October Hatch-a-long 2022🎃🐣🍁

[AusHen]

I now have 3 duck eggs in lockdown, another 6 about a week behind plus a girl sitting on about 8 eggs.
My shipped chicken eggs haven't done very well, I think I'm down to about 5 maybe 6. most have damaged air cells and half quit or didn't develop but I'll be happy if I get a few chicks, last time I got 1 out of 12.
I also have also just started 20 jumbo quail. Not sure if I'll be doing Silkies this month or next as I'm waiting on a breeder that has buff's, but it seems we are all being struck with broody fever in our flocks

 

[Marten]

Don’t be so hard on yourself, I know it’s easy to blame ourselves for these things but accidents happen. All you can do is the best you can do and it sounds like you did your best to patch it up. Fortunately it is late in incubation so there’s a possibility the chick may survive.

Ya ain't alone in that...master here at it too

Please keep us posted through lockdown how it does.

Thank you both very much, I'm trying to relax a bit... It was just horridly unfortunate timing, really.

The little guy inside the broken egg is still showing a bit of movement this morning, and veins around the side of the air bubble are clearly visible (I can't see much more than that because we're so late in incubation that he's taking up most of the remaining egg space), so all is not yet lost. I'm just really thankful I happened to have an old white taper candle laying around, courtesy of my cottage's previous owners!

Lockdown starts tonight, the second we hit "day 18," so I only have to panic over the cracked egg for a few more days.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Bantam Cochin eggs came today!!!
Ordered 12
They sent 15!
Just like last hatch only ONE egg is labeled buff...so praying it hatches and is healthy!
Got all these colors in the shipment from em:
CM Chocolate mottle,
BFC Black/Chocolate can be smooth or frizzle,
BBM Blue/Black mottle can be smooth or frizzle,
CC Calico/Mille can be smooth or frizzle, LB Lavender/Black can be smooth or frizzle
BBS
Buff

I've never had so many jiggly aircells though...7 out of 15! And atleast 4 bad saddles but still attached.
And of course the Buff egg is very hard to see the aircell at all...so not sure what that means.
Guess time will tell though!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I now have 3 duck eggs in lockdown, another 6 about a week behind plus a girl sitting on about 8 eggs.
My shipped chicken eggs haven't done very well, I think I'm down to about 5 maybe 6. most have damaged air cells and half quit or didn't develop but I'll be happy if I get a few chicks, last time I got 1 out of 12.
I also have also just started 20 jumbo quail. Not sure if I'll be doing Silkies this month or next as I'm waiting on a breeder that has buff's, but it seems we are all being struck with broody fever in our flocks

Fingers crossed the ducklings and chicks hatch for you.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Bantam Cochin eggs came today!!!
Ordered 12
They sent 15!
Just like last hatch only ONE egg is labeled buff...so praying it hatches and is healthy!
Got all these colors in the shipment from em:
CM Chocolate mottle,
BFC Black/Chocolate can be smooth or frizzle,
BBM Blue/Black mottle can be smooth or frizzle,
CC Calico/Mille can be smooth or frizzle, LB Lavender/Black can be smooth or frizzle
BBS
Buff

I've never had so many jiggly aircells though...7 out of 15! And atleast 4 bad saddles but still attached.
And of course the Buff egg is very hard to see the aircell at all...so not sure what that means.
Guess time will tell though!

So exciting!

Only 6 of mine had completely intact air cells when they arrived. There are now 10 that look good. (4 of the jiggly/saddled stabilized), so you never know.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

So exciting!

Only 6 of mine had completely intact air cells when they arrived. There are now 10 that look good. (4 of the jiggly/saddled stabilized), so you never know.

Oh that gives me hope!!!
Thank u!!!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Oh that gives me hope!!!
Thank u!!!

I did not even let myself be excited until I saw the development. Been disappointed so many times with shipped eggs.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Unexpectedly home for the day, so thought I would do something useful.

I love taking photos of the developing eggs, in case you guys haven’t noticed…


When I find something useful and potentially educational for others I archive it for later use. I just pulled the last three eggs that I was pretty sure we’re not likely going to amount to anything, but I gave them another day or two to see what they would do. All three still had very loose wobbly air cells and were also saddled to some degree.

The first egg pictured is clearly a blood ring already here DAY 5. No doubt.

The second and third eggs show examples of unorganized blood vessels and loss of the central embryo and what appears to be vessels just hanging down in strands from the air cell. I have shown these in both color and black and white for emphasis. If I waited another day, these would become “blood rings” as the vessels decompose and settle into a ring around the egg.

Compare these to the two examples of what the developing embryo should look like at this point, both in color and black and white for emphasis in the last photos. Note the organized blood vessels coming out from the embryo.

Hopefully folks who are new to incubating can find this information useful. If you are at all uncertain if your eggs are developing or not, it is always ok to let them stay a bit longer, I feel comfortable pulling these at DAY 5.
Most folks recommend waiting until DAY 10 to pull eggs if you are at all in doubt.

Still have 10 that look great, but there is always the chance of early and late quitters along the way.

 

[Marten]

Hopefully folks who are new to incubating can find this information useful. If you are at all uncertain if your eggs are developing or not, it is always ok to let them stay a bit longer, I feel comfortable pulling these at DAY 5.
Most folks recommend waiting until DAY 10 to pull eggs if you are at all in doubt.

Still have 10 that look great, but there is always the chance of early and late quitters along the way.

Fingers crossed for your 10 that are looking good, I hope they all do well!

And thank you and everyone else who posts development photos anywhere on the forum. Mine are all well past the initial stage, of course, but when I was doing my day 7 and day 10 candlings with just the flashlight on my phone, posts and photos like those made my life much, much easier.

My little broken egg is still showing signs of life, though not exactly like the others. I know I shouldn't be candling as we approach day 19, I should just be leaving him to it, but I'm just worried something is going to go wrong and he'll need help. Would it be okay to leave him until the start of day 20 and then check for internal pipping?

 

[3KillerBs]

When I find something useful and potentially educational for others I archive it for later use.

This could make the start of a good article.

Would it be okay to leave him until the start of day 20 and then check for internal pipping?

I think it would be best to not touch it at all -- because any movement might risk breaking a fragile blood vessel or otherwise doing damage.