Need hatch buddies for or close to the 18th!

[bustermommy]

I dropped one. Stuff happens. I just told myself it was a roo anyway.

For some reason that made me feel better.

 

[laverne]

I know I'm coming in late on this, but I'm fairly new to BYC and I just discovered this thread. I took a risk and made a homemade incubator out of a styrofoam cooler and ordered shipped eggs so I was pretty nervous thinking I might not get any to hatch. I put them in on Nov 1st and candled them for the second time tonight. Out of 18 I have 9 that are definitely developing! I'm so excited!

This is my first hatch so now I just need to worry about making it through lockdown this weekend... I'm going to be a wreck when they start peeping from inside the eggs! I'm trying not to count my chicks before they hatch but I'm pretty hopeful that at least some will make it at this point!

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Quote:
Well

!!

 

[Cynthia12]

Quote:
How big a crack? Did you do anything yet? I've heard of putting bandaids on the cracks..melted wax...maybe you are close enough to have it hatch? Keep the humidity up where it's supposed to be, it just may make it..good luck..we will be waiting to see how this works out for you.

 

[Cynthia12]

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laverne..

Homemade? Wow, I'm always amazed at folks that can do that. And so far, think about it, you have a 50% hatch rate if they all hatch..I'll go ahead and count your chicks for you before they hatch.

 

[Cynthia12]

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That black girl looks like she could have some game in her. Is she the one that you say lays often, or are you talking about the EE. I have never had an EE that lays that often. If it's the black girl, she could have marans in her..or a black sex link..they lay often. Pretty birds though!

 

[Cynthia12]

Now for my bad news. Candled last night, and I had a quitter! That is interesting..doesn't usually happen this far into the incubation..now I'm trying to remember the last time I candled. It was very much alive. I've also wondering what I did! I always wash my hands. All I can say is, at least it wasn't one of my blue/green eggs. That's what I'm wanting the most. EE's. I have two marans in there that are doing real well...marans mix. Dark eggs..very pretty.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

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Me too. I threw out a b/lc, 2 mtc, and an emc. (cochins).

They were probably all roosters anyway.

 

[Cynthia12]

yep, roosters for sure.
Tonight, I get my eggs out of the turner, lay them on their side, and turn up the humidity. I usually have to put a couple of sponges in my bator to get the humidity up where I want it. Then, I don't watch so much the first day, but my poor back is in for it come the second night..

 

[laverne]

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I'm very surprised that it's going as well as it is! I'm pretty new to this but we've opened all the eggs that haven't made it this far and 4 were definitely fertilized but didn't seem to develop (3 of them had displaced air cells so maybe that's why). I won an auction from these boards for 12 eggs and was sent 6 extras. I definitely had over 12 that were fertilized so since I was expecting 12 eggs and I've gotten 9 this far I'm really excited!!

I'm reading all the horror stories on these forums about not getting the humidity right in lockdown and not having any of them pip, so that's my next challenge. I'll be really disappointed if something goes wrong in the last bit.

It was definitely a struggle figuring out how to get the temp in the cooler to stabilize but if I have some adorable chicks in a week it'll totally be worth it. So far 4 of the 9 are silkies from a pen with frizzles so I can't wait to see how cute they are as chicks!!