She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[sideWing]

or if the air cell is too small that they don't have enough air to have the time to absorb the yolk

I was under the impression that they absorb the yolk before the pip the air cell. Is this not the case?

I guess that's the usual thinking... after they pip... but a couple of these had developed to at least day 19-20, and were still super wet inside the membrane. Air cells were too small, etc. So maybe drowning them wasn't the right term for what I did. I'm just not sure what else you would call it. I feel like that's why they quit... too much fluid.

Sorry if this is TMI but... I had fully developed chicks in my last two hatches. Some of them even defecated inside the egg. None of them pipped the air cell. I'm sure there are many reasons they fail at 19-20 days but In my case I'm pretty sure they suffocated on CO2. As they get bigger they put off more CO2 and I didn't have air coming in from the outside of the incubator to exchange oxygen for CO2 through the shell.

I will know If that's the case if this batch I'm hatching this weekend has a higher success rate. I have given them a lot more oxygen this time around with air vents open the whole time.

Another theory I have from reading a scientific paper about incubators. The chick starts to generate it's own heat at about day 14. Everyone leaves the temp alone thinking it will be the same for the egg, but it's not. Using my temp gun I realized that even keeping my incubator steady from day 14 to 21 the egg shell temps themselves went from 100 to 103 degrees from day 14 to day 20. I honestly think that's why it works in a still air incubator to turn it down to 99.5. I think the beginning of the hatch is slow and then accelerates towards the end, but that is hard on the chicks and results in losses. I now turn it down .5 degree every other day after about day 15. I watch the shell temps closely and try to keep them at 100 degrees. We will see if it pays off this time, but they are shipped eggs so it's not a perfect test.

I'm rambling.....

 

[cppeace]

I was under the impression that they absorb the yolk before the pip the air cell. Is this not the case?

Sorry if this is TMI but... I had fully developed chicks in my last two hatches. Some of them even defecated inside the egg. None of them pipped the air cell. I'm sure there are many reasons they fail at 19-20 days but In my case I'm pretty sure they suffocated on CO2. As they get bigger they put off more CO2 and I didn't have air coming in from the outside of the incubator to exchange oxygen for CO2 through the shell.

I will know If that's the case if this batch I'm hatching this weekend has a higher success rate. I have given them a lot more oxygen this time around with air vents open the whole time.

Another theory I have from reading a scientific paper about incubators. The chick starts to generate it's own heat at about day 14. Everyone leaves the temp alone thinking it will be the same for the egg, but it's not. Using my temp gun I realized that even keeping my incubator steady from day 14 to 21 the egg shell temps themselves went from 100 to 103 degrees from day 14 to day 20. I honestly think that's why it works in a still air incubator to turn it down to 99.5. I think the beginning of the hatch is slow and then accelerates towards the end, but that is hard on the chicks and results in losses. I now turn it down .5 degree every other day after about day 15. I watch the shell temps closely and try to keep them at 100 degrees. We will see if it pays off this time, but they are shipped eggs so it's not a perfect test.

I'm rambling.....

No, I'm pretty sure they are steadily, slowly taking in the yolk until about 4 hours before the actual hatch. It takes several hours for them to take it all in, that's why trying to help a hatcher that you think is stuck can be so iffy cause they may not have absorbed enough yolk yet.
Chicks do start generating a little heat as they near hatching but never enough to mess with my temp.

 

[scflock]

I had a touchy moment ONE time. Are you ever gonna let it go?? Don't make me smack you back into your corner all day...

 

[WVduckchick]

I was under the impression that they absorb the yolk before the pip the air cell. Is this not the case?

Sorry if this is TMI but... I had fully developed chicks in my last two hatches. Some of them even defecated inside the egg. None of them pipped the air cell. I'm sure there are many reasons they fail at 19-20 days but In my case I'm pretty sure they suffocated on CO2. As they get bigger they put off more CO2 and I didn't have air coming in from the outside of the incubator to exchange oxygen for CO2 through the shell.

I will know If that's the case if this batch I'm hatching this weekend has a higher success rate. I have given them a lot more oxygen this time around with air vents open the whole time.

Another theory I have from reading a scientific paper about incubators. The chick starts to generate it's own heat at about day 14. Everyone leaves the temp alone thinking it will be the same for the egg, but it's not. Using my temp gun I realized that even keeping my incubator steady from day 14 to 21 the egg shell temps themselves went from 100 to 103 degrees from day 14 to day 20. I honestly think that's why it works in a still air incubator to turn it down to 99.5. I think the beginning of the hatch is slow and then accelerates towards the end, but that is hard on the chicks and results in losses. I now turn it down .5 degree every other day after about day 15. I watch the shell temps closely and try to keep them at 100 degrees. We will see if it pays off this time, but they are shipped eggs so it's not a perfect test.

I'm rambling.....

I'm with you. I did lower the temp on my duck hatch by 0.1 degree (C) per day for the last 10 days. I had read it in Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. I didn't do it so drastically with my chicks though. Just a couple points at lockdown.
I also think your high altitude makes some difference, but in theory, I agree with you. So maybe instead of drowning my first set, I suffocated them?
Now I'm more anxious for your upcoming hatch!

No, I'm pretty sure they are steadily, slowly taking in the yolk until about 4 hours before the actual hatch. It takes several hours for them to take it all in, that's why trying to help a hatcher that you think is stuck can be so iffy cause they may not have absorbed enough yolk yet.
Chicks do start generating a little heat as they near hatching but never enough to mess with my temp.

And I agree with cppeace, yolk absorption continues until they are ready to actually come out, which can be many hours after pipping the air cell. But... that's in general. They don't all happen exactly the same way each time.

 

[sideWing]

I'm with you. I did lower the temp on my duck hatch by 0.1 degree (C) per day for the last 10 days. I had read it in Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. I didn't do it so drastically with my chicks though. Just a couple points at lockdown.
I also think your high altitude makes some difference, but in theory, I agree with you. So maybe instead of drowning my first set, I suffocated them?
Now I'm more anxious for your upcoming hatch!


And I agree with cppeace, yolk absorption continues until they are ready to actually come out, which can be many hours after pipping the air cell. But... that's in general. They don't all happen exactly the same way each time.

Good to know. For some reason I had missed that in all this incubation stuff. I agree on the elevation, I think it makes it tougher for oxygen. That being said I had the same success rate on local eggs. Shipped eggs from sea level make it even worse.

 

[scflock]

I had read it in Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks.

I have Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. That's a great book. It was the best reference I had before BYC. It's still my go-to for questions. It sure made that first processing a lot easier. I think any first time chicken owner should buy that book

 

[WVduckchick]

I have Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. That's a great book. It was the best reference I had before BYC. It's still my go-to for questions. It sure made that first processing a lot easier. I think any first time chicken owner should buy that book

I also ordered Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry, since I have the turkey too, and it covers about everything. Got them both for about half the sticker price. EBay or amazon. Can't remember which. They are wonderful reference!

 

[WVduckchick]

Good to know. For some reason I had missed that in all this incubation stuff. I agree on the elevation, I think it makes it tougher for oxygen. That being said I had the same success rate on local eggs. Shipped eggs from sea level make it even worse.

So you are getting close now. No action yet?

 

[cppeace]

Egg number 4 has dimple pipped! Egg number 5 is the questionable one. Miggt do a quick candling on it to see it I see any movement

 

[scflock]

Here are some updated pics of the commune. Fabio is starting to look like a cult leader

You can see that the chicks range from fluffy yellows to two week olds with wing feathers, and they were all hatched from the same nest by 3 different hens. The juvenile is a leftover from May