Setting 26 eggs today (June 27th) Anyone else?

[gumamelachick]

Hi Pippy and friends! Yes, I'm still here... 8 eggs on day 13 still going strong. Although this morning, there was a temperature spike in the bator from 99.5 degrees to 102.1 an hour and a half later! I quickly got it down, but I'm so stressed that I've cooked the poor little ones! Time will tell... but I'm losing a lot of sleep over this and other stuff going on with my 2 elderly dogs.

Anyone have any pics (candling or finished product) they want to distract me with? I'd love to see how everyone else is doing!

 

[PippyChicken]

dusterbd-Thanks! That's okay! Whenever you can post pictures please do!!

MIgourdgirl-

Hope you get some babies! Sorry about the previous hatches

but I hope you have better luck this time!

gumamelachick-I hate when that happens! Our temperature has been up and down from anywhere from 99-101 since the cats got on it! I worry too! (They like the heat) But ours are still doing good so far 2 chickies! They are early hatchers to I think..
I'd be happy to post pics of our babies we just candled and everything is doing great! A baby in every one!!

 

[PippyChicken]

Here's are first little one! She's been through alot!! She got abandoned by her mommy,and almost thrown out 3 times!!!!! She's a little strange

She likes to stand in the corner of there little cage...Her name is Nubbin

Here's are little Pickle..One we put in June 27th.Sorry the pic. isn't so great she wouldn't take one

I'll try to get a pic of our newest one hatched yesterday night.She still needs a name!

 

[SportChick]

@Pippy: cute babies!! Congratulations.

Today is day #14. My 2 Golden Laced Wyandottes are looking pretty good. As far as my 3 BCM's who knows what's going on in there.

I had a little catastrophe because on day #11 I realized by automatic egg turner wasn't hooked up right and hadn't been turning my eggs!

The motor was running but the little turning arm wasn't attached. It moves so slowly I just didn't notice. I have been candling a lot because of air cell issues, but definitely not enough to count as turning. So that was a little demoralizing.

We are hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

 

[PippyChicken]

Thanks! I'm so sorry!!

 

[Cattitude]

@PippyChicken: congratz on the babies!

@SportChick: I'm sending mental goodvibes to your babies; who knows, you might have the best hatch ever?

 

[perolane]

Sorry I haven't been around...actually I lost track/couldn't find the thread!

I candled on day 10 & everybody looks good except for the cracked one that I waxed...it didn't make it. Last week my bator fan fell down & cracked the one egg. I sealed the crack with candle wax, but it just wasn't meant to be. So I'm down to 9 little bantam eggs. On a good note..DH just hatched 12 out of 19 quail babies in his bator.

SOOO..I stop turning my eggs on Thursday & go into lock-down.....hatch expected Sunday. How about all of you?

 

[MIgourdgirl]

If all goes well, we should start getting some babies on Friday. Maybe some will join us early. I can't wait . . . but supposedly good things come to those who wait, so we'll try to be patient. My challenge is that the gals are setting in the upper row of nesting boxes, and I want to relocate one of the two to the floor so the babies don't fall out. Hopefully one of the moms will be willing. One other time I had to move a hen from the box to the floor along with a baby, and she flew right back up to the nesting box. I even tried putting her eggs under her on the floor, but nothing doing. Thankfully I had another mom who had some chicks that were only a couple days old, so she adopted this one as well. Prayers and good wishes to everyone hatching soon.

 

[CanadianCrower]

I put 12 quail eggs and 12 bantam eggs in late at night on June 26th. I got my incubator and the eggs at an auction that day, so this is my first go. It was very hot at the auction and the eggs sat out in the hot sun all morning and into the afternoon. Candling the quail eggs was hard for me being a first timer, so I just left them all in and am now in lock down with them. Six of them were dark when I candled yesterday and the other six I could see light through.

The bantam eggs I saw veining in three early on, then one developed a blood ring or something. Last week I had two I could see the chick squirming around in (SOOO Cool) When I checked yesterday on had the same little shape with no movement and one seemed to have grown huge and there was not much light penetration.

So, can I join the hatching club?

 

[Captain Cluck]

Those are some cute chickies!
Pippie chicken, how goes the hatch?


Sorry to be MIA. Been a little crazy/busy around here.
Been shuffling birds at the neighbor's due to too much rain and not enough roof, sneaky snakes and belligerent birds. Then I fell out of the chicken house and bruised my dignity

but am OK.

My husband made me a step (I'm too short to be climbing up into this chicken coop - adult sized inside, but too high up for my short little legs

) and a hand-hold bar so I don't have a repeat Performance.
The neighbor's usually sweet chickens are becoming rebellious and less than cooperative when I go to put them up for the evening. they free range several acres during the day, and I have used as much bribery as I can think of.

My daughter's pet silkie was injured by one of our dogs who were playing chase, so I give chicken physical therapy several times each day, and carry her in and out to a safe crate according to weather/time of day trying to get her full use of her leg back. She likes having the company of pour flock, but I don't want them pecking at her. I had a vet wrap and cardboard shoe on her to straighten her toes, and they were fascinated by it.

As for the incubating, I'm afraid I've killed my biddies.

I have fallen asleep several nights before the last turn of the night; one night I left the incubator unplugged and temps dropped to low to mid 80s; The temps have jumped up to 102 several times while I was at work; several days I couldn't get the temps up past 90; 2 eggs were dropped onto the incubator tray and dented/cracked (one piece of shell stuck to another egg and pulled away but left the membrane intact). I don't have any wax, so I put a tab of scotch tape over the cracks/hole (waiting to see if that works). I added 3 small plastic juice bottles full of hot water to act as heat sinks. When the temps dropped, I refilled with hot water to speed up the reheating of the 'bator.

I originally candled the eggs on day 10 and could see embryos moving and the eye dots, veins, etc. It was exciting to share with my granddaughter. Then I caught her 'turning' the eggs one morning. I am surprised she didn't burn herself, but she cracked the one that lost a piece of shell (I cracked the other one). That solved the mystery of how some eggs were wrong side up when I went to turn them.

I candled all the eggs last night and about 14 of them were clear or had stopped growing. I put back the ones that are dark/look full and I hope the ones that feel heavier have chicks. I don't know about the ones that haven't gained much weight.

I can't really see through the quail egg shells, so don't even know if they were fertile to start. I also don't know if there was ever a cock with the hens or if there were 4 hens (one became dinner for a rat snake that somehow got into the quail pen. It wasn't very secure to start. I have moved them to a large snake proof cage.)

So, tomorrow is lock-down for me and by Tuesday, I should know how many chicks I have killed, or not.

I am using a borrowed still air incubator that I have to unplug and open to turn the eggs.

Any future hatches will go into my own Prissy-bator with the manual egg turner. That way I won't have to unplug or open it to turn eggs and the temps should stay steady once the eggs are set.