Only one hatched - help me figure out what went wrong please.

[newdock]

Quote:
They are cuckoo marans. I bought them from here.

Thanks for the compliment. I like them too...and the lady said that they are darker when they first start to lay or after a molt...she was worried that I would think they weren't dark enough.

 

[newdock]

Onto the official day 1 as yesterday was day 0 (I think?)

I have had 4 thermometers in the incubator and they are pretty much all reading differently. It is causing me stress!!

So I have taken 2 out and gone with the two that I think are the most reliable.

Humidity is good.

 

[austinhart123]

well if you have a hatch like last time you have a mama hen and the other way around

 

[newdock]

Day 10 and all is going well.

The incubator (Forced air hovabator) is keeping temp and humidity very constant.

I was away for 4 days and my 14 yr old was looking after the incubator while I was gone. She phoned me the morning of the 3rd day in tears because she thought she killed all the babies.....the humidity dropped to 30% overnight. I explained that it would be okay.

Other than that, there has been no excitement (hooray!).

I am going to try to candle tonight. I have a flood light in a big box with a hole punched in it. I just read a post that suggests a terra cotta pot with a hole on the bottom. Brilliant! Now I will go searching for a terra cotta pot that isn't full of dirt

Too bad I didn't read that post an hour ago.

I know I have seen a diagram on air cell size so I am off to hunt for that so that I have it for my candling tonight (if I can see anything through those dark shells).

 

[newdock]

Well....I tried to candle tonight (day 10) and it wasn't all that successful. It sure is hard to see what's going on in green and chocolate brown eggs!!

I have a few that look like they have blood rings so I marked them with circles on the top...and a couple that looked clear that I wrote "clear" on the top......and many that I just couldn't tell....and some lighter green ones that I could clearly see the veining (hooray!).

Hopefully nothing starts weeping and smelling...I will keep a close eye on the suspected quitters.....

I'm actually kind of glad that the candling was unsuccessful because I won't be tempted to do it too often as I know it won't be that exciting....

Air cells looked like the correct size.

The next 11 days are gonna be looooooooong!

 

[newdock]

Day 14 Candling report

Well..I got a better flashlight from my hubby's work and candled again.

I found 11 eggs that I was confident were not developing so I removed them all and cracked them open. I was correct on all accounts.

There were a couple that were questionable so I left them in.

The ones that I cracked open, about half of them showed no development (they were egg soup); about 1/4 showed some development (blood ring, no visible embryo); and the other 1/4 looked to be about 4-6 days of development.

So I have 25/36 eggs left....
7 out of 12 marans
10 out of 12 easter eggers (mine)
8 out of 12 easter eggers (my friends)

The air cells seemed a tad on the large side so I will up the humidity a few percentages.

 

[newdock]

Well...day 19 has arrived and all is seemingly well.

Temp is a steady 37.5 C and humidity is about 68%.

No peeping or rocking.....yet.

My hopes are high. I moved my 3 week old silkie chicks out of the little brooder and into a segregated, heated area of the hen house so that I can prepare the little brooder for babies.

I may not have to worry too much about a brooder for the babies...everyone seems to be going broody out there! Hopefully I will have enough mommas that I won't have to set up the heat lamp etc.!

 

[Grillmaster33]

Day 19 for me too. I hope that all goes well.
No rocking for me yet either.

Good luck.

 

[newdock]

woot!

Day 19 comes to a quiet end. Nothing going on....YET. I am staying optimistic....last year I had a terrible hatch 2 out of 25.

This year I have been much more careful. The temps and humidity have been stellar and if these darned eggs don't hatch I will be

I have to leave town tomorrow (day 20) for the day as the kids have appointments in the city. It's a good day to stay away....!

 

[newdock]

Day 20 is coming to an end and I woke up to chirping and an egg that is almost zipped.

The little chicky is trying to push the top off and is chirping like mad.

Humidity is 69%. Temp 37.5 C (99.5F)

I can't see him very well (I say him because it has been my experience that the first hatched is a rooster) because I have a styrofoam divider in my incubator to keep my friends' chicks and my chicks separate. I wasn't sure I would be able to tell them apart once they hatched!