Operation Dry Hatch

[destin0709]

azhenhouse: I know exactly how you feel, it is almost a week now since my 4 hatched and I'm still sick about loosing all the other babies. Some were chirping and I probly could've helped them but was worried about opening the incubator with the ones that I didn't hear yet and ended up loosing them all anyhow. I am trying shipped eggs once more, but if they don't hatch this time I will be looking for chicks already hatched. Don't know where I'll find them because I can't find the bantam cochin eggs/chicks in the colors I'm looking for in my area either, I even put a want ad in my area...Nothing. And can't find anyone that ships the chicks either.

 

[wholewheatchicken]

ZERO!!! Out of three dozen eggs I got ZERO chicks, ZERO. I opened up my little mover egg today, and it is dead. It would be moving if it were alive, right? It internally pipped, but it looks like it shrink wrapped. I have pictures that I will post later. Out of the three eggs that were with it only one moved once, so I am sure they are gone too. I had such a big head thinking I could incubate some eggs, whatever! I should have taken the signal on day twenty-three when the egg moved non-stop for a couple of hours that it was in trouble, and I probably should have helped it out.

Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. They all started rocken and rollen on day 21 and then nothing and they were shrink wrapped. I upped my humidity on my last hatch and all chicks pipped and all but one made it out. If they were shrink wrapped, it could be your humidity was too low so on your next batch increase it to keep the lining moist. You're not a big head...you can do it!!! I also used a food scale to weigh the eggs so I could track if I was losing too much/too little moisture and that really helped me as I didn't know what an air cell should look like. If you decide to try it next time, weigh the eggs in grams and make a record of it and then calculate a 13% weight loss and divide that by three and you will see how much they should lose every week. I weigh mine again at the end of each week.

 

[immyjay54]

Thanks, Jim. The eggs came all the way from Illinois to Arizona, not an easy trip I'm sure. Plus, packing was kind of hilarious. I don't know if I will do it again, we will see what happens. I am currently trying to find some a little closer. Kris

Kris,
I really don't think that it matter if they are close or not. I am in Pa. received 18 eggs from Calif. hatched 7 beautiful Buff Orpington chicks out of them. I ordered a dozen eggs from a fella that is only about 50 or so miles from me and only 1 even looked a little good at day 7 and by day 14 it had the blood ring. He sent me 15 eggs and not one hatched. I tossed them all at day 18. So you see, it isn't always the distance. I think the usps plays football with these boxes. lol I got 15 from a lady in Fl and hatched 10 and 2 were formed but didn't hatch. Got 17 from Okla and have 12 gorgeous chicks. It is just a gamble on how they treat the boxes I think or someones roo's are not doing the job. But if they start to form, it can't be the roo. Wish I lived closer, I'd give you all the eggs that you wanted to practice on. lol
Jim

 

[chiknaddiction]

My final number ended up being 16 out of 27 fertile eggs, 66% hatch rate. Not bad for the first attempt at incubating, but there is certainly room for improvement. Today is day 23 and there are no signs of movement of piping in the last 11 eggs so I suppose I'll be opening them up later to see what went wrong.

Two of my chicks needed help after they piped halfway out and gave up. I read that you should never help them, but I did anyway. Because they took a long break when they should have been pushing out the membrane in the shell started to dry and became rubbery and glued to their feathers, so no matter how hard they tried they wouldn't have been able to get out. I used a hot wet sponge to moisten the membrane and peel it away. It ended up being a gradual operation. I didn't want to do it all for them so I put them back in the incubator and then about 8 hours later I needed to help them again. I didn't think either one would make it, but after I got them out of their shells and put them back in the bator again they started coming around pretty quickly. They've both been out for a day and a half, doing great, and in with the rest of the chicks in the brooder as of this morning.

Another problem I'm experiencing is one of my silkie chicks got it's leg stuck in the wire floor and looks like it dislocated it's hip joint. Any ideas on what to do? I don't want to watch it slowly die.

 

[wholewheatchicken]

My final number ended up being 16 out of 27 fertile eggs, 66% hatch rate. Not bad for the first attempt at incubating, but there is certainly room for improvement. Today is day 23 and there are no signs of movement of piping in the last 11 eggs so I suppose I'll be opening them up later to see what went wrong.

Two of my chicks needed help after they piped halfway out and gave up. I read that you should never help them, but I did anyway. Because they took a long break when they should have been pushing out the membrane in the shell started to dry and became rubbery and glued to their feathers, so no matter how hard they tried they wouldn't have been able to get out. I used a hot wet sponge to moisten the membrane and peel it away. It ended up being a gradual operation. I didn't want to do it all for them so I put them back in the incubator and then about 8 hours later I needed to help them again. I didn't think either one would make it, but after I got them out of their shells and put them back in the bator again they started coming around pretty quickly. They've both been out for a day and a half, doing great, and in with the rest of the chicks in the brooder as of this morning.

Another problem I'm experiencing is one of my silkie chicks got it's leg stuck in the wire floor and looks like it dislocated it's hip joint. Any ideas on what to do? I don't want to watch it slowly die.

I just didn't want you to think no one was reading your post. I don't have any ideas, I'm sorry.
Good job on helping, though. Congragulations on your new chicks.

 

[immyjay54]

My final number ended up being 16 out of 27 fertile eggs, 66% hatch rate. Not bad for the first attempt at incubating, but there is certainly room for improvement. Today is day 23 and there are no signs of movement of piping in the last 11 eggs so I suppose I'll be opening them up later to see what went wrong.

Two of my chicks needed help after they piped halfway out and gave up. I read that you should never help them, but I did anyway. Because they took a long break when they should have been pushing out the membrane in the shell started to dry and became rubbery and glued to their feathers, so no matter how hard they tried they wouldn't have been able to get out. I used a hot wet sponge to moisten the membrane and peel it away. It ended up being a gradual operation. I didn't want to do it all for them so I put them back in the incubator and then about 8 hours later I needed to help them again. I didn't think either one would make it, but after I got them out of their shells and put them back in the bator again they started coming around pretty quickly. They've both been out for a day and a half, doing great, and in with the rest of the chicks in the brooder as of this morning.

Another problem I'm experiencing is one of my silkie chicks got it's leg stuck in the wire floor and looks like it dislocated it's hip joint. Any ideas on what to do? I don't want to watch it slowly die.

Hi, to the last problem mentioned, I just received some chicks shipped in from a breeder. I'm not saying anything against them but will let you know that I received 10 chicks, 2 died right away. Another one acts like its knee joint is frozen. It cannot straighten it's leg at all. It hops around on one leg. Another one is acting like what you described with the hip. It can put it's leg down but it is out to the side and can't put weight on it.
Last year I had gotten a bunch of chicks in here and they were the new laced brahmas and they started dying really fast after getting them and I contacted Dan Powell ( not who I got them from but he is the man that created this strain ) and he told me that a stressful hatch can cause these problems. Not saying that this is what happen to your but I would say that more then the chick caught it's foot in the wire. I also had one hatch that I had to help out last year and it's toes were curled back under and it could not walk. I had to kill it. This is why I will never help another one out of the shell. I know some work out just fine but I just cannot stand to kill these little ones and if they are deformed that is the best thing to do. I let mother nature take it's course even though we are artificially bringing them into this world. lol This may or may not help you.

 

[azhenhouse]

Here is the picture of the chick, a Buff Orpington Bantam, that I took this morning when I opened it up. It's little beak was through the membrane. Does it look like it shrink wrapped? This is the wide end of the egg, was it in the correct position? How does one know when to open, and help out. I am thinking that on day twenty-three, when this egg was moving like crazy, it was in trouble. That is when I should have poked a small air hole in it to give it some oxygen. My humidity then was up to 58% to 60%. I couldn't get it to go any higher, and the incubator wouldn't hold anymore water without the egg floating. Thoughts???



In the meantime, I came up with a brilliant plan to practice incubating eggs. I have a mixed flock of chickens, and by mixed I mean that I have a few Rhode Island Reds, White Rocks, Barred Rocks, and Easter Eggers, and one Easter Egger rooster. They are all fertile thanks to the rooster. If I breed them then I will have a bunch of mixed breed chicks that I don't want, with the exception of the EE's (although they are not a 'real' breed they would breed true to their standards). Now, just because I am trying to move away from a mixed flock doesn't mean that others out there are. I decided to post a posting on Craigslist. I let everyone know that I needed to practice incubating eggs, and that I would sell any chicks that I hatched, straight run, for a $1.00. I already have an order for twenty chicks. Now, I just need to take everyone's advise and work at having a successful hatch. If I can make it through this hatch then I want to try some more Buff Orpington Bantam eggs.

Please, I will take any advise offered to me. Thx

 

[wholewheatchicken]

Here is the picture of the chick, a Buff Orpington Bantam, that I took this morning when I opened it up. It's little beak was through the membrane. Does it look like it shrink wrapped? This is the wide end of the egg, was it in the correct position? How does one know when to open, and help out. I am thinking that on day twenty-three, when this egg was moving like crazy, it was in trouble. That is when I should have poked a small air hole in it to give it some oxygen. My humidity then was up to 58% to 60%. I couldn't get it to go any higher, and the incubator wouldn't hold anymore water without the egg floating. Thoughts???



In the meantime, I came up with a brilliant plan to practice incubating eggs. I have a mixed flock of chickens, and by mixed I mean that I have a few Rhode Island Reds, White Rocks, Barred Rocks, and Easter Eggers, and one Easter Egger rooster. They are all fertile thanks to the rooster. If I breed them then I will have a bunch of mixed breed chicks that I don't want, with the exception of the EE's (although they are not a 'real' breed they would breed true to their standards). Now, just because I am trying to move away from a mixed flock doesn't mean that others out there are. I decided to post a posting on Craigslist. I let everyone know that I needed to practice incubating eggs, and that I would sell any chicks that I hatched, straight run, for a $1.00. I already have an order for twenty chicks. Now, I just need to take everyone's advise and work at having a successful hatch. If I can make it through this hatch then I want to try some more Buff Orpington Bantam eggs.

Please, I will take any advise offered to me. Thx

I don't know. When I shrink wrapped mine they were really wrapped. The membrane was really white and sucked up to the chick and it just looked bad. Yours looks like it's moist, but I don't have much experience. That is a very good idea that you have come up with on the 1.00 CL listing. I need to list my silkies I hatched out. I don't know what I will do with the Red chicks. I just wanted to practice on my incubator, but it is scary thinking I won't be able to rehome everyone. I wouldn't care if they left for free. They are partridge silkies, but I don't breed back so I can't use them.

 

[immyjay54]

Here is the picture of the chick, a Buff Orpington Bantam, that I took this morning when I opened it up. It's little beak was through the membrane. Does it look like it shrink wrapped? This is the wide end of the egg, was it in the correct position? How does one know when to open, and help out. I am thinking that on day twenty-three, when this egg was moving like crazy, it was in trouble. That is when I should have poked a small air hole in it to give it some oxygen. My humidity then was up to 58% to 60%. I couldn't get it to go any higher, and the incubator wouldn't hold anymore water without the egg floating. Thoughts???



In the meantime, I came up with a brilliant plan to practice incubating eggs. I have a mixed flock of chickens, and by mixed I mean that I have a few Rhode Island Reds, White Rocks, Barred Rocks, and Easter Eggers, and one Easter Egger rooster. They are all fertile thanks to the rooster. If I breed them then I will have a bunch of mixed breed chicks that I don't want, with the exception of the EE's (although they are not a 'real' breed they would breed true to their standards). Now, just because I am trying to move away from a mixed flock doesn't mean that others out there are. I decided to post a posting on Craigslist. I let everyone know that I needed to practice incubating eggs, and that I would sell any chicks that I hatched, straight run, for a $1.00. I already have an order for twenty chicks. Now, I just need to take everyone's advise and work at having a successful hatch. If I can make it through this hatch then I want to try some more Buff Orpington Bantam eggs.

Please, I will take any advise offered to me. Thx

You said the wide end of the egg. If this egg is sitting with pointed end down, it looks like the peep was almost upside down and I had that happen in my last hatch. It pipped but could not do anymore. I'm not sure but I think they drown in the shell if that happens. Just a freak thing. I've only had the one, ever. Oh, that doesn't look shrink wrapped.

 

[destin0709]

azhenhouse: Some of mine looked like that but heads/beak a smudge higher, membrane more white/dry and kinda sucked onto chick when I dabbed water on the membrane then it got clearer and I could see threw it. That looks more wet to me. I don't know. My others never got threw membrane and the membrane too was white/dry on those also.


wholewheatchicken: wish you were closer I was looking for a few silkies.