November Hatch-A-Long (2014)

[Iko127]

I have a few pics of the group!! Will take some individual ones soon but too much to do today I did just set my 66 eggs and hope the bators stay good!!

 

[Rainier]

Only one chick made it out of 6 that made it to lock down. The little one that I was worried about passed last night. The other one is doing really good.

I set 24 eggs last night but I have a feeling four - five of them are to porous to make it to lock down. Day 21 is Dec 7th.

 

[AHenry]

I've been without my phone for about a week. Sorry I missed everyone's updates. I am catching up.
As for me... the temps have fluctuated between 88° & 102°. The babies don't seem to mind too much. (The average temp is about 99.)
I am a lil worried about how small the air cells are. I have had no water in with them, yet the air still seems possibly too humid. I'm not sure.
I am also worried about them hatching into a household of sickies, but hopefully we will be better by then.
I must say...if these babies hatch, these are gonna be some tough chicks for surviving all these eggs have been through! LoL

Now to catch up on what I've missed.
Congrats on any new hatches!

 

[Autumn Leaves]

So I'm at day 14 of my Light Sussex/Duccle incubation.

I have 10 eggs left total. I saw movement in 9 of them, #10 looks like an early quitter. I left it in by its self and will recandle tomorrow before tossing.

So . . .of the 10 eggs I ordered (12 received) from Papa's Poultry - I have 8 at day 14. He rocks.

I only have 1 Duccle - I am praying that she is a she.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Fullofstitches]

Day 14, and I opened the clears. None of the R2 (green-egg Rhodebars) had even started. So, of my original order of 15 Legbars (which had stopped laying in time for my order - bad timing on my part), I have a variety of 8 eggs still kicking. Four more days until lockdown.

But! My eggs have serious saddles! And, 2 of the eggs I opened had white-dried looking membranes. Help? They're weight is great, but I'm concerned the chicks may have issues hatching. Any suggestions?

 

[vpatt]

Day 14, and I opened the clears. None of the R2 (green-egg Rhodebars) had even started. So, of my original order of 15 Legbars (which had stopped laying in time for my order - bad timing on my part), I have a variety of 8 eggs still kicking. Four more days until lockdown.

But! My eggs have serious saddles! And, 2 of the eggs I opened had white-dried looking membranes. Help? They're weight is great, but I'm concerned the chicks may have issues hatching. Any suggestions?

What are saddles?

 

[ochochicas]

Day 14, and I opened the clears. None of the R2 (green-egg Rhodebars) had even started.

So, of my original order of 15 Legbars (which had stopped laying in time for my order - bad timing on my part), I have a variety of 8 eggs still kicking. Four more days until lockdown.

But! My eggs have serious saddles! And, 2 of the eggs I opened had white-dried looking membranes. Help? They're weight is great, but I'm concerned the chicks may have issues hatching. Any suggestions?

I don't really have any experience with saddle air cells, but I would think if you put the eggs at lockdown so the largest part of the air cell is closest to the top (up side) it would help. I had 6 chicks that pipped on the wrong end and they all survived, so not having a good air cell to pip into isn't always a deal breaker.

Do you still have Legbar eggs in the incubator?

 

[michael1003]

My chicks just piped the air cell last night around 1am geting so close.

 

[Fullofstitches]

What are saddles?

I don't really have any experience with saddle air cells, but I would think if you put the eggs at lockdown so the largest part of the air cell is closest to the top (up side) it would help.  I had 6 chicks that pipped on the wrong end and they all survived, so not having a good air cell to pip into isn't always a deal breaker.

Do you still have Legbar eggs in the incubator?

Yes, out of the four Legbar eggs that I did receive, two are still alive and kicking! One has a bad saddle shaped air cell. (Edited to clarify)

Of the two removed, one had "sap" spots and didn't vein, but didn't quite look right (a second egg with less sap spots was just removed, but was clear) - I think the yolk got scrambled in shipping; the other one had started growing, but formed the blood ring and stopped growing.

Can you see the lines I drew on the eggs? When candling (using a bright light to look into the egg), I trace the edge of the air cell that is supposed to be at the top (bigger end) of the egg. Instead of being round or oval, the air cells have what look like extra pockets reaching down the sides of the egg. I'm going to try leaving these in the carton for hatch to keep them better angled so the largest section of air cell is up, but I'll have to watch more carefully for pips at the wrong end.

My other concern, though, is that a couple of the eggs that didn't grow embryos had dried membranes.

 

[Fullofstitches]

My chicks just piped the air cell last night around 1am geting so close.

Almost there! That's the hardest part for me, waiting when I see they've started The Great Egg-scape!