Spring Break hatching ..... We Hope :)

[Arenas Chickens]

Good morning peeps! It was suggested that I join a hatch along for my first time adventure, I hope this is how I do it.

So this is my very very first time with non “traditional” pets... I’m a cat person however, as I mentioned in my intro post, I’ve always wanted chickens but never had the opportunity, whether it was where I lived or the person I was living with, but this year I have been blessed with both acreage & a partner who is truly my partner & we picked up my/our new babies on Feb 29th, in hopes this would make hatching for Spring Break while I have my two older kids, so I believe this is day four of my incubation & thus far I’ve already wanted to give up in absolute despair I decided to take the homemade incubator/brooder route & the temperature war we faced was not as expected I expected some issues as one has with something new, but this was way worse, I settled with “I’ve messed up so terribly I’ve killed all the eggs already” & “What the ‘peep’ have I gotten myself into? Why did I think I should/could do this?!” Our temp was from 98°F all the way to 108°F & our thermometers were the WORST purchases ever! From not being able to read them to reading the wrong temp altogether - do you think I have damaged my eggs from this?

I ordered 2 dozen eggs, that I believed to be Ameraucanas, from a local farmer. She surprised me with an extra dozen, “just in case” She confirmes I ordered brown-layers & mentioned that the roosters may have blue legs, which I am totally fine with. See I ordered brown eggs thinking they were also Ameraucana but realized later they needed to be coloured to to be true lol & upon coming home & washing them, gently with running water - no submersion or scrubbing, I noticed the variation in colours did not include any blue, green, or blue/green eggs but brown with speckles, white, cream, & even one that looks purple. Which suggests to me I do not have any Americauna chickens lol. So I now have 3 doz unknown little eggs sitting in my homemade incubator that has been conquered by my partner’s determination (and new thermometers) to make my wish for hatching my own chickens with my kids, who even named a few already lol, come true (he is their step-dad). He was up until 6 am kicking our incubator’s butt into shape & gave me a renewed sense of excitement ❤. With many MANY adjustments, We have gotten our temp in check & now ranges between 98 & 102, though we are trying to keep it about 99 - 101.

I have candled a couple eggs, I do know that until day 3 or 5 there isn’t much to see, but I was curious & excited & couldn’t help myself lol. The ones I did candle had very nice embryos & seemed clear of any issues or defects but I will candle them all tonight or tomorrow to be sure. With all the issues we had in startup I started a temp log, my partner chuckled at me for it lol but it gives me peace of mind. I do have a small sense of dread that our startup struggles have doomed our outcome but am trying to remain excited & optimistic! I am also unable to stop thinking of someone’s comment on my intro post that “half will be roosters”..... gah!! I truly thought a rooster was a lucky break & was excited for, & hoping, I’d get two!

Thanks for reading, I kinda went long-winded here, sorry for that.

 

[Arenas Chickens]

So last night I candled my eggs while I was turning them that’s a lot of candling lol

It was most exciting & invigorating to see the embryo development & spider like veins & such all over! I gots babies!!

I did find about three that have differences:
> One egg has a nice spider vein system & big red outline of the baby but off to the side at the edge of the vein system there is a “dot”, like someone took a pen & marked the outer area. - Ideas? I’m not sure I can take a pic but I will try later.
> One eggs has a dark area, like it would be the embryo, but I cannot see anything. - Ideas?
> One egg has a large thick red line, almost looks like the start of a baby but not in the place I’d expect nor the “fetal” position the rest have & it seems a bit “out of place”. - Ideas?
> All eggs are in very different stages of development, I guess this means I will have a few days of hatching?

Other than that, they all have nice vein systems, are clear, & developing embryos. I was surprised to see what all you can see candling an egg & how very different in size this development area can be! I have a small egg where I’d think this area would be small in ratio but it seems to be almost the entire egg! That’s a small space for a chick lol

I cannot wait to candle them again & with my kids! Tips on things to watch out for? I know some of the bigger ones like rings & non-clear areas, broken air sacks & such but anything you’ve experienced?

Thanks so much!

 

[Arenas Chickens]

I don’t know if I am doing posts correctly... do I simply reply to my own post to update it? As I have been doing? Or am I to be doing something different.... I don’t seem to know how to start a new thread nor do I think I should be if it’s in relation to a previous one.... nonetheless here’s an update:

I am back to battling the temp beast but this time the temp has not gone higher than 107F but it’s been getting lower than 96F. I am sitting by the eggs daily to play with this & that to maintain these babies & my partner has had some late nights helping

During some more research I found that I have a range of possible breeds in my nest... from the Americauna I ordered to the Chantcelor, Meran, & even a Welsummer. Are there any ‘sure fire’ ways to tell what you have by the eggs other than knowing that if they are blue you have “X”? What about chicks, are they very easy to ‘species-a-fy’?

On that note, anyone know where I can get Welsummer shipped to Canada? That is the Rooster type I’ve wanted - looks like the typical rooster you’d find on grandma and grandpa’s farm

 

[Henry&Friends]

I don’t know if I am doing posts correctly... do I simply reply to my own post to update it? As I have been doing? Or am I to be doing something different.... I don’t seem to know how to start a new thread nor do I think I should be if it’s in relation to a previous one....

For a hatch along I would keep responding to this thread.

During some more research I found that I have a range of possible breeds in my nest... from the Americauna I ordered to the Chantcelor, Meran, & even a Welsummer. Are there any ‘sure fire’ ways to tell what you have by the eggs other than knowing that if they are blue you have “X”? What about chicks, are they very easy to ‘species-a-fy’?

I can’t ID eggs and most chicks, but if you post pictures here on BYC people will identify them for you. there’s a “what breed or gender is this?“ Forum dedicated to identifying chicks.

I am back to battling the temp beast but this time the temp has not gone higher than 107F but it’s been getting lower than 96F. I am sitting by the eggs daily to play with this & that to maintain these babies ❤ & my partner has had some late nights helping

Have you guys considered making something like a styrofoam cooler incubator? And along with temps, are you maintaining humidity as well?

On that note, anyone know where I can get Welsummer shipped to Canada? That is the Rooster type I’ve wanted - looks like the typical rooster you’d find on grandma and grandpa’s farm

I have no idea, but when is your spring break? I get next week off for spring break, and it seems way too early for that.



also, I’m three days late but... Welcome to BYC!

 

[Arenas Chickens]

Thank you so much @Henry&Friends for the welcome & advice

Humidity has been constant at 20% no matter what I do except for day three when we were having the worst of temp battles it spiked to 80%. We are planning on making sure humidity rises for pipping <?> & are still working on how to get it up to at least 28%, but at the moment I admit to not being all that on-top of it since it does not seem to go above or below 20%.

For the suggestion of a styrofoam box I feel I’d have less luck as it would be fully enclosed & with my semi-open incubator I have issues with spiking temps of up to 108°F, I’d be fearful of having hard boiled eggs if I were to close them up. & as strange as it sounds I kinda like being hands on & as annoying as it can seem, constantly doing something with them, it makes me feel like I am actually being a good broody faux hen

Spring break for us starts the 19th until the 30th, next week does sound early but I have noticed that even in the same district our schools are not on the same page with many things.

I will most definitely be sharing pics. I really wish I had seen this place before I started incubating as I would have posted pics of the eggs & all my struggles from day one but new chapters can sometimes have the best results

 

[Henry&Friends]

Thank you so much @Henry&Friends for the welcome & advice

Humidity has been constant at 20% no matter what I do except for day three when we were having the worst of temp battles it spiked to 80%. We are planning on making sure humidity rises for pipping <?> & are still working on how to get it up to at least 28%, but at the moment I admit to not being all that on-top of it since it does not seem to go above or below 20%.

For the suggestion of a styrofoam box I feel I’d have less luck as it would be fully enclosed & with my semi-open incubator I have issues with spiking temps of up to 108°F, I’d be fearful of having hard boiled eggs if I were to close them up. & as strange as it sounds I kinda like being hands on & as annoying as it can seem, constantly doing something with them, it makes me feel like I am actually being a good broody faux hen

Spring break for us starts the 19th until the 30th, next week does sound early but I have noticed that even in the same district our schools are not on the same page with many things.

I will most definitely be sharing pics. I really wish I had seen this place before I started incubating as I would have posted pics of the eggs & all my struggles from day one but new chapters can sometimes have the best results

I’m not sure what the humidity is supposed to be throughout the incubation process, but many BYC members do, so hopefully they’ll chime in with some advice.

your spring break sounds a lot more like spring break than mine! I’m hoping to move my chicks out to the coop this week, but it’s supposed to rain all week so I’ll have to hold off on that or move the coop entirely tonight while I still can... and I need to tweak with the chickens roosts, fencing, and maybe even deep clean the coop. I wish I had two weeks off instead of one, because I’ll be running around in the rain all week it looks like.

BYC is awesome, im glad you found it even if it’s a bit untimely... I guarantee you’ll find yourself coming back here daily to learn something new! I know I do

 

[Arenas Chickens]

I do believe the humidity is supposed to be at least 28%, I mean this is what the lady who sold me the eggs said she kept hers at, but like everything, there’s a lot of variation by people on this. Some say anything more that 60% is for ducks & a chick might drown in their egg, others say that’s a wife’s tale & humidity can be 70%

I find myself constantly checking the BYC app lol! I’m sure I saw someone say this place was evil that way lol

I’m excited for spring break for chicks & getting my older kids for the majority of it! It will be a family hatching affair

I hope the rain does not interfere to much with your coop or chicks. We ourselves have a lot to do with ours before the chicks have to go outside - we inherited two coops with the acreage we are renting, however, they did nothing to clean or maintain them when they stopped having their chickens. It looks like a few years & a lot of chickens have passed through them lol. My partner is adamant he will solely clean them hopefully we’ve time as I feel some of the chicks are further along than others & we may have some early hatchers...... I’m not very good at waiting lol

 

[Arenas Chickens]

I don’t know if I am doing posts correctly... do I simply reply to my own post to update it? As I have been doing? Or am I to be doing something different.... I don’t seem to know how to start a new thread nor do I think I should be if it’s in relation to a previous one.... nonetheless here’s an update:

I am back to battling the temp beast but this time the temp has not gone higher than 107F but it’s been getting lower than 96F. I am sitting by the eggs daily to play with this & that to maintain these babies & my partner has had some late nights helping

During some more research I found that I have a range of possible breeds in my nest... from the Americauna I ordered to the Chantcelor, Meran, & even a Welsummer. Are there any ‘sure fire’ ways to tell what you have by the eggs other than knowing that if they are blue you have “X”? What about chicks, are they very easy to ‘species-a-fy’?

On that note, anyone know where I can get Welsummer shipped to Canada? That is the Rooster type I’ve wanted - looks like the typical rooster you’d find on grandma and grandpa’s farm

I know this is way early for me but I like to be prepared ..... what is “lockdown”?

this is what I know:

3 days prior to hatching day
stop turning eggs
increase humidity ️

that’s it lol that’s what I know

 

[Henry&Friends]

I know this is way early for me but I like to be prepared ..... what is “lockdown”?

➡ this is what I know:

➡ 3 days prior to hatching day
➡ stop turning eggs
➡ increase humidity

➡ that’s it lol that’s what I know ⬅

That’s pretty much all I know too, it’s the time that the chicks begin to internally pip (peckinto the air cell) and start hatching. They then externally pip through the egg shell, and begin zipping (cracking along the whole egg to emerge.) If humidity drops during this time, the inner membrane of the egg can shrinkwrap the chick, and the chick can’t get out. If the chick is stuck for 24-48ish hours, you can assist hatching by carefully picking away the egg shell, and then I’m not sure how to help, but I know not to pull the chick out or it might rupture blood vessels and die. oh, and coconut oil can help keep exposed membrane moist

 

[aart]

Here's some good info on hatching:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubation-humidity.73386/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/