The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Amywilliams]

Yeah I am in my first trimester of pregnancy....there is no food going into this stomach...myI called .mt husband to tell him I was pregnant and he got home from work and started unloading crackers, ginger ale, and not one but TWO packages of Ginger Lozenges...this is our fourth pregnancy...I was barely sick with the first and then we lost it...with every one since I have been sick as a dog and glad of it because it is the hormones that make me sick. More hormone = stronger baby. So I will gladly live on crackers and Lozenges.

With my first pregnancy I had no symptoms I didn't even know till I had strong gas pains then passed a jelly ball with something inside. The next time I could not even be around the smell of food or I would throw up and had a girl. My sister on the other felt nothing and she would eat none stop and had a boy.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I'm out. A friend of DH was over with his kids this weekend and they were not adequately supervised (I was not home) and one of them turned up the incubator to 120 and cooked everything inside. I am super bummed because there were 13 project eggs in there that it took me 2 weeks to collect.

Oh no! I'm so sorry.

I think one of my hens went broody. She is in the nest right now, and I only collected 4 eggs today. I've been collecting 6 to 11 eggs a day. I've never seen a hen in the nesting box at night, so I think she's trying to set eggs. I'll know for sure if I find her there tomorrow. Don't know how many are under her, either. If she does hatch some out, I'd have to pull them out and brood them separate for fear that they'd fall out of the raised coop. Is there a safe way to maybe move the mom and unhatched eggs to another area, or will that just mess things up?

Sounds like a broody. You'll want to mark her eggs and remove any unmarked eggs every day. Other hens will add to her "nest" and you'll have a mess of hatch dates otherwise.

I find it easiest to move the hen and chicks after they hatch. I let her hatch them where she chooses to sit, then at night after they hatch, I move them to a private area for the mom's and babies to bond but are still in view of the flock. After a week, I can let them out with the flock. (and they can usually figure out the ramp by then so I don't have to get flogged by a broody playing "catch the baby chick)

Ok, did my candling again for Day 10.
Out of the 10 questionable I had on Day 7, 5 were definitely not growing so they were tossed. So down to 56 now.
Out of the remaining 5, 3 are still questionable but 2 had good wiggly embryos.
So at Day 10 I am left with 53 wiggly embryos and 3 questionable eggs.

@HappyChooks
@ronott1
@KYTinpusher

@chicken pickin

I have couple of other issues hoping someone can help me with. I am especially mentioning few names to make sure they get to read this post (its kinda late and could be easily overlooked), however anyone with suggestions is welcome.

A) 4 of the good wiggly embryo eggs have very large air sacs. These were shipped eggs and have saddle-shaped sacs almost as big as at lockdown. They also have lost 10-15% of their weight already. So I am thinking they may have some minor cracks which may not be visible to the naked eye and, its causing them to lose weight rapidly. What should I do with these eggs, I am almost certain I will run into trouble with them. Shall I separate them somehow and create a more humid environment for them? Maybe putting in a sealed box with a damp paper towel and then taking out for oxygenation during the cool down time? I am clueless!

B) 2 of the good eggs seems to have only developed on one side of the egg. The embryos are moving but half the egg is completely clear. No blood vessels, nothing, nada. What could have caused it? Will they survive? I have checked the auto-turner and its working fine and all the other eggs in the same incubator are fine. I have moved them to the Brinsea in an upright position instead of flat just in case.
Anything else I can do?

Again, everyone/anyone's input is welcome!

If it had a crack, you'd see it when candling. I've had many different types of air sacs (of many different breeds) and none have affected the hatch. I have no idea on the embryo developing on the side, other than leave it in there. Does it look behind the others in development?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

With my first pregnancy I had no symptoms I didn't even know till I had strong gas pains then passed a jelly ball with something inside. The next time I could not even be around the smell of food or I would throw up and had a girl. My sister on the other felt nothing and she would eat none stop and had a boy.

I was sick from 2 weeks to halfway through my second trimester. Had to take zofran just so I could keep food down so my baby boy could get some nutirion. I lost a couple pounds the first trimester, started gaining finally in the second. Had my baby boy. (Labor was as bad as pregnancy...lol) Now I can't get rid of the excess weight...lol Not so easy to loose that weight when you have your first (and only) kid later in life...lol I miss my twenties metabolism!

 

[Amywilliams]

I was sick from 2 weeks to halfway through my second trimester. Had to take zofran just so I could keep food down so my baby boy could get some nutirion. I lost a couple pounds the first trimester, started gaining finally in the second. Had my baby boy. (Labor was as bad as pregnancy...lol) Now I can't get rid of the excess weight...lol  Not so easy to loose that weight when you have your first (and only) kid later in life...lol I miss my twenties metabolism!

Every time I went in for a check up my nurse would yell at me that I was to thin. I am under 5 feet and if I can remember right the most I weighed was 125. I had bags and trash cans all over the house. Birth was miserable as well lost to much blood and blacked out.
Oh no. Baby weight is tricky to loose

 

[Junibutt]

Im not sure I can be of much help since I don't really have the experience but here are my thoughts.

Last night during candling I noticed that one of my Marans eggs had lits of hair line cracks. I can only imagine I bumped it or something and caused the damage before set day or maybe while hand turning, not really certain. Upon candling that egg I also noticed that the air cell was very large like lockdown large also. My decision was because I could not see if it was developing due to the dark egg shell I pulled the egg so I possibly didn't end up with a horrid mess later.

If you decide not to pull them and if you want to give it a go because you can see development and you want these shipped egg to hatch you should definitely move them to a different incubator just incase. In the new incubator you should probably keep the humidity quite high to help the air cell not get much bigger. I dont think I would box the egg, Im not sure they will get enough oxygen. Keep an eye on them daily to be sure they are growing proper and that they don't start to smell.

As for the egg that is only developing in half the egg, I have had this happen before, one time. But honestly I cant remember if it hatched or not. I want to say it did not but I cant really remember. Im not sure what causes that.

I really hope someone else will jump in with better advice for you. I wasn't very helpful lol. Good Luck!

You are helpful because it makes me feel that we are together in this. I examined those eggs carefully but don't see any cracks, so they might be extra porous. All 4 are the same breed though, that may have something to do with it. I am not pulling them but definitely moving to a different incubator and moving the eggs from that incubator into my Brinsea.

That's weird with them being in a turner because that is what you see with hand turned eggs after they have been laying on one side. If you pick an egg up and candle it before you turn it, you'll see exactly what you are describing. Then as you turn you can see the discplacement of the embryo as it shifts. (The one side that it is on is the side that faces up.) Once you turn it it moves back to the side that is facing up. (After using an automatic turner for my all my hatches then handturning I was intrigued by this.)

You taste the vinegar at all?

Maybe I had too many eggs stuffed in and these did not get to turn properly, or may be the turner rolled them more than it should have. Lets see if they hatch or not! Not doing any candling till Day 14 (I read somewhere that its not good from Day 11-13 because the chick is positioning itself)

What is the humidity in your incubator? I would leave the eggs where they are and raise the humidity up 5 to 10%.

Shipped eggs should always be set big end up. If the embryos are still going then they will likely be fine. Turning problems kill them from day 6 to 10.

Humidity is consistent at 35%. If I raise the humidity up, I will place the other 44 eggs at risk. They have normal or slightly less than weight loss than it should be. All their air sacs are normal size as well.

The ones developing in half the egg are from my own flock and not shipped eggs. Maybe they were in the portion of turner that was too stuffed. I have relocated them in the tray. Let's see!

 

[Amywilliams]

...

You are helpful because it makes me feel that we are together in this. I examined those eggs carefully but don't see any cracks, so they might be extra porous. All 4 are the same breed though, that may have something to do with it. I am not pulling them but definitely moving to a different incubator and moving the eggs from that incubator into my Brinsea.

The chicken is on the yolk so where ever the yolk goes the baby fallows. If you see it moving but no veins it could just be a darker egg shell and is fine


I'm on my phone and have trouble quoting your question but hopefully it'll help.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You are helpful because it makes me feel that we are together in this. I examined those eggs carefully but don't see any cracks, so they might be extra porous. All 4 are the same breed though, that may have something to do with it. I am not pulling them but definitely moving to a different incubator and moving the eggs from that incubator into my Brinsea.

Maybe I had too many eggs stuffed in and these did not get to turn properly, or may be the turner rolled them more than it should have. Lets see if they hatch or not! Not doing any candling till Day 14 (I read somewhere that its not good from Day 11-13 because the chick is positioning itself)
Humidity is consistent at 35%. If I raise the humidity up, I will place the other 44 eggs at risk. They have normal or slightly less than weight loss than it should be. All their air sacs are normal size as well.

The ones developing in half the egg are from my own flock and not shipped eggs. Maybe they were in the portion of turner that was too stuffed. I have relocated them in the tray. Let's see!

I would bet that as long as it continues to get turned now, it'll be fine. The first time I saw this, I almost freaked because I had only ever used the automatic turner and they didn't look like that when I candled and then I realized it was because they were laying flat and I was hand turning. It made so much sense to me as to why we turn after seeing that, because I understood what was ment by "if you don't turn they will stick to the side and not develope right'. I never fully understood that until this time and seeing a candled egg after it's been laying still on its side for a length of time.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Every time I went in for a check up my nurse would yell at me that I was to thin. I am under 5 feet and if I can remember right the most I weighed was 125. I had bags and trash cans all over the house. Birth was miserable as well lost to much blood and blacked out.
Oh no. Baby weight is tricky to loose

Dr thought my belly looked too small too, so sent me for an extra sono (which I didn't mind as my boy would not let us see what he was at the 4-5 month sono.) Baby was growing perfectly fine, I just had no extra fat (then..plenty now...lol) I ended up with 5 sonos all together (one being the 3-D sono which was awesome!!) I was considered high risk between age and screening numbers.

 

[Junibutt]

Oh no! I'm so sorry.

Sounds like a broody. You'll want to mark her eggs and remove any unmarked eggs every day. Other hens will add to her "nest" and you'll have a mess of hatch dates otherwise.

I find it easiest to move the hen and chicks after they hatch. I let her hatch them where she chooses to sit, then at night after they hatch, I move them to a private area for the mom's and babies to bond but are still in view of the flock. After a week, I can let them out with the flock. (and they can usually figure out the ramp by then so I don't have to get flogged by a broody playing "catch the baby chick)

If it had a crack, you'd see it when candling. I've had many different types of air sacs (of many different breeds) and none have affected the hatch. I have no idea on the embryo developing on the side, other than leave it in there. Does it look behind the others in development?

Hi @HappyChooks , I am not worried about the air sac, I am more worried about the weight loss from the day of setting. 2 of them have already lost 14%, 1 is at 12 and 4th one has 10% loss by now. So by lockdown, the situation would be even worse.

The one's in half the eggs have the same type of development as in other eggs and are moving albeit in half the egg (vertically half). Maybe something genetic (from the same hen)

 

[Amywilliams]

Dr thought my belly looked too small too, so sent me for an extra sono (which I didn't mind as my boy would not let us see what he was at the 4-5 month sono.) Baby was growing perfectly fine, I just had no extra fat (then..plenty now...lol)  I ended up with 5 sonos all together (one being the 3-D sono which was awesome!!) I was considered high risk between age and screening numbers.

I have epilepsy so I was always going in for sonos. I was high risk from day one till 2 days after birth as well. So I was excited to go see the baby bounce haha. To bad fat can't be sucked out like a first trimester lol