Too Early for Feb Hatch-A-Long Thread??

[BluebirdHomestead]

If I were you I would do candling...

Do it one egg at a time take an egg out, make sure the lid is shut, candle it put the egg back, and take another egg out... repeat

Make sure you are not leaving your lid off for extended periods of time and you are instantly closing it after you take out the egg because you are either going to spike the temperature in your incubator or you'll lose a lot of humidity.

Be a fast bator ninja. Fast in fast out

What you'll want to look for is for movement and internal pipping. If they are internally pipped there's no need to do a safety hole. They have enough air in the egg and they can get sufficient air without a safety hole. I have just seen horrible things happen when people start to try to poke holes in eggs.

If you see no movement then it means that the chick has passed.

If you see movement and they're not internally pipped it means that they're trying to internally pip.

If you see them internally pipped but there's no external pip I would just wait.

I'm honestly someone who will wait 48 hours past the 21 days and then I do egg-topsies. I've actually had a chick that wasn't pipping at all and was about to die and I did an egg-topsy and saved it. I was actually shocked that it was still alive.

I will try candling soon when I can get away from my “helper” (2 year old lol) because I’ll need to take the eggs into the bathroom one at a time so it’s dark. Also...these are Marans and Olive eggs so I’m not sure I’d be able to see movement even if there was any. Mayyybe I’d be able to see an internal pip.

 

[FortCluck]

Since we are talking about tracking internal activity and health, does anyone have a recommendation for the best candling device for ultra dark eggs? I was crushed last week when I only got one fbcm from eggs I ordered but couldn't see inside & didn't hear any tapping or peeps so I tossed them at day 23.

Did you do egg topsies or did you just throw them in the trash and not look at them?

 

[livhatcher]

Thank you. I’ll start reading. I don’t think I’ll consider assisting this soon, but a safety hole is definitely something I’d consider doing soon.

Do. I am prone to panic especially if I see them struggling with a pip after a long time, and have mistakenly helped too much before the chick had digested all of its yolk and I made a TERRIBLE decision. A dead chick made me swing back toward less intervention (just being honest), but I don't believe that if they don't get out on their own they're not going to be healthy birds.

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

And if you are thinking about assisting a hatch a good thing to have on hand is cornstarch in case you have a bleeder. Where it is bleeding you sprinkle the cornstarch on it and it instantly stops a bleeding.

Great tip. Thank you.

 

[FortCluck]

I will try candling soon when I can get away from my “helper” (2 year old lol) because I’ll need to take the eggs into the bathroom one at a time so it’s dark. Also...these are Marans and Olive eggs so I’m not sure I’d be able to see movement even if there was any. Mayyybe I’d be able to see an internal pip.

You need to higher lumen flashlight

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

I agree with what was posted. Give them each a very careful listen and candling. I choose to keep the egg in the same orientation it was but I'm not sure that matted when chicks have been stepping all over it. It's still early yet. You may very well get a few more hatched!

That said I think you may be experiencing the sad reality of shipped eggs. Late quitters. Yes, people get lucky and have amazing hatch rates. That's what we all hope for but it's not typical. What usually happens is they grow fine, look healthy, but just can't quite make it through hatching.

I think you did an amazing job for a first hatch with shipped eggs! Don't be disheartened by what you're experiencing now.

Thanks for these words. I won’t be too devastated if 7 is the final number. But I’m reallllly hoping one more Marans makes it out.

 

[FortCluck]

Do. I am prone to panic especially if I see them struggling with a pip after a long time, and have mistakenly helped too much before the chick had digested all of its yolk and I made a TERRIBLE decision. A dead chick made me swing back toward less intervention (just being honest), but I don't believe that if they don't get out on their own they're not going to be healthy birds.

I've had the opposite experience where I have helped a chick that wasn't going to make it out and it ended up not being healthy.

I believe that if they cannot make it out of the shell they are not going to thrive on the outside. There's a reason why nature does what it does.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Since we are talking about tracking internal activity and health, does anyone have a recommendation for the best candling device for ultra dark eggs? I was crushed last week when I only got one fbcm from eggs I ordered but couldn't see inside & didn't hear any tapping or peeps so I tossed them at day 23.

I use a small 1500 lumen flashlight. The dark eggs are always difficult to candle but it's the best view I've been able to get in a Marans egg from any candler/flashlight.

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

Do. I am prone to panic especially if I see them struggling with a pip after a long time, and have mistakenly helped too much before the chick had digested all of its yolk and I made a TERRIBLE decision. A dead chick made me swing back toward less intervention (just being honest), but I don't believe that if they don't get out on their own they're not going to be healthy birds.

Oh that’s so hard. I’m sorry you went through that. This is why I’m inclined to wait it out as long as possible before even considering helping.

 

[livhatcher]

Did you do egg topsies or did you just throw them in the trash and not look at them?

I threw them out. I just couldn't stomach it this time. I know that's terrible, but I just couldn't do it this time. Almost every egg I hatch is shipped--life's irony is living in the national poultry capital but having almost no access to the breeds I want. I always try to order from states closest to me because distance and climate changes over geography seem to cause problems.