Please help me with an incubating problem

[lisahefner]

Hi all! I hope I can get some guidance on this. I had 6 bantams, two were sitting on eggs, and I had several eggs in the fridge from some others. One night, a raccoon came in and slaughtered all my chickens, except for the one hen that had actually hatched two eggs (she was in another place). These were pets to me, and I was just devastated. One of the hens that was killed, had two eggs that survived the slaughter. They were cold when we found them. I took her eggs and put them in a aquarium with a light bulb over them. Got it to around 99-100F. A couple of days later, after reading something on a forum here, I decided to take the eggs in the fridge (I couldn't bring myself no eat them now), and put them in there also. Then I started seeing signs of life, and went and bought a Brinsea Manual Egg Incubator. Now all except 1 are showing signs of life! My problem is, I have one incubator, and these poor eggs are at all different levels of development- and the very first one looks really close to hatching. Does anyone have any tips? Maybe I could put the first one in the aquarium with another heat source, and do the lock down? But I'm not sure what to do. Any ideas greatly appreciated!

 

[Pyotr Koecher]

Hi there! I have tried hatching a few eggs myself, and what I know is your eggs don't exactly need to be hatched right away, as a hen would sit on them for quite awhile. If one is hatching/hatched you can feed them chick feed and water under a warm light (ours is warm enough to feel the heat from about 15 inches away. If some have not hatched, put them back in your incubator. IF they do not hatch within 4 weeks I would dispose of the egg, as it may have not been fertilized. I wish you good luck and hope they all do well.

Sincerely, Pyotr

 

[lisahefner]

Hi Pyotr! I am hoping that I will be able to catch the one that is to start hatching soon and get it out and up the humidity so it hatches ok. I have one egg I took out today that I know is not fertilized. Thank you for responding! I will post again when something hatches.

 

[Pyotr Koecher]

OK! I hope they all hatch right. Just make sure that you keep them warm and well fed. When I raised chicks earlier this year (around April) I kept them in a old oval tin, probably 5' by 2'. We used electrolyte-enhanced water and chick feed with a very warm light overhead, but I'm sure you know what your doing Good luck and I hope everything works out

Sincerely, Pyotr

 

[mirandaleecon]

Do you have any way to monitor/control the humidity in the aquarium? If so, I would try to use this as the lockdown incubator. You would only need to use it for the first couple eggs, all of the others (refrigerator eggs) can be hatched right in the incubator since they will all be on the same day and they will hatch the latest...

 

[lisahefner]

Hi Miranda, I'm working on controlling the humidity in the aquarium. I have to get a hygrometer or moisture reader. I believe that I have a couple of days before lockdown. Wish me luck!

 

[mirandaleecon]

Hi Miranda, I'm working on controlling the humidity in the aquarium. I have to get a hygrometer or moisture reader. I believe that I have a couple of days before lockdown. Wish me luck!

Do you know what an internal pip looks like? If you candle the eggs, the air cell will have a bump on on side. sometimes you can tell it's a beak, sometimes it just looks like a mess of shadows. If you do a search, you can find pictures that are probably more helpful than my description. I would start looking for this and listening for peeps. Both are signs that they should go into lockdown right away.
Good luck!!

 

[lisahefner]

Hi Miranda,

This has really helped! I have found pics, and after candling again, I do not see any signs of pipping yet. And I don't hear anything either. But it is moving around, and responding to my voice. My hygrometer should be here tomorrow, and I should have the aquarium ready! Thank you sooo much! I shall keep you updated

 

[lisahefner]

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to thank you all for helping me! I have a healthy little chick! Last night, I went to candle the eggs, and picked it up and put it to the light and it peeped! and I looked at the shell, and it had pipped! I was so excited! I couldn't get the temp/humidity in the aquarium to balance out, so I cranked the humidity up in the bator and hoped for the best. I was up till 2:30, checking, and nothing much was happening. But this morning, after checking a couple of times, I went in around 10am and there was a hole and it was cheeping away! I cheered it on, and me and the whole family got to see it pop out! I was wonderful! And it is an active little thing! So I lowered the temp, and the other eggs look fine, and they should probably be hatched by this weekend or Tuesday at the latest- depending on when bantams hatch.

Thank you!