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

[CluckNDoodle]

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.

Styptic power also works well for this. Though in all of my assists I've only had to use it once fortunately.

 

[livhatcher]

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.

I agree to a point. TBH, how I handle it depends on where I am emotionally when I am in a hatch. But last week, the stench of the one stinker just made me feel like probably the rest of them were contaminated by it--if that's even possible. Sad because they were gorgeous, dark eggs. Oh, well! There are always more to order!

 

[FortCluck]

Styptic power also works well for this. Though in all of my assists I've only had to use it once fortunately.

I used cornstarch on a chick the other day because it was bleeding when it came out of the egg. I told it to not worry I wasn't frying it

 

[FortCluck]

I agree to a point. TBH, how I handle it depends on where I am emotionally when I am in a hatch. But last week, the stench of the one stinker just made me feel like probably the rest of them were contaminated by it--if that's even possible. Sad because they were gorgeous, dark eggs. Oh, well! There are always more to order!

So many things could have happened to your eggs, but I hope you documented who you bought them from and what happened to the eggs so that you can use that the next time you buy.

The more I hear people's stories about shipped eggs, the less I want to buy ship eggs.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

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 have candled many Marans eggs over the year. Like 8-9's. Anything 1000 lumen or creater gets the job done just fine. However for the darkest Marans eggs or some olive eggs there is a big difference if it has fresh batteries. So consider something rechargable if you're candling a lot of dark eggs and don't want to bird through batteries. I just treated myself this hatch to a rechargable one from Walmart (pictured). After my old flashlight grew legs and took off on me. It's a little bulky but I love the brightness.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

So many things could have happened to your eggs, but I hope you documented who you bought them from and what happened to the eggs so that you can use that the next time you buy.

The more I hear people's stories about shipped eggs, the less I want to buy ship eggs.

I'm not a fan of shipping eggs and I'll drive to quite some distance to avoid it. My longest chicken egg road trip yet was 8 hours round trip. lol, Yes, I have already admitted that my hatching addiction runs deep.

 

[LynnaePB]

I haven't noticed a difference so far in health of babies that needed assisting vs ones that hatched well on their own. I've had some health issues from a few I've assisted and a few that hatched without any help. Most of my assisted babies turn out to be healthy though. I think shipping just really throws a wrench in the works overall.

Safety holes are pretty safe as long as you candle and carefully add them to the top of the air cell where you won't be hitting any blood vessels.

I also agree you did excellently with shipped eggs! Late quitters seem to be very common with shipped eggs unfortunately (I certainly have gotten my fair share).

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I haven't noticed a difference so far in health of babies that needed assisting vs ones that hatched well on their own. I've had some health issues from a few I've assisted and a few that hatched without any help. Most of my assisted babies turn out to be healthy though. I think shipping just really throws a wrench in the works overall.

Safety holes are pretty safe as long as you candle and carefully add them to the top of the air cell where you won't be hitting any blood vessels.

I also agree you did excellently with shipped eggs! Late quitters seem to be very common with shipped eggs unfortunately (I certainly have gotten my fair share).

While assisting is a last resort for me, I too have been blessed with happy healthy peeps when doing it.

I always try to tell people when doing a safety hole, use a screw because it's less likely to slip, score the shell and take your time, and most of all, the chick is way closer to the shell than it appears.

 

[livhatcher]

So many things could have happened to your eggs, but I hope you documented who you bought them from and what happened to the eggs so that you can use that the next time you buy.

The more I hear people's stories about shipped eggs, the less I want to buy ship eggs.

I did. The guy is an NPIP inspector in Pennsylvania and seems like a really nice guy. I think I will probably just try to be patient and wait for the lady in Ohio who I really like to start shipping for spring. I just really wanted to do a run of Marans now. I'm not sure why, but I do seem to do better with shipped eggs from March to May.

 

[livhatcher]

I haven't noticed a difference so far in health of babies that needed assisting vs ones that hatched well on their own. I've had some health issues from a few I've assisted and a few that hatched without any help. Most of my assisted babies turn out to be healthy though. I think shipping just really throws a wrench in the works overall.

Safety holes are pretty safe as long as you candle and carefully add them to the top of the air cell where you won't be hitting any blood vessels.

I also agree you did excellently with shipped eggs! Late quitters seem to be very common with shipped eggs unfortunately (I certainly have gotten my fair share).

Agree... I have actually had really amazing luck with shipped eggs. With the exception of 1 bird, all of mine have been hatched from shipped eggs. I just keep track of fertility and hatch rates from the people I buy from, and either bookmark them or chuck them. Ex: I tried *in kindness* to tell a lady I didn't think her fertility was what she thought it was, and to "prove me wrong" she sent me a free dozen...and that's the story of why I have 3 embryos with 4 days to go. LOL. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, and the only farm I whole heartedly endorse with across the board high hatch rate is Greenfire. Those eggs have always been 10/12 or better on the dozen.