Tis Time for a March 2020 Hatch-a-long!

[CluckNDoodle]

Hello everyone! Hope everyone has had a good weekend. I just drove a couple hours south to get 2 dozen Ameraucana eggs and am on my way home. I’m going to set them once my Gypsy Hen eggs hatch tomorrow/Tuesday.
Also...I got my first egg from my new Splash Ameraucana Hen yesterday. I cracked it open and it’s fertilized!!!! I’m so excited. Going to start saving her eggs and maybe I’ll have babies from my own chickens for the very first time soon!!!

Wow! The first egg was already fertilized! Your rooster is on point! lol

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

Wow! The first egg was already fertilized! Your rooster is on point! lol

Well she had been laying for a couple weeks at her previous home...so maybe she was with a rooster there. Good point. I should probably ask.

 

[gmjarvi]

I feel like I have been so lucky with timing my bator checks - just popped over to the Janoel and the faverolles with the sideways air cell is nearly out! After she fluffs up I will be able to move 3 more chicks to the brooder, and then I will be carefully watching the two remaining eggs for pips. And keeping my fingers crossed for the eggs in the Brinsea.

How long have you waited before you gave up on your eggs?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I feel like I have been so lucky with timing my bator checks - just popped over to the Janoel and the faverolles with the sideways air cell is nearly out! After she fluffs up I will be able to move 3 more chicks to the brooder, and then I will be carefully watching the two remaining eggs for pips. And keeping my fingers crossed for the eggs in the Brinsea.

How long have you waited before you gave up on your eggs?

That's so exciting!!!

I have heard of chicks hatching successfully as late as day 25. Once the hatching activity has settled and I'm left with a few stragglers with no external pips I usually candle the egg to check for internal pips or movement, tap lightly and listen for peeps, and if I'm concerned I'll put in a safety hole and wait or move forward with opening the air cell to see if the chick is still alive or needs assistance.
For those that would like to be hands off and wait to see what happens, just doing the first steps and waiting 2-3 days before discarding is a good hands off method and gives the chick plenty of time to hatch on it's own (as long as they aren't clearly stinky).

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

Wow! The first egg was already fertilized! Your rooster is on point! lol

Ok I checked with the breeder I bought her from and she was NOT in with a rooster. So my boy, Monty, is doing his job! Yay.

 

[Mylied]

I feel like I have been so lucky with timing my bator checks - just popped over to the Janoel and the faverolles with the sideways air cell is nearly out! After she fluffs up I will be able to move 3 more chicks to the brooder, and then I will be carefully watching the two remaining eggs for pips. And keeping my fingers crossed for the eggs in the Brinsea.

How long have you waited before you gave up on your eggs?

If everyone else is hatched and the eggs aren't pipped, I candle them. If obviously dead, I toss. Or I'll eggtopsy.

 

[gmjarvi]

If everyone else is hatched and the eggs aren't pipped, I candle them. If obviously dead, I toss. Or I'll eggtopsy.

My overwhelming gut feeling is that the remaining chicks in the Brinsea have passed for some reason. There is one internal pip but I havent heard it chirp since last night. I might poke a hole in that one to see what happens.

Huge bummer for obvious reasons, but also because I REALLY wanted lav orpingtons and Ameraucanas this year and only one of each made it! Guess I'll just need to buy more eggs

 

[CluckNDoodle]

My overwhelming gut feeling is that the remaining chicks in the Brinsea have passed for some reason. There is one internal pip but I havent heard it chirp since last night. I might poke a hole in that one to see what happens.

Huge bummer for obvious reasons, but also because I REALLY wanted lav orpingtons and Ameraucanas this year and only one of each made it! Guess I'll just need to buy more eggs

If you decide to put a safety hole in it, I would candle first, mark the air cell, clean a screw with rubbing alcohol and then gently score in the very center of the air cell and it's more of a picking at the shell so that it doesn't slip and poke the baby. The chick is often much closer to the shell then it appears when candling. I promise taking your time to make the hole is more important than getting it back into the bater.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Guess I'll just need to buy more eggs

You should definitely get more eggs! And if you haven't joined the Easter hatch-a-long yet then you absolutely should get the eggs to set on March 21st so you can participate! lol

 

[gmjarvi]

You should definitely get more eggs! And if you haven't joined the Easter hatch-a-long yet then you absolutely should get the eggs to set on March 21st so you can participate! lol

Omg I have been agonizing over this because I don't want to leave my bators empty that long maybe someone on craigslist will have one they want to get rid of.