May Hatch-a-Long!

[Wishapup]

I've got 8 duck eggs in the incubator and today is lock down. I can't see anything though just black and an air cell. Any hope? I've been in hospital the last week and partner has been turning them but he's not as thorough as me. Do you think there's any hope? What should I be able to see?

At lockdown, it sounds normal for the whole egg to be dark. You probably will not be able to distinguish specific features (e.g. foot, beak, head) because the whole egg is a dark mass of chick. Could be wrong, but I'd say it sounds good.

 

[Farmer Viola]

Congrats to everyone on all the new fuzzy butts!! I finally finished up my hatch today. I ended up with 27 new babies. This was out of 40 set with 36 making it to lockdown. Could have been better, but also could have been a lot worse! I'm definitely happy with that percentage, particularly considering that 22 of those eggs were shipped! All my babies are doing great!



Just a few of the little boogers. Not the best pics. My 7 year old had my phone and was making the chicks play photo shoot with her

I candled all the eggs that hadn't hatched and all had failed to internally pip. I eggtopsied several of them and most didn't even make it into position to pip, but they had absorbed yolks and everything

One had made it into position but didn't make it any further. Some were slightly mispositioned and some had aircells slightly mispositioned. I just hate it when they get that close and then don't make it!

that is a great hatch! there is always something to be learned in eggtopsies, though it is hard to see. I have 2 eggs (d22) in the bator that I am pretty sure are dead upon candling, maybe late quitters, some clear around the top near the air cell line. But I dont have the heart to open them yet...

Well 1 of the 9 Serama hens is hatching we saw some chicks under her, she was right on time And we ended up hatching 31 chicks out of 40 in the incubator so thats a pretty good hatch I think. There was 4 of the eggs I was in question about so just left them in the incubator at lockdown. So I am happy with that hatch

very nice congratulations!

I've got 8 duck eggs in the incubator and today is lock down. I can't see anything though just black and an air cell. Any hope? I've been in hospital the last week and partner has been turning them but he's not as thorough as me. Do you think there's any hope? What should I be able to see?

Black and an air cell is exactly how it should look! that means it is very full of chick and should hatch soon. if you saw clear sections instead of black for example, that could mean it died / stopped developing. it sounds like they are right on track

 

[Wishapup]

I hatched out 2 fluffy chicks from my Easter Egger this hatch as an experiment, with all the other breeds. I got one solid white one (or so it looks to be) and a partridge chick. They have obviously inherited muffs, and the blue egg gene I hope! Will have to check their combs. They turned out to be so satisfactory that I've decided to let my broody hen hatch 4 more.

I've tried to move my broody hen 4 times since April. I tried nice, dark, enclosed areas that were raised, on the ground, etc. She wouldn't sit...but when I let her out she went right back to the nest boxes 4 feet off the ground. This week I blocked off the nest boxes and put a cave-shaped cat basket on the straw with some golf balls in it. She sat there, and I thought I could fence her in....but when I opened the boxes for the other hens she went back.

So I'm going to let her hatch in the nesting boxes, and see what happens. Maybe I can move her when they hatch and by that time she'll be occupied with taking care of them.

 

[Farmer Viola]

32 to lockdown, 23 hatched so far; 9 eggs left in the incubator:

• 2 are a day behind, it's their d21 today and they are both internally pipped!
  
• 2 are day 22 and are internally pipped & cheeping
• 2 have external pips!
• 1 of my eggs developed a really weird air cell. it is on the side of the egg. I had these laid on their sides hand-turning for the first half of incubation so maybe that is why. WELL this egg pipped directly downward, opposite end of the air cell. it got rolled over by a chick and luckily I saw it! I turned it over and it's beak is moving, it's alive! I would have thought it would drown being upside down like that. I moistened it's membrane, it looks like it pipped a vein and bled a little on the inside of the membrane when it was upside down. but it lived! I am giving it some more time in case it needs to absorb, since I don't know when the pip actually happened. I think I will probably have to assist it since it is likely very malpositioned due to the air cell location.
• 2 look like late quitters, maybe d18-19. some clear spots around the air cell line.

I hope these last 7 hatch! that would make 30 of 32, and I would be freakin' ecstatic!

 

[MemeGeorge]

Thanks guys fingers crossed my babies make it. I'll consider it a success even if I get one duckling out of these it's like waiting for a baby to be born. Hurry up Monday!

 

[Geremias]

I got my first jersey giant chick yesterday, I was so excited to see the little one under the mama...

 

[ccr chickens]

Did you use the dry hatching method?

 

[Cynthia12]

Wow, there are some great hatches going on. Congratulations! Now, if only my Next hatch will do well. Due to go into lockdown next Mon.

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

Have 2 pips that I can see on my duck eggs. D28 is tomorrow. So hoping to have a few more, one of my boys is working for a couple, and their feed etc. All because he saw 1 try jumping for a feeder.

 

[mrchicks]

Day 20, still staring at silent, non moving eggs. And starting to freak out, just a little bit.....

And if hubby would stop yelling: "Oh look! A pip!" to see how fast I run to look, he might survive this hatch.