Pip but no movement - shrink wrapped?

[OneFowlMama]

one thing that helps if your seeing a lot of temp fluctuation is set the incubator inside like a Styrofoam cooler or wrap a blanket around the bottom and sides

Bugger I had Styrofoam that it came in originally that would've been perfect for that! Still no changes... My hairs about to go even more gray I'm feeling lol. Would they all usually pip/hatch around the same time or is it common to have an early bird of the bunch?

 

[OneFowlMama]

I decided to risk the biscuit and do a candle, it looks like the bubs had tried to pip internally but couldn't, there's no movement in any of the other 5 eggs. I'm devastated but grateful for the knowledge they've given me, some appear to still have amniotic fluid around them so I think I'm going to try dry incubation for the first 18 days with my australorp dozen in the new incubator. Thank you all for all your knowledge, thoughts and kindness. A very sad ending to a promising start.

 

[slordaz]

so sorry, if there is a lot of darker fluid the chicks died several days ago. what elevation are you at? I hatch at about 5k above sea level and have to keep it about 25-30% for first 18 days then kick it up to 60-70% humidity

 

[slordaz]

Bugger I had Styrofoam that it came in originally that would've been perfect for that! Still no changes... My hairs about to go even more gray I'm feeling lol. Would they all usually pip/hatch around the same time or is it common to have an early bird of the bunch?

I usually get at least 1 over achiever every hatch

 

[OneFowlMama]

so sorry, if there is a lot of darker fluid the chicks died several days ago. what elevation are you at? I hatch at about 5k above sea level and have to keep it about 25-30% for first 18 days then kick it up to 60-70% humidity

I just did a google as I wasn't sure lol but it says around 239m above sea level which isn't all that much I don't think? I'm reading the book for the new incubator now, it has two water basins you fill externally, one keeps it between 45-55% humidity for the first 18 days and then you fill two during lock down to reach 60-65% humidity. I'll set it up today and see what my humidity reader says it is without any water in the basin at first, the idea of dry incubation still seems kinda scary to me though.

They definitely had some darker fluid, two even had what looked to be a bubble at the pointed end and one looked as though the membrane had failed when I laid it on its side into lock down sadly. I had no end of trouble with the incubator they were in so I'm trying not to be as hard on myself, the numbers seemed mostly right when the bator didn't have a mind of its own and honestly checking it every 2 hours for the last 3 weeks is definitely something I'm not going to miss. I'm still very sad for my bubs though, bless them.

 

[slordaz]

I just did a google as I wasn't sure lol but it says around 239m above sea level which isn't all that much I don't think? I'm reading the book for the new incubator now, it has two water basins you fill externally, one keeps it between 45-55% humidity for the first 18 days and then you fill two during lock down to reach 60-65% humidity. I'll set it up today and see what my humidity reader says it is without any water in the basin at first, the idea of dry incubation still seems kinda scary to me though.

They definitely had some darker fluid, two even had what looked to be a bubble at the pointed end and one looked as though the membrane had failed when I laid it on its side into lock down sadly. I had no end of trouble with the incubator they were in so I'm trying not to be as hard on myself, the numbers seemed mostly right when the bator didn't have a mind of its own and honestly checking it every 2 hours for the last 3 weeks is definitely something I'm not going to miss. I'm still very sad for my bubs though, bless them.

you want to sterilize it in between hatches, and set it up 24 hours so you can make sure it's stable before putting your eggs in to start incubation. I also tend to like the ones where they are being turned but in the laying down position. Candling I do at day 7 and again at day 18 is all

 

[OneFowlMama]

you want to sterilize it in between hatches, and set it up 24 hours so you can make sure it's stable before putting your eggs in to start incubation

Yeah I've got the old one sitting on the floor ready to pull apart for cleaning, I'm going to keep it still as a back up incubator. The australorp eggs I have were laid Saturday so I can get away with leaving the new incubator run for 2 days just to make sure it's stable, I'll try the first 24 hours with no added water and check its humidity then depending what it says I may end up adding water into the 18 day basin. Sounds a bit silly to be dubious of $600 artificial womb technology lol but after this cheap one I've lost faith in robots for a while!

 

[slordaz]

one thing to remember is to check with a calibrated thermometer, all around the incubator, that will tell you 1 how well it maintains the temp after being opened and 2 if you have any cool spots.

I noticed with the little one at one eds I would get one temp and humidity but at the other end it was different, if this is an issue, carefully just rotate the eggs every day until lock down.

 

[OneFowlMama]

one thing to remember is to check with a calibrated thermometer, all around the incubator, that will tell you 1 how well it maintains the temp after being opened and 2 if you have any cool spots

I've got my thermo/hygro handy from my previous attempt, I will say I did not alot of hot spots more than cool ones in the incubator I just used, I think it's because the heater and fan were on the bottom of it which makes me suspicious that being placed direcrlty atop of that might have done some damage to my bubs when I put them in lock down... This ones heater and fan are inbuilt into the lid which to me should theoretically keep a more even heat throughout, but time and probing will tell I guess, definitely going to check it over probably too many times to make sure it's stable before I put these bubs in!

 

[OneFowlMama]

I've set up the new incubator, I've decided to call it the lambo of incubators in comparison to my old one lol! It's heated up extremely fast and I can actually hear the fan motoring away strongly inside. I'll leave it for a while and check the temp against the thermometer I have inside as well as the humidity, here's hoping it all works good and my australorp eggs will have a happy ending in a few weeks time!