Thunderstorms and Hatching Eggs, truth or not?

[50-45-1]

How many of us have been told by an oldtimer at one time that thunder and lightning storms kill your hatching eggs?
Me, for one was told that by my mother and 2 other beloved old timers who i might add were invaluable sources of good advice on many different subjects.
My experience that convinced me:
I have a rabbit hutch that i put my broodies in to hatch there clutches. I mark my callendar to know when eggs will hatch in 21 days.
At the time it was late July and the cherrys were being harvested by a large shock wave shaker and crew. The closest cherry tree to the broody rabbit hutch was about 40 feet away. The eggs were on day 18 when the crew came thru and shook the trees.
Now, usually my eggs begin to hatch on day 19 but nothing happened. I waited until day 26 with no pipping before i gave up. Put the hen out ( she was a very dedicated broody and had not wavered in her dedication to the eggs)
I wanted to know what was inside the eggs and dug a hole and opened the eggs one by one before burying them. Each and every egg had a fully formed ready to hatch chick inside.
Due to this experience i believe that thunder shock waves can effect hatching eggs.
I believe its the shock waves that you feel when the thunder reverbrates somehow kills the chicks. You feel it thru your feet and sometimes it rattles the windows in your house.
I know some have speculated it has to do with humidity but in exerience it has to do with the vibration.
I put plenty of hay in my rabbit hutch now so there is lots of cushion between the eggs and a hard surface bottom of the hutch.
Im just bringing this up to see if anyone else has had any reason to believe this thunderstorm story, or not.
All my beloved oldtimers are gone now, and instead now I AM the oldtimer to others!

 

[ChickNanny13]

I'd say no so BUT

 

[The Moonshiner]

There's no truth to it.
I hatch all spring when we have storms often and plenty of chicks hatch.
I'd have to think there's hardly ever a 3 week span without at least a couple thunderstorms so if there was any truth to it I wouldn't have any hatches.

 

[Compost King]

the word "effect" had me guessing yes. I am sure there is some sort of effect even if we haven't advanced enough as a species to see it. Humans are still in the infancy of electrical knowledge.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

More than likely your non-viable eggs were liking in a micro-nutrient. Micro-nutrients are necessary in both the hen and the rooster to be sure that the eggs develop fully. Fully developed chicks that quit shortly before day 21 is a pretty sure sign that your flock is lacking in some vitamin or mineral. This weakens the peeps and they are unable to expend the energy to hatch out.

 

[calf raiser]

How many of us have been told by an oldtimer at one time that thunder and lightning storms kill your hatching eggs?
Me, for one was told that by my mother and 2 other beloved old timers who i might add were invaluable sources of good advice on many different subjects.
My experience that convinced me:
I have a rabbit hutch that i put my broodies in to hatch there clutches. I mark my callendar to know when eggs will hatch in 21 days.
At the time it was late July and the cherrys were being harvested by a large shock wave shaker and crew. The closest cherry tree to the broody rabbit hutch was about 40 feet away. The eggs were on day 18 when the crew came thru and shook the trees.
Now, usually my eggs begin to hatch on day 19 but nothing happened. I waited until day 26 with no pipping before i gave up. Put the hen out ( she was a very dedicated broody and had not wavered in her dedication to the eggs)
I wanted to know what was inside the eggs and dug a hole and opened the eggs one by one before burying them. Each and every egg had a fully formed ready to hatch chick inside.
Due to this experience i believe that thunder shock waves can effect hatching eggs.
I believe its the shock waves that you feel when the thunder reverbrates somehow kills the chicks. You feel it thru your feet and sometimes it rattles the windows in your house.
I know some have speculated it has to do with humidity but in exerience it has to do with the vibration.
I put plenty of hay in my rabbit hutch now so there is lots of cushion between the eggs and a hard surface bottom of the hutch.
Im just bringing this up to see if anyone else has had any reason to believe this thunderstorm story, or not.
All my beloved oldtimers are gone now, and instead now I AM the oldtimer to others!

I am an old timer who grew up on a homestead ranch in the high desert of southeast Oregon with pioneer parents. both had lives off their land most of there lives being their daughter I was raised the same. Chickens were a very important part of life. we did not have any incubators just the hens. almost every time we had a thunder storm when hens eggs were almost ready to hatch they did not hatch. There were fully formed dead chicks ready to hatch right away.
.I have hatched hundreds of chicks with hens and the little giant incubators with good results. we moved the hatching spot into my office which is next to the bathroom which has the old very noisy washer that shakes the whole house. I got a few chicks to hatch but most were dead in their shell close to hatching. The free ranging hens were hatching chicks like crazy out there free range of the ranch where ever they chose to make their nests. So I certainly believe sudden jarring or vibrations kill chicks just before hatching and maybe earlier.