Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

[Iain Utah]

DG, it is an ancona from aurora springs. Should be colored. It's zipped 1/3 of top with no sign of stopping. I'm quickly setting up a teeny post-bator area for the little one as I expect it will hatch at least 24 hours before any of the others.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Oh cool! Is this from the "take a chance" auction? How many ya got?

I keep hopeing I find a ancona egg out there! Nothing still!

 

[ChristineR]

Yay!!! Be sure to post pics!

Blue egg #1 has not stopped working at hatching since it started peeping yesterday. It is zipping now, even though none of the others have even externally pipped yet (although some are very close)!

I can see yellow hair and pink beak. It is zipping perfectly along top of day 21 line and the membrane looks really good.

 

[Iain Utah]

I put 8 into lockdown once the 1st 3 internally pipped end of day 24. The other 2 have been trying to externally pip for hours now. The remainder are not far behind, although I am concerned one may be backwards.

Oh yeah.... it's 50% zipped now!

 

[70%cocoa]

Thanks for elaborating. I feel like the more I research, the more confused I get. I really want to candle the eggs more to figure more out but then I'm scared I'm handling them too much. I know some of mine have space at the bottom too. Whether they have died or if they don't fill in the bottom till towards the end?

I also thought lockdown meant taking them out of the egg turner and putting them undisturbed in the hatching place? I was planning on moving mine out of the egg turner on day 25 to the hatching incubator for lockdown. Also should I try and put something under each hatching egg for easy cleanup since I am going to have them hatching intermittently for a month?

Sorry for all the newbie questions...

Sbost, there should definitely be space at the fat end. That's normal. Although the duckling grows during the indubation period, moisture evaporates as well. By the end, the egg has a big space in it.

You can leave them in the incubator for the hatching process as long as you shut the turning mechanism off on day 25. Or you can move them to the hatching incubator at day 25 if you like. If your hatching incubator is the kind without a fan and is easier to clean, then those are good reasons for moving the eggs to the hatching incubator. Personally, I just leave mine in the same incubator for the whole time.

Edit: You want to have continuous hatches of course and so don't want to turn off the turner in your main incubator... So, yes, move them to the hatching incubator at day 25 (with no turning). Sit them on their sides with the fat end up slightly.

Lockdown just means 'try not to open the lid in the last three days'.

What kind of surface is uinder the eggs? It is good to put down some non-slip drawer liner. It gives the new hatchlings something to grip onto. Helps with cleaning a bit too. The incubator does get awfully messy during hatches.

Hope that helps Keep aasking away - we are here to help and all questions are good questions.

 

[Adriennesmom]

My little "Shamus was born yesterday morning

I can't stop taking pictures of him! He is so adorable

 

[70%cocoa]

Seamus is so incredibly cute! He looks big too. Growing fast already! Congratulations. And what a good boy for not pooping on your chair (yet).

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Lockdown: "lockdown" your bator lid

 

[Adriennesmom]

Seamus is so incredibly cute! He looks big too. Growing fast already! Congratulations. And what a good boy for not pooping on your chair (yet).

Thank you! I can't believe how big he is already

He is my first duckling that has hatched. I was amazed how much bigger he looked once he emerged from his shell! I was lucky that he resisted the urge to poop on my chair during the picture taking. He made up for a few minutes later when he pooped on my lap! lol

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

Maybe he'll come out and Julie will go, "wow, that is the biggest pecker I've ever seen. Why its bigger than even a chicken pecker." I've seen the pic, that bird has one longggg pecker.

I think it's going to hatch and be a quail. And then we can name him Woody. Or cocky.