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

[Mama Bay]

At what point do I give up on my last 4 eggs? This is just about day 23 here... I candled last night but really couldn't see much of anything... 1 is an EE and too opaque, 1 air cell was drawn down and the other 2 I could just see the air cells and darkness.

 

[Tropic Rooster]

We started off great but lost momentum. In the end we had the following count:

9 out of 9 Easter Eggers
1 out of 5 Black Copper Marans
2 out of 5 Black/Blue Orpington Banthams

Total 12 out of 19 but the Black Copper Marans and one Easter egger did not make it

, so we are down to 10 chicks.

We also had a broody who got 4 out of 5 Black Orpingtons ( maybe one cross in between, moma is a cross breed and she started laying on one of her own eggs before we gave her the orp eggs

)

Hope everyone else enjoyed the HAL

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Mine did too, I actually thought that she/he was going to make it out of the coffee mug!! They are pretty good jumpers!! lol But eventually it absorbed w/o breaking. I was told to put a damp paper towel in the bottom of the coffee mug so I did. Don't know if that helped any, but I'm assuming it was too keep the sac moist so it would absorb.

Thanks for the encouragement Amy!

I dampened the papertowel in hopes that will help.

If the yolk sac DOES end up getting poked or broken at all, is that the end, or is there anything else that can be done at that point?

 

[Mama Bay]

These 3 bantams hatched last surprisingly! They came from either a blue or silver laced Cochin bantam mom and a mixed leghorn Roo. Wonder what colors they'll turn out to be?

 

[dretd]

Good Hatch for us: 18 hatched (24 in, 23 made it to lockdown). One zipped through a blood vessel and suffocated overnight--so sad and there are 4 eggs still in, but I don't think they will do anything so I am calling it. Still 75% hatch rate is very good for me!

@ Mama Bay I am in your boat. I have hatched chicks on day 23 before--once I had a really extended hatch that went from day 19 to 23! You can leave them in longer to see if you have a late hatcher just make sure your incubator has its water filled up--I have found that mine tends to go dry after 3 days. The one tat is drawn down is probably gone. Some folks recommend to float the eggs in a 100 degree water bath to see if there is any bobbing--no movement means the chick is not moving either although I have not done that myself. I normally wait until day 25 but this time I had so many hatch I think that I am going to call it now.

 

[Mama Bay]

This one is a beautiful amber color and is different from all the others in the lot.

 

[chicken pickin]

Good Hatch for us: 18 hatched (24 in, 23 made it to lockdown). One zipped through a blood vessel and suffocated overnight--so sad and there are 4 eggs still in, but I don't think they will do anything so I am calling it. Still 75% hatch rate is very good for me!

@ Mama Bay I am in your boat. I have hatched chicks on day 23 before--once I had a really extended hatch that went from day 19 to 23! You can leave them in longer to see if you have a late hatcher just make sure your incubator has its water filled up--I have found that mine tends to go dry after 3 days. The one tat is drawn down is probably gone. Some folks recommend to float the eggs in a 100 degree water bath to see if there is any bobbing--no movement means the chick is not moving either although I have not done that myself. I normally wait until day 25 but this time I had so many hatch I think that I am going to call it now.

Congrats on a good hatch! Don't forget pics of those cute CL babies!

 

[Mama Bay]

Good Hatch for us: 18 hatched (24 in, 23 made it to lockdown). One zipped through a blood vessel and suffocated overnight--so sad and there are 4 eggs still in, but I don't think they will do anything so I am calling it. Still 75% hatch rate is very good for me!

@ Mama Bay  I am in your boat. I have hatched chicks on day 23 before--once I had a really extended hatch that went from day 19 to 23!  You can leave them in longer to see if you have a late hatcher just make sure your incubator has its water filled up--I have found that mine tends to go dry after 3 days. The one tat is drawn down is probably gone. Some folks recommend to float the eggs in a 100 degree water bath to see if there is any bobbing--no movement means the chick is not moving either although I have not done that myself. I normally wait until day 25 but this time I had so many hatch I think that I am going to call it now.

Yeah I have a feeling these are late quitters... 3 of the 4 were shipped eggs. I have 20 that hatched perfectly so I am happy with that. I will try the water method. Would hate to dump live chicks

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks for the encouragement Amy!

I dampened the papertowel in hopes that will help.

If the yolk sac DOES end up getting poked or broken at all, is that the end, or is there anything else that can be done at that point?

I only have had one that ruptured, and yes, it did die, but in all fairness it also had a lot of bloody membrane.cord with it as well. (It decided to hatch only 4-5 hours after pip. Why? I don't know.) I think the higher majority of ruptured yolk sacs do not make it, but there is always hope.

 

[Cynthia12]

Happy Monday everyone..thought this was a cute picture, may bring a smile to those in need of one. Hope those eggs are hatching that are due right now.