November/December "Hatch-a-Long"

[Heidisgran]

Quote: good idea

 

[MrsJenSmith2007]

since your leaving some that your sure aren't developing...if it were me....I would look again in maybe 3 or 4 days...you don't want one to rot in there it could ooze or pop open and contaminate the others

Good point. So in another 3-4 days I should see movement in ALL eggs that are viable? If I know that's the case I will be confident in tossing. Also, I guess I will know which ones have not developed beyond where they were today.

 

[Farmer Viola]

Good point. So in another 3-4 days I should see movement in ALL eggs that are viable? If I know that's the case I will be confident in tossing. Also, I guess I will know which ones have not developed beyond where they were today.

one thing I think I will do different next time, maybe this will help you idk, I will put the eggs in a different location in the incubator each time I candle. I suspect I have hot/cool spots in the incubator.. last time I was careful to put them back in the same order each time.

 

[MrsJenSmith2007]

one thing I think I will do different next time, maybe this will help you idk, I will put the eggs in a different location in the incubator each time I candle. I suspect I have hot/cool spots in the incubator.. last time I was careful to put them back in the same order each time.

That's an excellent point I totally should have thought of because I noticed during candling that some eggs felt warmer than others to the touch so I assume I have some hot/cold spots in my bator as well. I think I will do that next time. I'm trying to really limit the times I candle this time because I think I did too much of it last time. Trying to only do it when it will benefit the hatch, not just when I want to see chickies or set my mind at ease!

 

[chickydee64]

one thing I think I will do different next time, maybe this will help you idk, I will put the eggs in a different location in the incubator each time I candle. I suspect I have hot/cool spots in the incubator.. last time I was careful to put them back in the same order each time.

HI, I do not know if it helps or just makes me feel better..................
I rotate my eggs about once a week because I have a still air.
That way I am certain that all of them have had time directly under the heaters.........

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I'm not sure since this was my first try.. but watching them try to get out of the egg with it upright, it definitely looks more difficult for the chick. I imagine with the eggs on their sides, they can cut the shell in half and just wiggle out. With the carton, they have to pop the top, and then somehow climb out of the (relatively deep) egg. It's quite a feat. everything inside me wants to help them, but you cant...

I put them on their sides with air cells up and facing my (expensive 1/2" acrylic) door. In order to tell who is whom if I'm not home or asleep, I put sanitized plastic berry baskets over each Marans egg so I can tell which egg they came out of until I can toe punch for ID. The Faverolles crosses have been separated by shell color (blue and brown) so I'll at least know which are EE mixes. Temp is 99.5, RH 65%. I have noted that if I open the door for a quick moment, the temp and RH come right back. I'm going to need to add water at some point as it is evaporating much faster with more surface area exposed.

Waiting. Somewhat patiently.

Where is the smiley in lotus position?

 

[gimmie birdies]

what bator are you using?

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

what bator are you using?

If you were responding to my post, I have an old GQF 1266 cabinet model. Oldie but goodie I'm told. This is my test hatch in it, though I spent several days in a dry run before I had the eggs to play with temps and getting RH up there for hatching.

 

[Manningjw]

This article might help http://www.brinsea.com/customerservice/poweroff.html

Thanks, I read that article before but it seems the best advice is wait and see whenever you have temp issues up or down for whatever length of time.

Anyhow, I am happy to report that out of 13 eggs every single one of them went into lockdown though I didn't candle on lockdown, I candled the day before because I had to rush to work when I was putting them in lockdown on day 18. So far 7 eggs have hatched, several more have pipped and a couple I am just waiting to see what happens if they pip or not. If they do not pip can I candle them to see if there is movement or and internal pip? I am starting on day 22 now and the first egg hatched about 24 hours ago.

 

[ellieemae]

Well, I believe my hatch to be done but I do still have two eggs in the bator on Day 24. I candled them last night and one had a moving chick in it but I need to read about what to do about that. I did not see an internal pip. The other egg is just too dark for me to see into but it feels very dense.

Not that unhatched eggs is my biggest problem/issue right now. Late on day 22 I had a chick hatch which was vigorous, chirping loudly, doing everything that the others have done but I noticed that it was dragging a big bloody blob behind it! I scooped the wee one up to examine and it appears to be the yolk sac. But we're not talking a SMALL egg sack. I've read on here about people noticiing pea-sized or kidney-bean sized yolk sacs. No, we're talking marble sized, with great big vessels. It's like the chick didn't absorb much of it at all! So I followed protocol for a chick with a yolk sac and I placed it in a disposable plastic cup in my incubator on a warm, moist paper towel and I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Last night there was no change in the yolk sac. The chick had started to get weak around 7 p.m. and the peeps became infrequent. His/her eyes were half closed. So I mixed up a batch of Sav-a-Chick and offered it via a tiny syringe. The chick took that enthusiastically and is back to its old self, loudly peeping, trying to get out of the cup, etc. Also last night I decided that the yolk sac was not going to shrink so I tried tying it off with dental floss and applied some Bacitracin to the umblilicus. it has shrunk a little now, but not as much as I expected, and it still bleeds if the biggest vessel on the end is rubbed at all. This doesn't seem to bother little "Yolk-o" but it sure bothers me! I'd really like to get this chick in with the others but its still in the bator. Any other ideas? There is just still too much blood in the sac to cut it, I think. I can see the very obvious vessels. It's so strange, too, because this does not seem like a chick who hatched too early. It's big and vigorous and it hatched a day later than all of the others...all of whom were perfectly fine. Is this a deformity of some sort? Are there related problems that I need to watch for? Baby *is* pooping, so I know that function works!