Starting a hatch September 21....hatch along?

[itsren]

It's what, day 20 for you now? At this point, just wait. If you must, and if you're alright with the high risk of losing the chick, you might try opening an egg, carefully, at the air sac end of the egg.

Quote:
We took the paper towels out of one incubator and we didn't touch the other. I figure if the paper towels did cause them to drown, they already did. I locked down early at 17 days because the eggs were moving so much.

I do think before I ever do this again, I will buy something that measures humidity. Not knowing what it really is makes this so much more difficult.

Thanks everyone. Now I just sit and wait. At the very least this has turned into a science experiment to see how much condensation builds up on the inside walls of the incubators with1 layer of paper towels vs. 9 layers of paper towels.

So much for thinking I was making a comfy place for my chicks to hatch out onto. Sigh.

 

[CluckyCharms]

It looks like I'm not the only newbie having troubles. I'm so sorry you're having a rough go of it too. Mine are moving around like crazy and it's only day 16 for them. I added water just in case they're naughty and try to hatch early. Humidity was 40% until I added the water...now it's climbing. I don't know what to do either - guess we just sit. I'm praying.

 

[itsren]

It looks like I'm not the only newbie having troubles. I'm so sorry you're having a rough go of it too. Mine are moving around like crazy and it's only day 16 for them. I added water just in case they're naughty and try to hatch early. Humidity was 40% until I added the water...now it's climbing. I don't know what to do either - guess we just sit. I'm praying.

I hope it goes well for you!

Yours are moving at day 16, too? That's when mine started moving. I asked multiple places and was advised to lock down. I locked down on day 17. I still don't know if that was the right thing to do.

I guess I would advise - don't think "comfort" for your chicks and put in a lot of paper towels for them to hatch on. That was a lesson learned for me, possibly the hard way.

Day 21 is tomorrow - but I haven't seen them move since shortly after lockdown at day 17. That leads me to believe they probably quit. I'll wait it out and see, though.

Best wishes for your hatch!

 

[GVChickenMan]

Day 20 and first chirp!

Looks like my six girls

might be about to start.

 

[itsren]

Day 20 and first chirp!

Looks like my six girls

might be about to start.

Congrats! Enjoy watching the hatch!

 

[itsren]

It looks like I'm not the only newbie having troubles. I'm so sorry you're having a rough go of it too. Mine are moving around like crazy and it's only day 16 for them. I added water just in case they're naughty and try to hatch early. Humidity was 40% until I added the water...now it's climbing. I don't know what to do either - guess we just sit. I'm praying.

I'm copying a quote from 2hot2chicken on the Washington thread. Maybe it will help you make the decision of when to lock down. Looking back, I wish I had not locked down early at day 17. It's not totally over yet for my hatch. I wasn't expecting them until today or tomorrow, but since they were wiggling so much on Day 16 and 17, it really confused me. Then they completely stopped moving. The one I candled last night while taking paper towels out wasn't moving, either. Since I touched one incubator and not the other, I'll know soon enough if messing with one incubator after lockdown helped or hurt. I'm going to sit and wait and hope for the best. If they did drown from either being locked down too soon, or from having too many paper towels in with them, I'm just going to have to chalk it up to experience.

 

[GVChickenMan]

Had to go out for a few hours. Just returned to two pips! Eggs #2 and #3 out of 6 have made a start.

 

[cochins1088]

ok thats awesome info thanks a lot, now what is an internal pip and an external pip im sorry for so many questions its my first time i want to know as much as i can so i dont mess it up i know this are like the crucial days for those eggs so any help tip and trick i can get is awesome

So an egg has a a shell and 2 membranes. One membrane is attached the the shell, the other is attatched to the shell everywhere except for the air sac. An internal pip is when the chick "pips" or breaks through that membrane and reaches the air sac to begin breathing. An external pip is when the chick breaks through the shell and will look like a tiny set of cracks.

 

[cochins1088]

pfftt.. I had this long response for you guys on early lockdown, air sac development and optimal tempatures and then my computer shut down and I lost it all. I'll try to type it up again when I get back from college.

 

[FarmMomof3]

aww I'm sorry you guys are having such a hard time with your hatchings.

But with practice you guys will be masters!