Setting Feb 16, want to join in>Hatch-Along

[maryhysong]

Tomorrow is day 10 for me and I have to work in the afternoon so candled tonight. All 7 Welsh Harlequin ducks are jumping around in there, of the 11 Buff Orpingtons, one is a bit darker and thicker than the others and I'm just not sure (I have old tired eyes too and I'm spoiled after looking at the big white duck eggs!). One BO probably has a blood ring, but I left it for awhile, just to be sure. Everything looks right on track!

On Sat I add another 9 BO eggs. I ate the roo, he was a real meaner, so have collected all the eggs I was pretty sure would be fertile from the girls.

In the meantime, my easter eggers are beginning to lay and my EE boys are treading hens, so some EE and OE are in the near future!

 

[heyheypaula]

Well I decided to candle the eggs on day 10 today and everyone looks great! I was worried about the last bantam BR because I candled and it looked like the veins were washed out and the embryo wasn't moving. I stared at it for a minute and it jerked awake! I was so happy to see it dancing so I quickly put it back.

Here's what I saw in the others. I felt like I was peeking in on a private party, look at all that movement in there!

Some bantams have been known to hatch on day 19!

That's amazing!! I candle my eggs super fast because I am nervous but I am going to take a couple minutes tonight for sure!
In other news I'm afraid some of my air sacs are too big!? I am kicking my self now for not weighing them and marking the air sacs with pencil. I am going to draw the outline tonight and try to get some pics. Does this mean my humidity has been too low maybe? Or maybe i'm just being crazy.. I have been trying really hard to keep my humidity between 30-40% but sometimes when I wake up it's like 19% or I'll come home from work and it'll be 52%. How big are everyone else's air sacs?

 

[frankensusan]

My air sacs are widely varied but some seem really large. I'm more worried about humidity during hatch as the Little Giant doesn't seem to want to hold it over 40 at best. Going to try the jars trick in the hatcher today (no viable eggs in there right now). I quick candled my favs last night and it looks like there are about 6 really well developing. It's about now I start pleading with the chicken gods for hens! Trying not to be attached to the chicks after all this hand turning etc is very hard. Going to do a weighing today I think, and probably cull the ones that are completely clear.
Susan

 

[MommaSampson]

I checked the ones I was unsure about and had to get rid of 5. Down to 25 eggs.

 

[hokankai]

Candled everyone quickly during their daily cooling and everyone is looking great! It's going to be a long lockdown here, we've got some due the 8th and the rest due the 10th. I'm so excited!

Also going to do the live hatch cam again, except this time I bought an actual webcam. Last time I used my iphone and the app only allows you to record, and it only records for 3 hours at a time. So I had to baby it and turn it back on every 3 hours -_-. It also meant I had no phone. LOL

 

[Jmurph]

Question for the veterans out there.

I candled my orpingtons and Polish tonight. All but 1 orpington has development. I see A LOT of movement in the polish, but not any in the orpingtons...or none that I can tell. Any thoughts? (11 Orpingtons, 5 Polish)

Who knows what the Marans are doing. I do see an air cell with those guys though.

 

[hokankai]

How long did you candle each egg for? Do you see veins? If you see veins it's still good. Sometimes they're sleeping and not bouncing around. If you shine your light long enough, they should start moving slightly

 

[frankensusan]

For the people who know about weighing (it's my first time weighing for hatches). I am confused. I candled and weighed and culled today.

I was a little sad, but after I checked all of the ones that I culled (8) were non-starters (whew!) Talk about a horror movie tenseness level!
Here is some data on what I have left.
My question is, the ones that I culled had some that were way lighter, some that were weigh heavier than they should be, and some right in the middle...
So no real difference between the weight loss in the non-starter eggs, and the ones that I can see bouncing around in their shells right now.
Is this close enough to proper weight loss ?

Susan


weight day 14 2/27 expected weight loss calculated weight loss difference

39.40​

3.74​

3.80​

-0.06
41.25​

3.89​

3.65​

0.24
51.90​

4.94​

5.05​

-0.11
47.60​

4.45​

3.75​

0.70
59.70​

5.62​

5.20​

0.42
46.90​

4.42​

4.10​

0.32
56.35​

5.33​

5.20​

0.13​

 

[frankensusan]

Well.. Wait, I found one data source problem.. it's day 12. *sigh*
Susan

 

[frankensusan]

Fixed it. So it looks like there is a slight amount of too much weight loss.
Question is, is it at a level to be concerned about, or should I carry on with the current temp/humidity that has got me to this point?
Susan



weight day 12 2/27
expected weight loss calculated weight loss difference

39.40​

3.21​

3.80​

-0.59
41.25​

3.34​

3.65​

-0.31
51.90​

4.23​

5.05​

-0.82
47.60​

3.81​

3.75​

0.06
59.70​

4.82​

5.20​

-0.38
46.90​

3.79​

4.10​

-0.31
56.35​

4.57​

5.20​

-0.63​