My chicks hatched!!! And a question

[Jynestia]

Sorry I've disappeared lately. So much going on since the partner and I started our business. All our hens are laying, we butchered our excess roos for the first time, and I tried out a low tech home made incubator.

The Temps and humidity got messed up A Lot! I thought we'd have none hatch, so I was making plans and gathering materials to dissolve the shells to see how far we got and preserve the failed chicks as a Christmas gift for a rind who loves morbid stuff.

But they started hatching right on time! One hatched and one pipped out of 12. It was a week old egg we started with. 4 were only a few hours old when we started and haven't moved yet.

Fresh baby chick for you!

By the way, should I help the one that is pipped? It's been that way a long time with no more activity.

 

[beetandsteet]

Sorry I've disappeared lately. So much going on since the partner and I started our business. All our hens are laying, we butchered our excess roos for the first time, and I tried out a low tech home made incubator.

The Temps and humidity got messed up A Lot! I thought we'd have none hatch, so I was making plans and gathering materials to dissolve the shells to see how far we got and preserve the failed chicks as a Christmas gift for a rind who loves morbid stuff.

But they started hatching right on time! One hatched and one pipped out of 12. It was a week old egg we started with. 4 were only a few hours old when we started and haven't moved yet.



Fresh baby chick for you!

By the way, should I help the one that is pipped? It's been that way a long time with no more activity.

What a sweet-looking chick!
I see your temperature is only at 94 degrees--I'm sure you do know thats too cold--it should be at 100 (incubator with fan) or 102 (incubator without fan) Make sure your humidity levels are between 60-70%.
Generally once an chick pips it takes between 1-24 hours to "unzip" the shell. More chicks have been harmed by people helping them, than they do by getting stuck. If your humidity is ok, I wouldn't worry. I just had a hatch where the older eggs hatched first...

 

[Jynestia]

Yes I do know thays too cold, but controlling g the temp in my redneck incubator is a bit of an art. That thermometer will change readings depending on which direction it's facing and whether or not it's directly under the light. It's definitely getting upgraded.

Everyone is hatching and no one is shivering so I'm pretty sure the reading is lower than then actual temperature. The chicks are even comfortable enough to get up and climb all over their brother and sisters eggs.

I've been keeping an eye out though. Thanks for the tip!

 

[beetandsteet]

Yes I do know thays too cold, but controlling g the temp in my redneck incubator is a bit of an art. That thermometer will change readings depending on which direction it's facing and whether or not it's directly under the light. It's definitely getting upgraded.

Everyone is hatching and no one is shivering so I'm pretty sure the reading is lower than then actual temperature. The chicks are even comfortable enough to get up and climb all over their brother and sisters eggs.

I've been keeping an eye out though. Thanks for the tip!

That's so fantastic! You're brave to hatch in a homemade incubator!!!!! So glad you had success with it!

 

[Jynestia]

Probably more I'll advised lol. It was an experiment. I didn't want to buy the expensive incubator and the partner did. I convinced him to let me try it on the cheap first.

I put in 12 eggs (one double yolker for kicks to see what happened) and so far 2 healthy hatchlings, one more normal one pipped, and one of the chicks in the double yolker pipped. The one at the wrong end of the egg too!

 

[Jynestia]

***UPDATE***

I now have 2 healthy hatchlings, one normal egg unzipping, one normal egg pipped, and my twins pipped!

Out of 11 normal eggs and 1 double yolk that went into my home made incubator so excited!!

 

[beetandsteet]

Yay! Does the double yolker have 2 babies in it? Please post pics if it does! I've never heard of a double yolked egg that made it all the way through incubation.

 

[Jynestia]

I will when I get home. I don't know if both embryos grew. Only that it had two yolks because it's the size of all the other double yolker I had. It was actually the biggest one. I get one about every other day so I'm pretty sure it's one hen making them all. I have one duck that does it too.

I never made a good enough candling set up so I have no clue what's inside any of the eggs.

I plan to record the whole twin hatch. They've got 3 more hours to progress on their own before we intervene. The pipped one did manage to try to start zipping it looks like. It's membrane that was showing is ripped more than it was this morning. I think it's too crammed to move effectively and zip all the way on its own.

 

[beetandsteet]

I hope they make it! I just finished up a hatch this morning----several of the ones that didn't make it had pipped on the wrong end and died (I think I have some genetic issues in my flock). One of the wrong-end babies was just about half an hour away from the point where I was going to help it (it had pipped over 24 hours before)--but then it died. Watch the one with the wrong-end pip closely. On the brighter side, I did have a wrong-end pip chick hatch a few hours ago, and although it's somewhat weak, it appears to be thriving.