The worst thing EVER: An IDIOT with an incubator!

[Delmar]

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I thought you were talking to me! I got one out of 13 on my first hatch and that one died after 3 days, but I'm learning. I'm getting ready to set eggs today and I am hopeful that my second hatch will go a lot better. Truth is you will make mistakes and even the best don't get 100% hatch rates every time. Good luck!

 

[ourlittleflock]

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Thank you very much! I'll definitely let you all know what's going on. If some of them hatch, I'll be posting pictures of baby seramas! If I'm a failure, I will be blubbering like an idiot and will probably sell my incubator to someone for a killer price. I don't want to ruin an entire batch of seramas - especially considering if I had decided not to take them they would have gone into an incubator owned by someone intelligent and responsible about hatching them. I feel like a baby chicken killer.

don't be so hard on yourself - Using the incubator is a learning process - I have only been incubating for a little over a year and am still learning... I don't want to be a downer but seramas are the hardest to hatch... I have a serama that just hatched 2x d'uccles yesterday, 1x serama egg had pipped late last night, and her other serama egg - just quit after absorbing the yolk... it never tried to pip AND WHO knows why??

you may have to try several hatches to figure out your incubator with adding water, temps all the goodies that need to be adjusted.

also before I forget - the first couple times I incubated eggs - I stuck them straight in the incub after them beginning shipped (I didn't know to let them rest) and had very high hatch rate... your eggs should be fine.

 

[HEChicken]

Relax! I'm sure your eggs will be fine. Shipped eggs should be rested due to the stress of being tossed around by the postal workers etc. But - the first eggs I hatched I picked up from someone locally and drove them home. I set them immediately and all but three of them were developing at first candling at day 10. I didn't have as many hatch as I would have liked, because several pipped too low in the shell (hatching in egg cartons). It was frustrating to have them die in the shell fully developed but that had nothing to do with setting them without letting them rest first. The ones that did hatch are very healthy little 12-week-olds now.

 

[Raybob]

I dont think it will matter much, i did almost the same thing last year.

 

[geebs]

follow the rule about lockdown... you should be fine... Don't open after the lockdown date...... for any reason, real or imagined!!!

 

[mmaddie's mom]

I wish every new chicken owner was as consciencious as you have been (won't even tell you how I started out 20 years ago).

I, too, think you and the eggies will be fine!

 

[Jack Owl]

As long they weren't out in the freezing cold, you should be fine. Good luck!!

 

[columbiacritter]

Sorry but you don't even come close to winning a prize for the biggest Idjit with a Bator. That goes to a gal who regularly bought eating eggs from me and decided without tellign me or really doing any research to hatch the eggs I sold her. She bought a high end bator, put the eggs in then ignored the whole things until about ten days later a horrible stench woke her whole family up. Two fo the eggs had spoiled and blown up! Long story short, she didn't ask for fertiel eggs so she didn't get eggs from a flock with a roo. Plus some of the eggs she put in were duck and I don't have any drakes at all.

she tried to tell her husband it was my fault all the eggs were rotten and the $300 bator was "Ruined". I had stopped taking her calls after the second screaming phone call. He came around several days with the semi cleaned bator in his truck and was very reasonable about asking me what went wrong and if the bator was salvageable. I helped him clean it up and sold him hatching eggs. we still trade the occasioanl email about his flock, but his wife has never spoken to me again. .

 

[tailfluff]

Thank you all so very very much for your support! I can't believe the responses I've gotten. You all warm my heart. I feel so much better. The eggs weren't shipped - I drove across the state to get them and treated them as if I were holding a carton full of treasure the entire drive home. I really hope that at least one of them hatches!! My birds are my babies! I'm really really hopeful now. I will definitely keep you all updated. Thank you for the wishes of good luck! I realize that serama eggs are supposed to be some of the most difficult to hatch - I just want another little buddy or two or three to add to my indoor serama family. They are just the sweetest birds ever! I love them. Thank you all very much again - you've really made my day!!

 

[tailfluff]

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Oh my goodness!! Some people are so funny! I have heard a lot about exploding eggs in the incubator - I have NEVER had this happen! It sounds awful! That was very generous of you to clean up her mess. And in a $300 incubator - ouch! It kind of reminds me of when I was trying to explain to my 7th grade science teacher that incubating store bought eggs that had been in the fridge for three months was a futile attempt. It sounds like she didn't educate herself on what she was doing 'cause she was concentrating too hard on trying to be sneaky.

What a goofball! I'm sorry you had to experience that. You're more than generous! Maybe she's embarrassed about her behavior - she should be! It sounds like her husband is a very reasonable person.