~ Silkie Hatch-a-Long August 2015 (SHIPPED EGGS GONE WRONG!!) ~

[darkbluespace]

Good luck!! Wait until you change the batteries, you're going to be amazed at how much brighter it is. Is the plan to put the eggs in the cabinet into the incubator once they internally pip? I was at the beach all day Saturday. It was amazing! Have fun. I don't think I'll have any action until Thursday, myself! Update when you can.

That is the plan... the air cells are still quite small so I wonder if they will be able to internally pip... we'll see. Good luck with yours!!

 

[Griffin Nest]

It's not doing too good... It's day 21 now and I still got no more pips. This is strange since most of chickens I've hatched pipped on day 20 and hatched early day 21. I checked the eggs and only 3 are moving now. 3 look dead. What's causing this?? Why are so many dying right now? This is the worst hatch I've ever done and I've been doing everything the same!

 

[silkienrescues]

oh no it might notbe anything you did. was the egg source the same

 

[darkbluespace]

It's not doing too good... It's day 21 now and I still got no more pips. This is strange since most of chickens I've hatched pipped on day 20 and hatched early day 21. I checked the eggs and only 3 are moving now. 3 look dead. What's causing this?? Why are so many dying right now? This is the worst hatch I've ever done and I've been doing everything the same!

I am sorry to hear that!! Do you normally hatch large fowl chickens? I find bantams to be more challenging in general, but I wouldn't give up hope. I think the fact that you had an out of air cell pipper is good news, they are going to pip about 12 to 24 hours earlier than the others. Hang in there, I hope those chicks are just taking their time!

 

[RubyNala97]

 That is the plan... the air cells are still quite small so I wonder if they will be able to internally pip... we'll see.   Good luck with yours!!

Just wanted to tell you that I helped a young person a couple weeks ago that had filled all wells in the incubator for days 1-18, not knowing that they weren't supposed to. These eggs were the smallest air cells I had ever seen. Looked like day 7 at lockdown. I tried to prepare them for the worst. Plus they were developmentally behind because temps were dropping down to the 70's at night. On day 25 all eggs hatch healthy, unassisted!!

It's not doing too good... It's day 21 now and I still got no more pips. This is strange since most of chickens I've hatched pipped on day 20 and hatched early day 21. I checked the eggs and only 3 are moving now. 3 look dead. What's causing this?? Why are so many dying right now? This is the worst hatch I've ever done and I've been doing everything the same! 

A couple things. First, I will copy and past from my favorite article on shipped eggs:

"Shipped eggs do seem to be more prone to quitting during lockdown, than eggs that have not been shipped. So, be prepared for the disappointment and don't beat yourself up if things don't turn out as well as you hoped. As long as you do all you possibly can to get the eggs off to a good start, then monitor and maintain correct temps and humidity all the way through, it is not your fault if the embryos quit. Sometimes things just don't go well. It's discouraging, I know...and makes me sick at heart when it happens, but , sadly, that's just part of it."

And second, like @darkbluespace said, when a chick pips the wrong end/side it's technically the internal pip also. So the others should be 12-24 hrs behind. Don't loose hope yet!!

 

[Griffin Nest]

Day 21

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the pipped chick hatched last night at around 3 AM and is doing very well!

The bad news is I think she's the only one hatching. I candled the rest and I see no movement, no internal pip, even on the ones that were alive yesterday aren't moving anymore. I would really hate this chick to be all alone. 1 out of 14 eggs is possibly the worst I've ever done with shipped eggs. Usually with shipped I get around 50%. I just don't know what went wrong...

For the other 5 eggs, I added a TINY safety hole on each of them and put them back in. I'm going to leave them in there for an extra 2 days just to be sure because I may be wrong.

On the bright side, I got a Paint Silkie chick who I decided to name Rose.

 

[RubyNala97]

Day 21

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the pipped chick hatched last night at around 3 AM and is doing very well!

The bad news is I think she's the only one hatching. I candled the rest and I see no movement, no internal pip, even on the ones that were alive yesterday aren't moving anymore. I would really hate this chick to be all alone. 1 out of 14 eggs is possibly the worst I've ever done with shipped eggs. Usually with shipped I get around 50%. I just don't know what went wrong...

For the other 5 eggs, I added a TINY safety hole on each of them and put them back in. I'm going to leave them in there for an extra 2 days just to be sure because I may be wrong. 

On the bright side, I got a Paint Silkie chick who I decided to name Rose. 

Congrats on the hatch!! Someone on another thread just told me that she had an egg that a broody quit on and left. She candled it really well but saw NO movement. She stuck it in an incubator just incase and it hatched the next day. Can you still see veining in the eggs? I lost two eggs. I re-candled last night and the veins all receded on those eggs. But the one that didn't have movement the night before last, was moving last night. And the veins still look good on one side. Don't give up all hope yet. But I know how you feel. It's so hard to know an egg was just alive but then died for no apparent reason.

 

[silkienrescues]

Day 21

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the pipped chick hatched last night at around 3 AM and is doing very well!

The bad news is I think she's the only one hatching. I candled the rest and I see no movement, no internal pip, even on the ones that were alive yesterday aren't moving anymore. I would really hate this chick to be all alone. 1 out of 14 eggs is possibly the worst I've ever done with shipped eggs. Usually with shipped I get around 50%. I just don't know what went wrong...

For the other 5 eggs, I added a TINY safety hole on each of them and put them back in. I'm going to leave them in there for an extra 2 days just to be sure because I may be wrong.

On the bright side, I got a Paint Silkie chick who I decided to name Rose.

griffin nest,
its been 8 more hours so i feel i can say this. Maybe if you feel you can its time to intervene more substantially. Im totally sure my silkie wouldnt have gotten out, she had the bad air cell, yet she is now the strongest brightest chick, so i dont think it was an unhealthy chick, my feeling is shipped eggs with damaged aircells can make hatching impossible for some chicks and they die of exhaustion. If you are going to open shell, remember stop if the membrane bleeds and wait, but have some normal saline to moisten the membranes with. Water will draw electrolytes out of the chick and membranes. the sterile water used to irrigate eyes is normal saline, but check on the bottle as some also have other additives. moisten very regularly but dont get any near the little beak and nostrils. Out of 12 shipped eggs i got 2 chicks, but the other 10 all stopped before day 10 -12. I know assisting is controversial, but I had to say this, hate to think of little Rose alone. Hope its not to late, and hope by suggesting this I dont upset you, its an awful wretched feeling when you think they are dying. Lea

 

[silkienrescues]

Congrats on the hatch!! Someone on another thread just told me that she had an egg that a broody quit on and left. She candled it really well but saw NO movement. She stuck it in an incubator just incase and it hatched the next day. Can you still see veining in the eggs? I lost two eggs. I re-candled last night and the veins all receded on those eggs. But the one that didn't have movement the night before last, was moving last night. And the veins still look good on one side. Don't give up all hope yet. But I know how you feel. It's so hard to know an egg was just alive but then died for no apparent reason.

Ruby,

you must have an amazing candler to see the veins so well, I cant. Dont give up on your 2....but if you are sure the veins have receded...maybe, start removing shell and look for the pip that couldnt get thru the external shell. As long as you can keep them moist you can then let them do the rest if you think thats best. I'm nervous suggesting this because its what i choose to do and maybe I'm wrong, but on the other hand I'm thinking of those chicks that might not have any other possibility of hatching and so cant help but say what i feel. You are at day 21 now aren't you?

You are far more experienced than me, so do what you instinctively feel is right....thinking of you and griffin nest.

 

[Griffin Nest]

I think this hatch has come to an end.

Rose has fluffed up and is active (but also very sleepy!) and still no sign from the other eggs. I usually expect them all to hatch around the same time since they were set together.

I decided to help one out. When I took it out I could feel the heat leaving it really fast and when I opened it they hadn't even internally pipped yet, and already dead. I candled the rest and none of them look internally pipped. I wonder how this happened to SO MANY of my eggs. The air cells looked large enough to me, and some of them didn't even have weird shapes. I wonder why they had trouble finding it.

Was the humidity too high? I kept it around 50%-65% because I noticed with my shipped eggs that they loose weight way too fast.
Besides, right before lockdown their aircells looked on the weird side but still large.

In the past I've successfully helped chicks who have already pipped internally, but in my experience it's impossible to help a chick who hasn't found the air cell yet. I'm leaving these eggs in there even though they all look stiff now.

I'm really tempted to go to a feed store and get 2 or 3 chicks to keep Rose company. I read that single chicks are loud and very lonely.

This has been a disappointing hatch, but at least I have Rose





Anyone in the Orange County CA area willing to give a few pals for Rose?