Question on Little serama wings

[Karilcole]

You’re right @Karilcole! Seasons did start out a lot like your biggest one. I’m going to love seeing how both of yours feather-out. Aren’t Serama chicks some of the cutest little chicks ever?! I had 1 (chipmunk stripe) hatch yesterday in the incubator. I placed it under the mama (she immediately accepted it), and her 2nd (under her now) will be hatching in the next few days. Plus, I have her other 3 internally pipped in the incubator. I took 4 from her, since she’s too tiny to cover all 5 eggs adequately. And, she’s a 1st-time mama, so I wasn’t certain whether she’d even stay on the nest the entire time. She turned out to be excellent, like the rest of my Serama broodies. I keep telling myself no more chicks this year. Well, after this brood no more “chicken” chicks this year… only King and Bobwhite quail.

Omg yes they are! I have 9 light Brahmas & I love them. Hatched some for my niece & loved hatching them, but there is just something about these little babies that is just….idk
I started with 21 serama eggs, 9 made it to lockdown & 4 hatched. A few days later I lost 2 of them. I’m giving it 1 more go at hatching them. They go in the bator tomorrow. If I have the same outcome, I will love the 1s I got but I don’t think I can ride that anxiety, excitement and sadness rollercoaster again. I just hope I’m doing everything right (which is from all the research on BYC) Any advice for hatching ya want to throw at me? LoL

 

[WoDia]

Omg yes they are! I have 9 light Brahmas & I love them. Hatched some for my niece & loved hatching them, but there is just something about these little babies that is just….idk
I started with 21 serama eggs, 9 made it to lockdown & 4 hatched. A few days later I lost 2 of them. I’m giving it 1 more go at hatching them. They go in the bator tomorrow. If I have the same outcome, I will love the 1s I got but I don’t think I can ride that anxiety, excitement and sadness rollercoaster again. I just hope I’m doing everything right (which is from all the research on BYC) Any advice for hatching ya want to throw at me? LoL

They are not the easiest to incubate. It can be anxiety-ridden. A lot of factors have to be considered. If your setup isn’t producing good results, change it… location, incubator, anything.

I really prefer to let my broody Seramas do it (they do go VERY broody), and I’ve discovered that they are excellent at it.

The more often you incubate them yourself, the better you’ll be at determining which conditions contribute to having successful hatches.

I move all of my broodies to their own little quiet, stress-free “maternity” area. Close to hatch, I remove the mama water dish and replace with a shallow chick-safe water dish that mama can still drink from.

I personally prefer to hand turn the incubator eggs. I candle 3 times… around days 4, 10, and 17. And, I very closely monitor the eggs during the lockdown stage. Once they pip, I’m prepared to assist any chick who cannot hatch on their own. I’ve had that happen, primarily with micro-class chicks. Most of mine don’t hatch any earlier than any other type of chicken eggs… usually day 21… sometimes day 20. I place my incubators in a draft-free area, away from sunlight, and wrap a large bath towel around the sides and most of the top (leaving the vents totally exposed). I also place 4 digital thermometer/hygrometers around the incubator floor. Everything I do might be overkill to most people, but I’ve always had a lot of success with incubating them.

 

[Karilcole]

They are not the easiest to incubate. It can be anxiety-ridden. A lot of factors have to be considered. If your setup isn’t producing good results, change it… location, incubator, anything.

I really prefer to let my broody Seramas do it (they do go VERY broody), and I’ve discovered that they are excellent at it.

The more often you incubate them yourself, the better you’ll be at determining which conditions contribute to having successful hatches.

I move all of my broodies to their own little quiet, stress-free “maternity” area. Close to hatch, I remove the mama water dish and replace with a shallow chick-safe water dish that mama can still drink from.

I personally prefer to hand turn the incubator eggs. I candle 3 times… around days 4, 10, and 17. And, I very closely monitor the eggs during the lockdown stage. Once they pip, I’m prepared to assist any chick who cannot hatch on their own. I’ve had that happen, primarily with micro-class chicks. Most of mine don’t hatch any earlier than any other type of chicken eggs… usually day 21… sometimes day 20. I place my incubators in a draft-free area, away from sunlight, and wrap a large bath towel around the sides and most of the top (leaving the vents totally exposed). I also place 4 digital thermometer/hygrometers around the incubator floor. Everything I do might be overkill to most people, but I’ve always had a lot of success with incubating them.

Such great advice! Thank you!
I have my incubator in a spare room w the blinds shut & vent shut & covered (incase the hubby wants the air on lol).
My eggs were delivered yesterday so I put them to rest fat side up. When I candled them to check the air cell, every air cell was moving! Only 1 rolled around the egg so I pitched that 1. The other eggs cells still move a bit on 1 side or the other but look attached on 1 side. Do you think they’re all garbage? Could they still reattach & still hatch? I just put them in the incubator about 20 min ago, all fat end up.
The last batch I bought from the same person. She pkg’d them perfect & cells were great! This batch I think maybe USPS played kickball w them.

 

[2ndTink]

I had 2 set of eggs with wiggly air cells this year, I let them rest, then didn't rotate them for a few days. One set I had 6 hatch and the other just 1. Shipping is really hard on them unfortunately.

 

[WoDia]

Such great advice! Thank you!
I have my incubator in a spare room w the blinds shut & vent shut & covered (incase the hubby wants the air on lol).
My eggs were delivered yesterday so I put them to rest fat side up. When I candled them to check the air cell, every air cell was moving! Only 1 rolled around the egg so I pitched that 1. The other eggs cells still move a bit on 1 side or the other but look attached on 1 side. Do you think they’re all garbage? Could they still reattach & still hatch? I just put them in the incubator about 20 min ago, all fat end up.
The last batch I bought from the same person. She pkg’d them perfect & cells were great! This batch I think maybe USPS played kickball w them.

Yes, they might be okay, with a little extra care. If they don’t reattach, you may need to hand turn them. That’s actually what I do with all of my eggs. I also don’t turn them for the first 4 days… just my own rule. That’s a shame they got shook up during shipping, but USPS (and others) aren’t concerned with what’s inside a package. @2ndTink is right about shipping being hard on them. Read through the section about shipped eggs in this article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/

 

[Karilcole]

Yes, they might be okay, with a little extra care. If they don’t reattach, you may need to hand turn them. That’s actually what I do with all of my eggs. I also don’t turn them for the first 4 days… just my own rule. That’s a shame they got shook up during shipping, but USPS (and others) aren’t concerned with what’s inside a package. @2ndTink is right about shipping being hard on them. Read through the section about shipped eggs in this article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/

Thank you for the link! Sry for the questions buttt last 2
Some of the air cells did reattach. Some look ok but I can see movement still on 1 side of a few. Still ok to try to hatch?
I got a new incubator (Maticoopx 30)
& have had it running for 2 days. I have 2 smart digital Bluetooth hygrometer thermometers that are dead on w each other in there. The incubator shows 2 degrees & 6% humidity different than the extras I put in there. Which 1s do I trust? LoL it a new bator so I don’t want to screw up the serama eggs if I trust the wrong 1. Thanks again for all your help!!! You are amazing!

 

[Karilcole]

I had 2 set of eggs with wiggly air cells this year, I let them rest, then didn't rotate them for a few days. One set I had 6 hatch and the other just 1. Shipping is really hard on them unfortunately.

Thank you. The 1st batch of shipped eggs had perfect air cells but only 4 hatched (& 2 passed). This batch (from same seller) was the opposite upon delivery so I wasn’t even sure if I could set them & try.

 

[2ndTink]

Thank you. The 1st batch of shipped eggs had perfect air cells but only 4 hatched (& 2 passed). This batch (from same seller) was the opposite upon delivery so I wasn’t even sure if I could set them & try.

It's worth trying.

 

[WoDia]

Thank you for the link! Sry for the questions buttt last 2
Some of the air cells did reattach. Some look ok but I can see movement still on 1 side of a few. Still ok to try to hatch?
I got a new incubator (Maticoopx 30)
& have had it running for 2 days. I have 2 smart digital Bluetooth hygrometer thermometers that are dead on w each other in there. The incubator shows 2 degrees & 6% humidity different than the extras I put in there. Which 1s do I trust? LoL it a new bator so I don’t want to screw up the serama eggs if I trust the wrong 1. Thanks again for all your help!!! You are amazing!

You should always feel that you can ask all the questions you need to. That’s how each one of us continues learning to be the best “poultry parents”. I’d still give the “iffy” ones a chance… if you’re comfortable with that. Otherwise, you should decide what to do with them soon… before they begin developing. Everything you’re doing sounds right on track. A lot of people trust the incubator readings, and that’s okay since they feel they can totally trust that. For me though, I trust the readings at egg level… particularly with Serama eggs. I do pay attention to the incubator readings, but egg level, in my opinion, is the most accurate reading. After all, the thermo/hygro is reading what the egg right next to it is experiencing.

 

[Karilcole]

You should always feel that you can ask all the questions you need to. That’s how each one of us continues learning to be the best “poultry parents”. I’d still give the “iffy” ones a chance… if you’re comfortable with that. Otherwise, you should decide what to do with them soon… before they begin developing. Everything you’re doing sounds right on track. A lot of people trust the incubator readings, and that’s okay since they feel they can totally trust that. For me though, I trust the readings at egg level… particularly with Serama eggs. I do pay attention to the incubator readings, but egg level, in my opinion, is the most accurate reading. After all, the thermo/hygro is reading what the egg right next to it is experiencing.

Ok! Thank you again so much! I just want to do everything I can. I know some won’t make it to hatch but I’m hoping I can give them the best conditions to get there. We shall see in the next few weeks!