September Hatch-A-Long!

[Heidisgran]

I hope I can get pictures up of my chickies.....I still have 2 to go BUT I currently have 5 pld english game chicks and 2 silkie crosses and 2 on the way. 2 of the oegb chicks look pure (spangled hen x bbr roo) 1 looks to be a cochin cross and 2 are black silkie crosses. All 5 are from the same hen lol. She was very busy! My 2 silkie crosses are both silver. From my blue hen miss mellie and I'm pretty sure my porcelain d'uccle roo little loon. Still to come is 1 easter egger rmix with a buff orpington and 1 mystery chick lol. Mom is unknown and dad is a buff orpinhgton.

 

[Lynnae4913]

Here are my little cuties! 24 out of 26 hatched. 2 wound up quitters. Almost all my clears and quitters were my Brahma eggs. They tend to be kinda porous. I assume that was the issue. At least I got 4 of them! I'm afraid the little guy with the leg issue may not make it. I have done the bandaid thing and while it hold his legs in a better position, he is still pulling his feet up beside his head when he tries to stand. I am also 99.9% sure he is the one who pipped the first hole and wound up being assisted. With my inexperience, I did not pay much attention to what position he was in. Perhaps that is why he couldn't zip.

Thank ya'll for the support! Yes, I am already gathering up eggs for the next hatch.

 

[familypendragon]

Here are my little cuties! 24 out of 26 hatched. 2 wound up quitters. Almost all my clears and quitters were my Brahma eggs. They tend to be kinda porous. I assume that was the issue. At least I got 4 of them! I'm afraid the little guy with the leg issue may not make it. I have done the bandaid thing and while it hold his legs in a better position, he is still pulling his feet up beside his head when he tries to stand. I am also 99.9% sure he is the one who pipped the first hole and wound up being assisted. With my inexperience, I did not pay much attention to what position he was in. Perhaps that is why he couldn't zip. Thank ya'll for the support! Yes, I am already gathering up eggs for the next hatch.

Awesome! What cuties!! I have what I call the "First Pip Curse" For me the first to pip has either died or had issues with every single hatch :/ I don't know what the deal is with that...

 

[MyNewHobby]

Congrats....beautiful babies!!!

Here are my little cuties! 24 out of 26 hatched. 2 wound up quitters. Almost all my clears and quitters were my Brahma eggs. They tend to be kinda porous. I assume that was the issue. At least I got 4 of them! I'm afraid the little guy with the leg issue may not make it. I have done the bandaid thing and while it hold his legs in a better position, he is still pulling his feet up beside his head when he tries to stand. I am also 99.9% sure he is the one who pipped the first hole and wound up being assisted. With my inexperience, I did not pay much attention to what position he was in. Perhaps that is why he couldn't zip. Thank ya'll for the support! Yes, I am already gathering up eggs for the next hatch.

 

[Lynnae4913]

Wow, that's crazy. I hope not to have the same problem. It was early... tho the first chick hatched was early and is doing fine. 2 hatched on day 19, the rest on day 20. I was totally amazed that they were all done within 24 hours. I figured this would drag out for days!

I still have some things to figure out. I was attempting the "dry hatch" method. In the first 18 days my hygrometer read 40-52%, depending on the weather, but mostly in the 43-46% range. (The incubator is outside... and this is Florida) I added NO water. I decided to do the salt calibration deal to check the meter for accuracy before day 18... and the test said that my hygrometer was reading 61 when it was (supposedly) 75%.
Somehow, I don't buy it. That would mean my first 18 days the humidity was at 54-66%? You can see the lines of my air cells. If anything, my chicks, I thought, were on the dry side. But then, I have no idea how wet a chick SHOULD be, mind you! lol! My second hygrometer (not checked yet for accuracy) was reading only 2-3% off from the other one.

So because I had to assist a couple of times, I did what I could to get the humidity back up quickly after opening the door. My door hinges upwards and is located on the side, rather than on top, so I don't loose so much if I have to open it up. As a result, the humidity just ran away from me and my meters were reading at times 80-90%. Which according to the calibration test, would mean I actually had my humidity over 100% during a good part of the hatching. The chicks never were overly wet, the windows never fogged. In truth, I don't have a clue what was going on there. I guess I just got lucky it all worked out. It definitely allowed me to do some "housekeeping" along the way since I felt the need to release at least some of the humidity! The temperature readings with 3 different thermometers was another trip before I ever got started. I'll save all that for another post!

 

[Heidisgran]

well today so far 2 guineas have hatched and another is zipping....they were set on aug. 16th so they are 3 days early....I kinda hope my cream legbars hatch a tad soon!! I'm looking forward to those

 

[jklyles1]

How many of you hatch in egg cartons? How bout just laying the eggs on their sides? I cannot decide which way to do it. Can the temp on the floor of incubator really vary so much from the temp where egg turner is? I read it can kill the chicks from being too low? Im only on day 10 but im worrying about lockdown!!!

 

[chippysmom327]

How many of you hatch in egg cartons?  How bout just laying the eggs on their sides?  I cannot decide which way to do it.  Can the temp on the floor of incubator really vary so much from the temp where egg turner is?  I read it can kill the chicks from being too low?  Im only on day 10 but im worrying about lockdown!!!

I was wondering this also, but read about horror stories about laying them on their sides. So I'm keeping mine in the carton.

 

[Angie Poo]

I felt the same way the closer it came to lockdown. A lot of the things I read said to lay them down but then I ran into other things that said to put them in a egg carton.

When lockdown came I went ahead and pulled them out of the turner and layed them on their side. I had a 100% hatch rate (I helped a few).

This didnt help me at all because I'm still unsure of what to do for my next hatch.

How many of you hatch in egg cartons?  How bout just laying the eggs on their sides?  I cannot decide which way to do it.  Can the temp on the floor of incubator really vary so much from the temp where egg turner is?  I read it can kill the chicks from being too low?  Im only on day 10 but im worrying about lockdown!!!

I was wondering this also, but read about horror stories about laying them on their sides. So I'm keeping mine in the carton.

 

[jklyles1]

I was wondering this also, but read about horror stories about laying them on their sides. So I'm keeping mine in the carton.

Our hatch day is the same! Yay a hatch buddy!! Ive read too much!!!! Im confused