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

[chickiedoodahs]

I've got a chick! Yay! For some reason I can't upload a pic right now but I'll try again later, my son is so chuffed he could see the chick before school

 

[WVduckchick]

you have to  many hens for him you need to cut him down to 12 or less pick your best and go that way. trying to cover that many hens will wear him out .he may be a real man but even they get tired. watch for temp spikes foam bators are bad about that. out of 21 eggs ready for lock down only 6 hatched two of those died after hatching. I forgot to turn on my cooling fans before leaving for work  two days before lock down last week. and that killed most of my eggs. 106 degree heat spike very deadly . day old chicks should be brooded at 95 degrees   dropped 5 degrees a week. make sure your  chicks can get away from the heat. If your using a heat lamp give them a shady spot to go to .and keep reading ad asking questions right here .my hatch improved just from reading this thread. and guys post one word post for me body and brain wore out. to much work in the heat .it 's mid night and I'm going to bed with catching up all the way.  don't know if WV hatched one yet .got luck find out tomorrow night.

Awww I'm sorry to hear you had a rough hatch. Forgetting those fans must mean you are definitely working too hard! I hope you get to slow down soon

I'm still waiting for the first one to make it out. 5 pips right now. (3 cochin, 2 polish) the oldest is over 24 hours. Its still trying but keeps pushing through the same big mess of a hole on top of the egg. Just won't zip. Polish also has a big hole on top but wont zip. The floor pipper may have quit. I'm not positive yet. The 4th pip is a good pump knot, perfectly placed around 5 hours ago, and a new one about an hour ago. Sooooo....I.....watch......and.....wait.....

I've got a chick! Yay! For some reason I can't upload a pic right now but I'll try again later, my son is so chuffed he could see the chick before school

Yeah!! Congrats!! Looking forward to a pic!!

 

[cppeace]

Woo caught up on some sleep myself. Aww how cute that your kiddo got to see the new chick before school

@WVduckchick lots of pips but no real action tsk tsk

 

[NTBugtraq]

@NTBugtraq So, like sc said I push low humidity incubation methods for the styro bators and checking the air cells to guide for adjustments. If you have accurate thermometers (99.5 forced air and 101-102 still air) and hygrometers, it is my belief that this is the way to go.

I have ordered a spot check digital thermometer so I can check the accuracy of the bator thermo.

I pull my chicks out after hatch for a couple reasons. ONe my lg has a fan w/o a guard and I had 2 chicks get hurt, one almost scalped on the thing. The hatch before that I had one get a chipped beak while playing king of the hill off the thermometer and one burn his head standing on the thermometer and stretching out under the heating element. SO for me, I feel my little ones are safer in the brooder. My second reasoning is I think the "they are fine for three days thing is a bunch of crock." (Sorry sc, you know you're my favorite-usually....) Ok, so many people leave them in for 2-3 days w/o incident-that they can tell. Of course they don't know how empty these guys tummies are or how hungry they are much less thirsty. (I anthropomorphize greatly in regards to animals.) A hatcher doesn't generally know if their chicks are dehydrated (at least most of your every day back yard flock hatchers.) If a chick absorbs their yolk sac on day 19 as the development chart states is the average and can go 3 days after absorption then by day 21 they have used that resource almost completely up. I know I know they say it's 3 days after hatch, based on what? We as humans can go days without eating and live, that doesn't mean we should or we want to. My last hatch I noted the differences in the swelling of the abdomen at hatch. This to me shows that some chicks had absorbed yolk earlier and had already used the reserve and others had absorbed later and still had some of that reserve left. Anyhow, that's my argument for not leaving chicks in the bator. That and I'm just a meddler and apparently a control freak when it comes to hatching and I want to see them out where I can interact.

I totally understand and agree. The first hatches were the morning of Day 20. Unfortunately I didn't notice any issues with them when I went to bed the night of Day 22, and 11 were dead when I woke up. The other 5 that died in the brooder died, I believe, as a result of the stress I put them through (as you say).

I keep my humidity up at 75%+ during hatch so that can be done safely. (I have a whole other rant about the opening the bator causes death and will shrinkwrap your chicks, but if I go into that you'll be here all night reading. Let's just say if you take the precautions and keep your humidity up and make sure it comes back up after opening, there should be little to worry about.

Well, early on the morning of Day 20 I noticed my first pip, so I added water and got the humidity up to 77% quickly. That first pip hatched, and so did another 13. However, I kept my vent open, which I feel was a mistake. However, the humidity was good on Day 21 and on 22 it was ~65%. At that point I had 12 eggs left to hatch, and none had pips. When I woke on Day 23, the humidity was ~55%. Next hatch I definitely will leave the vent plug in and take chicks out as they dry. My Hovabator does recover well and quickly.

With all that being said, what concerns me is if I am understanding correctly, it sounds as though you are loosing an awful lot post hatch. So, here's where I have some questions. Forgive me if you've already said and I missed it in my skimming. (I don't usually skim, but sc thinks I do....this time I did. 108 posts is a lot to catch up on.

)

One have you tried using sav a chick electrolyte in the water after hatch. I use the sav a chick for the first couple of days. It doesn't hurt them to have the extra electrolyte and if there is any unknown instances of dehydration after hatch (yes, it does happen), it gives them what they need. I also use the medicated chick starter in the beginning too. I buy one small bag and when it's gone I switch to normal starter. There is a big debate on using medicated, and I don't give a crap, it's what I've always done and it's worked well for me. (I've only ever had three post hatch chick deaths. One to digestive problems, one that hatched with a ruptured yolk sac and still active chick to egg veining and one unexplained -I don't have a clue -it was perfectly healthy- that was found a week after hatch flattened by the other chicks in the bator.) So for me, I will continue to use the medicated to start with, it's served me well.

I use neither of those, but I can certainly see the reason for using them in the first few days. However, the reality in my case was that the chicks who died in the brooder did not drink or feed that I could see. I kept placing them standing on the food, and dipping their beaks in the water, but the ones who died didn't seem to catch on to what I was doing. Several were too weak to even stand well, and I often found them pushed up under things (like the water dish) or being stood on by other chicks. I will definitely get some for the next hatch.

Now, you said 11 died in the bator. You have your vents open for air flow, right? Not using any harsh chemical cleanser between incubation on the bator that could be giving off unknown fumes to the chicks? What is your source for your water? Could there be something in the water contributing to their deaths?

I did have the vent opened...so it looks like I misunderstood your point about not opening the bator...open vent is good, opening the top is bad? I cleaned the bator using a pet-friendly spray, then rinsed it well, and let it sit out on the deck for 5-6 hours to dry. I couldn't smell any of the cleanser when I brought it back in. My water comes from my well, and there's never been any sort of issue with it that I could tell.

And there is the question, I know it was mentioned, of breeder stock. That would be a big question in my mind with all the post hatch deaths. The eggtopsies you did said appeared to be normal. No mushy chick or overly wet chicks? You said they were BCM, right?

They are my project breed, a cross between a BCM roo, and red sex-link hens. I was told the roo is from prize-winning lines. The hens are from the local hatchery as "special dual-purpose" birds.

Thanks Amy for taking the time to pick through my setting so thoroughly.

 

[chickiedoodahs]

First picture of chick number 1! Gold laced poland

 

[cppeace]

First picture of chick number 1! Gold laced poland

awww what a cutie

 

[WVduckchick]

Woo caught up on some sleep myself. Aww how cute that your kiddo got to see the new chick before school

@WVduckchick
 lots of pips but no real action tsk tsk

Lots of action on 2, just no real progress. I noted these 2 as possible sticky chicks when I locked down, but with my temperature issues, they are on their own. I can't open the incubator. The others should start getting active any time now.

First picture of chick number 1! Gold laced poland

Omg what I can see of it looks adorable! Kiss it on the head for me lol

 

[bantam brood 17]

I've got a chick! Yay! For some reason I can't upload a pic right now but I'll try again later, my son is so chuffed he could see the chick before school

Fantastic news

How many more eggs as she got under her ?

 

[NTBugtraq]

Here's another question that likely has as many answers as how to incubate...how do you teach hatchling chicks to eat and drink? Mine are pecking at the wood chips right freaky beside the food dish...and to them, the food dish doesn't exist. And I have yet to see them drink from the water bowl. I have stood them on the food, spread some food where they are pecking, put food on clear surfaces...even when they do peck at the food, they immediately peck at wood chips again...sigh.

 

[bantam brood 17]

Here's another question that likely has as many answers as how to incubate...how do you teach hatchling chicks to eat and drink? Mine are pecking at the wood chips right freaky beside the food dish...and to them, the food dish doesn't exist. And I have yet to see them drink from the water bowl. I have stood them on the food, spread some food where they are pecking, put food on clear surfaces...even when they do peck at the food, they immediately peck at wood chips again...sigh.

My experience is I dip their beak in the water and I tap their food with my finger they usually get the idea