chelleomum]

Someone's probably said this already, but my guess is that your humidity during incubation was too high for your location. Humidity can spike pretty high during the hatch (which doesn't apply to you in this case), but though it's worth (imo) opening the incubator and sopping up unwanted water, I cannot say it's ever noticeably affected hatching for me.

Looks to me like you're on the river and not much above sea level, so I'm guessing somewhat humid--at any rate, not arid. You could possibly incubate dry and do very well. Many people do. I'm a little over a mile high. Evaporation happens faster up here, and I incubate at 45-55% humidity and have good success. I do know others at my altitude who incubate dry and also do very well, so there's obviously more to it than altitude.

That said, do some research and decide whether this is something you would consider experimenting with. You may also want to weigh your eggs and be guided by water weight loss as to your humidity settings.

Just a bit of council... I started incubating with the least expensive eggs I could find. I hate to see folks start out with expensive eggs, become emotionally invested in the outcome, and end up depressed. Mama hens frequently don't do so well either, especially first-timers, so don't blame yourself. We can only do the best we can do. You will succeed at this so long as you keep up the effort.

Thank you! Yes we have decided to try a dry hatch this time and rely on weight rather than airsac size. Also going to try a different breeder just need to find the eggs we want now! My partner got me some baby chicks so I wasn't too upset by the whole thing bless him and they are now keeping me busy!

 

[FortCluck]

You know you are old when you have to explain what "shrink to fit" jeans are and tell the "youngsters" about the time that phones were mounted on the wall with a cord attached!

I remember phones on the wall lol

 

[sdm111]

Gorgeous and he knows it!

Lol hes already acting like his dad