Please Help Me! Hatching Chicks For The First Time And Am Stressed

[BrownEggFan]

ASB, I'm new to this as well, but I wouldn't worry about candling at this time. I know there was another member who had chicks hatch on day 24. If eggs are rocking and chicks are piping, I'd just take a deep breath and wait it out a while. If you have a specific chick that has been working for a day or two without much progress, you may want to help it a LITTLE! If there is any bleeding stop helping. Other than that, it sounds like you are doing everything right from what I've heard.

 

[jossanne]

When I've got eggs left a while after the others have hatched, I will do as the other poster does, and pick a small hole in the shell. I look to see if the baby's moving or if it's dead. If it's dead, I take it out. If it's moving, I put it back, and sometimes will pick the hole a bit larger to encourage and help the baby. I've had good luck and bad luck with this, but feel like it's been worth it for the few chicks that I've saved.

 

[asb]

Sounds great! Thanks for the advice! I saved one last night!!!!! It had been trying to get out for 2 days, a beautiful little wheaten maran, my husband and i zipped it around the edge from the pipped hole that it had made, and I watched for an hour while nothing happened and then went to bed. I woke up and it was walking around! It looks like it was a little weak, but I think will end up being fine! I am so excited, I was so nervous, but when we were doing it, it was pretty easy just to get the shell and not the membrane. Thanks everyone for your advice! I may need to help the last one trying to hatch, but it did make a tiny bit of progress last night, so I will wait to see what it does today. I think I will try and poke a hole in the others as it is day 24. I haven't seen any others move for a day or so, but still wonder if any could be alive since there were others that had moved and didn't pip. Do I poke a hole with an exacto knife or something sharp like that?

 

[SportChick]

I've never actually tried to pip for them but I read somewhere else on the forum that you can use a nail over the aircell to pip a hole in the shell. You need to make a big enough hole that you can see if the chick has pipped through the aircell or not.

There is a description of this on the eggtopsy thread.

 

[asb]

Okay, so I took the rest of the egg out and cracked them to see what had happened. 5 had not developed, basically looked like cracking a regular egg. There were 8 that looked completely developed, but never pipped! From what I've read it sounds like my humidity was too low, is that what everybody thinks? I have more eggs getting shipped to me right now and I definitely will get a humidity thermometer, does anybody know where to get those? And one other question, is it day 19 at the same time I put them in the incubator that I should add water and go to lock down or day 18? I think that may have been my problem...

 

[scbatz33]

You can get a hygrometer at wal mart. But make sure you test it to see if it's off or not. They are very rarely correct. I'll find the direction s and post them - it has to do with salt and water and a glass........

I bump the humidity on day 18. Of course I use a hatcher so it's higher than my incubator. But on day 18 they get transferred over to the hatcher with humidity at about 60%-70%.

I incubate at about 40%

 

[scbatz33]

the way you can test to see how close the mercury them is to place it in a glass of ice and water, and let it stay in it for ten minutes and it should read 32 deg.

to calbrate the humidty guage, place 1/4 cup of salt in glass and 1/2 cup of water and mix up and place humidty guage on side of glass, then place glass and guage in zip lock bag for 8 hours and should read 75% (if it reads 81% you know it is off +6%, if it reads 60% you know it is off -15%. )

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Ooops .... it is the other way around .... 1/2 cup salt and 1/4 cup water.

Another tip ... be sure the salty slurry does not touch the hygrometer. The cup of slurry is in the 1 gallon size zip lock bag, then put the hygrometer into the bag, but not in the slurry. Zip lock the bag closed.

 

[asb]

okay awesome! thanks everyone! I will go get that from walmart today, my eggs actually will arrive today so I will tip them large end up overnight to setup and then put them in tomorrow... I hope this is better, it killed me to see the chicks so developed inside the eggs but not to hatch.

 

[asb]

I think it was the morning of the 19th day that I bumped up humidity and put them in lockdown... Do you think that is why I had problems? If I start Day 1 at 8:00 a.m. in the incubator, should I put them in lockdown on day 18 at 8:00 a.m.? Sorry to sound dumb, I just want to do this right this time.