~May 4th Hatch~ Whose With Me~~!PICS!~

[JestersEye]

I have a Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco incubator, with forced air. My temps and humidity have been very steady, so I opted to move the two chicks... particularly since the first one came out so early and kinda looked like it was starting to look for food already. I did rewet the sponge pad that I have under the egg tray, however; and was glad I did because I found it almost dry. Even though I opened the 'bator briefly, my humidity appears to have remained fairly level so I'm not concerned. This unit seems to be really good at regulating things, though, so it might depend on the type of incubator you're using. In your case, I'd probably decide to move the hatched chicks out, and do what you can to add humidity back fairly quickly. That's just my opinion...

Good luck!

 

[Grey Bird Farm]

I still have zero pips and it's day 20... all of the eggs that I'm hatching were shipped and many had ruptured air cells. I did a quick candle today, which I didn't have time for when the eggs went into lockdown... I ended up removing 11/23 which were no good.... I candled a few and saw them ready to pip but nobody wants to pip frist

It's uber disappoiting BUT that is the risk of shipped eggs.

I'll post any positive updates when they happen!!

 

[JestersEye]

I also have some shipped eggs in my Brower Top Hatch incubator... coming up on Day 14 tomorrow and getting ready to candle. The batch I have hatching now were bought locally, and even then, I had to remove 6 out of 20 that failed to develop. 14 made it to lockdown, and so far 2 have hatched, and 6 more are showing pips. Still waiting to see the final count, but I'll let ya know.

 

[wegotchickens]

Quote:
A documentary I watched (can't remember the name) said that part of the development and hatching process is for the shells to get thinner and lose substance close to hatch time. That makes it easier for the chick to pip & zip, and increases the potential oxygen intake.
If pip to zip to hatch takes longer than 48 hours something is wrong

I have had babies pip & die partially zipped.
I had a baby last weekend that pipped, then tore open it's own yolk sac while zipping. Made a heck of a mess and the baby died

I have Buff Silkies hopefully hatching today! I had a pip last night, but thought it quit. But as I left for work the hole was bigger.

that she hatches okay and so do her siblings!!

I have 9 d'Uccle chicks under a broody as of last night, with another zipped

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Poop! I came home & found one of the splashes dead

. I noticed it would open it's eyes this morning and I gave it a little bit of water and left for school but I guess it wasn't meant to be. At least the other 5 are doing great, and according to the not so great method of leg sexing I have 2 cockerels and 3 pullets(Including the blue one). So lets hope that that is accurate

. Cute chick pics by the way

 

[JestersEye]

I'm now up to 4 hatched chicks and at least 5 more eggs with pips in them. They all look rather dark-colored so far, but some have some grayish areas (mostly on their bottoms) while others have some cream or buff on them. Not sure what colors they will eventually turn out. The rooster was a black Cochin, and the hen was a blue Cochin. Therefore, theoretically they should all turn out either blue or black. C'mon out, little Chickies... the prolonged suspense is sheer torture!

 

[Grey Bird Farm]

Woke up to 4 chicks... a 5th hatched during breakfast. 1 Olive Egger, 1 F2 Olive Egger, 1 wheaten Marans and 2 light sussex. One doesn't look too well and failed to absorb all of it's 'stuff' it left a big blood spot where it hatched so my fingers are crossed for that little baby. It's day 21 and there is one more sussex pip and the other 6 eggs show nothing. Oh please hatch little babies!!!

 

[JestersEye]

I woke up to find a 'bator full of babies! Of the 14 eggs that made it to lockdown (out of 20 eggs total), 9 chicks have completely hatched, 2 eggs have pipped, and 3 more eggs still show no signs. The humidity levels in the incubator appeared to be decreasing slightly so since it was getting too crowded, I decided to open it and remove the chicks and egg shells. The chicks are now in the brooder box, and the remaining eggs now have more room, which also greatly increases my visibility. I took the opportunity to rewet the sponge pad, and everything looks good again. Luckily, this Brinsea Octagon 20 stabilizes very quickly so the humidity drop hasn't been much of an issue so far. I'm still keeping an eye on the remaining pippers and eggs, though, just in case.

 

[JestersEye]

The current count is 11 hatched and 3 eggs still in the 'bator (at least one of 'em has the beginning of a pip, btw). Here's a sampling of some pics that I took of the babies in the brooder box, to let you see the color ranges I'm getting. This is my first time hatching Cochins, and I'm not sure what colors all these dark-looking chicks will turn out to be: black or blue. The one light-colored chick will undoubtedly turn out to be light blue. (The parents are a black roo over a blue hen, standard size.) What do you all think?

 

[Nu Chix To Cash]

Your lot looks like mine.

I have 16 out but I had a temp. spike yesterday and I still have quite a few eggs that haven't done anything so I'm worried I fried those.

Here are mine.

This little one is my favorite so far

My broodies hatched as well. They have 10 between the two and all are black puffballs.

This was my first time incubating and I learned a lot! The process was really pretty cool but I sure do hope it gets easier the more you do it!