Setting eggs on FEB 10

[my sunwolf]

My eggs are on day 13. I candled them a few days ago and I could see little guys moving in all the 4 eggs I checked!!! It was so exciting! It honestly felt like I was having my first ultrasound! Haha I'm really trying to be hands-off even though I could easily sit in my closet and stare into them all day.

I know, I feel like they're all my babies, it's a bit strange! I'm also holding myself back, I want to candle them and stare at them moving for hours, but I know they should be left alone to incubate safely.

Locking down tonight! Eggs are beginning to rock.

Wow, very exciting!! I didn't know bantams could hatch early.


I've got a dumb question, do we lock down tomorrow morning or tomorrow evening? Does it matter?

Also, are you guys doing a dry hatch or filling the troughs? Not keeping track?

 

[bugglesmommy]

I lock down about the same time I set them, but I don't think it matters too much so long as they haven't pipped or anything.
I'm definitely adding water. I don't want my babies shrink wrapping!
The occasional rocking is only really perceptable if you stare at them. ( guilty!)

 

[my sunwolf]

Well, by dry hatch I don't mean absolutely dry, just very low humidity, based on this article. No idea if it will work or not as this is my first time so I have nothing to compare it to

I didn't think that shrinkwrapping was a problem as long as you don't open the bator until they're all hatched... meaning no helping them out of shells, which is okay for me as I want to implement my own version of natural selection, but I know for some helping the little ones out is a must. My friends just incubated their first batch and shrinkwrapped a ton of their babies when on Day 21 they opened the bator to help them out

Out of 50 eggs they now have 16 chicks, one of them with bad toes.

And that makes sense on the lockdown timing, now I just have to remember what time I set them on Day 1

My eggs are in the auto turner, so no possibility of seeing them rock for me... is there? Tomorrow I'll take them out and lay them flat. So exciting!





Grow little eggies, grow!

 

[bugglesmommy]

Well I'm officially in lockdown. I candeled them one last time earlier and all 21 are alive. Lets hope 21 hatch! Especially those seramas.

 

[CowgirlHC]

I just did our first turn of the LAST DAY TO TURN! All have been looking great thus far, candled just a couple times to make sure everyone was forming, and we did again this morning since it was still dark in the room our incubator is in. I'm afraid 2 are of our 4 stopped developing sometime a few days ago :-( They were the 2 nearest the outside of the lid where we pick it up to do our turn, so I don't know if that would have anything to do with it or not or if it was just coincidental. This is our very first time hatching in our new incubator, which is why we only set 4 of our own hens eggs to just have a trial run. I think I'm going to get the auto turner next time around to keep from having to open the lid. I may also invest in a circulaited fan kit because I have heard if there is a spot in the incubator that can be known as a "dead spot" (not sure where I read that) that all eggs in that general area could not develop. We also had the power flicker at some point in the night last night, but I the temp was back to 100% normal. Is 2/4 developing fully a good number for our first time? Any ideas why the other 2 were perfect then all of a sudden stopped?

 

[CowgirlHC]

OK I looked over that link again someone posted on page 1 (again very helpful, thanks!) I think 2 passed around the 12-13 day mark, but just going by pictures and an untrained candler. is it OK to leave them in just in case I'm wrong? Like I said first time candling and what not, so I'm afraid to chuck the and they be good. Will it hurt anything? When I lock down this evening, should I refill the water troughs and spread them out some more towards the middle? Does the temp need to stay where it has been all along for lock down and hatching? Ugh....NERVOUS lol can ya tell?

 

[my sunwolf]

OK I looked over that link again someone posted on page 1 (again very helpful, thanks!) I think 2 passed around the 12-13 day mark, but just going by pictures and an untrained candler. is it OK to leave them in just in case I'm wrong? Like I said first time candling and what not, so I'm afraid to chuck the and they be good. Will it hurt anything? When I lock down this evening, should I refill the water troughs and spread them out some more towards the middle? Does the temp need to stay where it has been all along for lock down and hatching? Ugh....NERVOUS lol can ya tell?

I think the temp can stay at 99.5, though others have said that the hatch goes better with temps closer to 99. I have no idea why your little guys might have stopped developing, but 50% hatch rate is normal so you've got that down! I think there's an eggtopsy page somewhere on here as well, I will have to try to find it. I'm not sure if you should leave the questionable eggs in there, couldn't they explode? But I think I would leave them in there and chance it, because what you said about the "dead spot" in the incubator is really interesting. I'm not sure about ANY of this stuff. We can be nervous together AUUUGGG I want to lock down early but I think I set them in the afternoon so I will try to wait until then.

 

[bugglesmommy]

Boy as wonderful and addicting hatching chicks is, it sure is bad on the nerves! I have to Peel myself from the viewing windows. I've seen 17 different eggs rock a little so far since lockdown. I need to get a little security camera and put monitors all over the house to get some work done! LOL. Its only going to get worse the closer to hatch time.

 

[my sunwolf]

I candled everyone and had 19/42 that were still fertile

So I've set those, bringing the humidity up and trying not to open the bator. I have got to look at the eggtopsy page, but as far as I could tell, a bunch of them weren't even fertile to begin with and a bunch died in the early days. No very late stage deaths yet, but I'm sure that there will be! Aug incubation, I have so much to learn. Hopefully my notes will help in the future. I'm interested in candling at closer intervals but so unsure of my candling skills that I worry I might throw good eggs away.

 

[my sunwolf]

Here's the eggtopsy page. About 19 of them died very early on or were infertile. I have to say, the man I bought them from had 1 rooster over about 20 hens, so it would not surprise me if they were infertile, but I didn't crack any of them open that first day to find out, though I should have. I really hope some of the remaining chicks hatch! They've definitely been moving around inside the eggs, but no rocking yet. Can't wait!!