Setting up the bator and setting shipped eggs this week....anyone else wanna join?

[fishermans wife]

I'm using a brinsea octagon 20 digital (older model) had temp at 99.5 steady and humidity around 40%. at lockdown I up'd humidity to 60-65%. Have 8 babies hatched so far...had so many either pip'd or hatching last night, that when I went to move 4 of the babies to the brooder I saw a egg that had zip'd 1/4 around the egg and stopped....pulled it out and sure enough the lavender baby was gone

...More bothered than I thought I would be( she was beautiful too! vaulted skull the yolk was absorbed so must have been weak?!) . Haven't lost a chick yet ever even with my winter shipments of day olds.. have 4 eggs left (of course all my porcelains and one b/s) one POR is pip'd and just sitting there talking to me through the hole

taunting me cause it knows after loosing one I will not sleep till she it out. I'm thinking my humidity might be a little low because the membrane is sticking to them making it hard to hatch (is this shrink wrapping as some say?) it was glued to one chick?!

As for the other 3 eggs...no movement...not sure if they will hatch..still gonna leave them in there and wait and see.

I hatched some Garry Farms silkies with the exact same humidity levels! I had 6 out of 17 eggs, 11 went into lockdown. I was ok with that as they came across the country. Catdance would be closer for me as I am in California. I had one do the same....pipped a nice big hole, then died. So sad! I had 3 more that were totally developed, but died in the shell without internal or external pipping. So hard not knowing what happened. I hope your porcelains hatch soon!!! Catdance's are beautiful!!! It is amazing how fast they steal your heart!

 

[crazyhen]

So sorry about the shrink wrapped baby. I had some of those last time too. I went to sleep and my humidity fell to 60%. When they pip, I find I have to keep the humidity at 68% or better in the winter. In the late spring or summer it does not seem as critical. I guess my house humidity does matter more than I realized. Also I did not have my mist bottle with me this time. Always before when I opened my hatcher for anything ,I would mist the inside one squirt over in one corner away from the eggs to give a bit more humidity. I will get me another bottle before this hatch. As long as you do not have the humidity forming on the glass or eggs you do not have to much on the days after pipping starts. The membranes dry so quick. Good luck everyone. I do not candle my shipped eggs until Sun.

Shudder. I am always both excited and worried with the shipped ones especially in cold weather.

 

[christybmom9802]

Yes after I saw everything getting sticky I made sure to bump my humidity up with a spray bottle . staying around 65-70% now. With that said my porcelain baby hatched with ease at 10 last night. So I will keep that in mind next time to stay closer to 70% during lockdown.
9 babies out, 1 quitter, and now 3 eggs no pip's or movement. I did candle them and see good development big air cell no internal pips?! It's day 21 for me, thinking all my babies hatched earlier maybe I'm a day off?! I set them @4:30 in the evening so I didn't start counting till the next day? Now it's the waiting game to see if anything happens thinking these might be quitters also. Very happy with this hatch though. 24 eggs in, 13 into lockdown...9 babies so far

. Guess with all this spare time I will go do a photo shoot with the fluffed up babies.

 

[christybmom9802]

Here's who was dried off.

Paint and white



two of my lavenders...have one more that I thought had the chipmunk looking coloring on her back but not sure which one she is right now (now that they are dried) haha with the blue and partridge?!

 

[Gallina Sarda]

Here's who was dried off. Paint and white two of my lavenders...have one more that I thought had the chipmunk looking coloring on her back but not sure which one she is right now (now that they are dried) haha with the blue and partridge?!

Very, very sweet chicks!

 

[chickenlickin8]

Here's who was dried off.

Paint and white



two of my lavenders...have one more that I thought had the chipmunk looking coloring on her back but not sure which one she is right now (now that they are dried) haha with the blue and partridge?!

How adorable they are! Congrats! Silkie babies are so darn cute! I had shrink wrapping in the past too. It's heart breaking when you have to moisten the dried membrane to gently peel it off and the baby is crying....hate it! Worst when they don't make it!

Hope the rest of your Poreclains hatch!

Let us know

 

[delisha]

Your Silkies are so cute!!..I have more in the bator now.. I cheated Gloria.... and candled early. I have 10 good veining. Because it is early I am not going to worry about the others yet.They are porous eggs and many times they do not do well anyway. I will candle and weigh at day 10 and day 18.

 

[sunshinemartini]

Hi All!!


I'm brand new at this, we just bought a hobby farm....and I asked *and received* from my husband, for Christmas my 'bator and egg turner!! I'm so excited to get it up and going!! Reading through all of these posts is scaring the bejeeezus out of me!! I'm questioning even where to begin now!!!!!

 

[GatsbysGirl]

I will be joining ya'll on Tuesday hopefully. I am so excited I cannot stand it! I haven't hatched out eggs in 20 years. My father brought over my old incubator and all of my chicken stuff from when I was younger. I am getting a dozen BLRW eggs on Tuesday and will also be setting some of my Red sex link mixed eggs in for fun.

I don't think I will make it till Tuesday!

 

[christybmom9802]

well after much contemplation I decided to crack open the last 3 eggs. They were all quitters. All were feathered out one still had yolk sac. so I have 9 little silkies that are adorable out of 24. pretty happy for my first hatch...during winter...with eggs shipped across the US. Definitely have the itch now! I want to hatch BCM and some olive eggers haha pretty sure my hubby would kill me

. With my first chicks I over ordered through the mail thinking some would die on the way and even though they were sexed...I would end up with a rooster or two...Nope. The second order I had to get a min of 15 (dead of winter) thought I was lucky with the first order and figured the same for these....nope. Now I have begun to hatch and have a serious chicken math issue on my hand hehe! I CAAAAAN't HELP IT

. Still have 5 freebie Ameraucaunas that are staggered by 5 days in the incubator (pretty green eggs). We will see how they handled 2 lockdowns?! Wow I sure got adventurous for my first hatch haha!