The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[misfit acres]

Is it necessary to candle all the eggs?

 

[Cynthia12]

Is it necessary to candle all the eggs?

It's a good idea to by day 10. You can weed out any potential .. bad eggs. That could be causing bacteria in the bator. :/

 

[Cynthia12]

I only got 5 babies from my bantam eggs. I helped them all once one had made a zip only a fourth of a way after 10 hrs. of working on it. Had stopped chirping as much. Boy, it popped out like . . whew! Finally. Up and at em right away.
So, thought I best check the others. 4 not moving..sure enough dead..bad bad air cells, but everything absorbed... :/ .. the others were alive, and all but one popped up right away, they had absorbed everything! If I hadn't helped..pretty sure I would have lost more. No pips in any other than the first one. Helped going into day 22.

 

[junebuggena]

Went to TSC today finally and saw the chicks and there were a LOT of reds (well only one bin actually labeled "rhode island red", one labeled bantams but empty and one jersey giant bin, the rest were labeled "pullets" supposedly assorted breeds but looked entirely reds to me) and anyway, all in large metal feed troughs, ALL heat lamp clamped to side. Babies crammed like sardines in there. Felt sorry for them. But of course MHP is too expensive and takes up too much room to be efficient for those babies, got 6 feed troughs in a gated area. Felt so bad though.

Probably red sexlink pullets.

 

[misfit acres]

It's a good idea to by day 10.  You can weed out any potential ..  bad eggs.  That could be causing bacteria in the bator.  :/

Okay, thanks, should I leave the questionable ones in?

 

[StarMeKritten]

Just candled, and out of 60 eggs I only tossed 6 certain clears. No blood rings that I could see. Very happy with that. I have a very strange egg though. I have an egg with a air cell on its side- not a shipped egg, it is one of mine. I even incubate my eggs upright. It is the strangest thing. Has anyone else seen anything like this?

I had 2 like that last year. One happened when I accidentally put a hole in the egg while candling. There was a bit of dirt on it and I scraped it and a chunk of shell came off with it. I sealed the hole with candle wax but the air cell moved to the side of the egg. Amazingly, the chick continued to develop and hatched on its own without assistance. The other egg just had the air cell on the long side of the egg. The chick developed but was not able to hatch. When I candled eggs before setting them this time around, I discovered one with a detached air cell, in spite of the fact that it was freshly laid by one of my hens and not shipped. I did not set it. I guess that just happens once in awhile. I think that's probably what happened with yours. The air cell was detached and then reattached in the wrong place. Hope it hatches for you anyway!

 

[Pensmaster]

I only got 5 babies from my bantam eggs. I helped them all once one had made a zip only a fourth of a way after 10 hrs. of working on it. Had stopped chirping as much. Boy, it popped out like . . whew! Finally. Up and at em right away. So, thought I best check the others. 4 not moving..sure enough dead..bad bad air cells, but everything absorbed... :/ .. the others were alive, and all but one popped up right away, they had absorbed everything! If I hadn't helped..pretty sure I would have lost more. No pips in any other than the first one. Helped going into day 22.

Wow glad you found them in time. Cute little guys. Hi Cynthia. Have you been getting some of this rain? 5" for us since a week ago Friday

 

[Cynthia12]

Okay, thanks, should I leave the questionable ones in?

Yes.

 

[TJordan]

Okay, thanks, should I leave the questionable ones in?

I leave questionable ones until day 18. Right before lockdown.

 

[Cynthia12]

Wow glad you found them in time. Cute little guys. Hi Cynthia.
Have you been getting some of this rain? 5" for us since a week ago Friday

We are due for some snow this weekend. I don't imagine it will stick for long. And, it looks like we get some moisture for a few days in a row. That's ok, we are still needing it.
Wow, you guys got a lot!