Valentines Day Hatch-A-Long 2016

[ShadesofSable]

The eggs are rocking and cheeping. Hopefully I wake up to a few already hatched.

Good luck!

 

[TJordan]

And a solid hatch is underway!!! Officially day 21ish... (Slight staggered) and last night brought 6 hatches This morning I have 2 more and 2 about to zip. The pictures are of the first 6 being introduced to their new home. The others will stay in the incubator until they fluff

 

[junebuggena]

I can hear chicks pecking at the shells. It's so hard to resist the urge to just sit and watch the eggs rock, hoping to catch the first pip. Must keep myself busy...

 

[imthegrt1]

Well we had 9 out of 12 that wont fertile.just busted them open.3 have chicks in them but day late.put them in on Jan. 19

 

[junebuggena]

Well we had 9 out of 12 that wont fertile.just busted them open.3 have chicks in them but day late.put them in on Jan. 19

It's not uncommon for eggs to hatch between 21 to 24 days, especially if there were a few temperature drops or the temp was a bit too low the whole time.

 

[NTBugtraq]

It's not uncommon for eggs to hatch between 21 to 24 days, especially if there were a few temperature drops or the temp was a bit too low the whole time.

Please don't take this as fact, just my opinion. Chicken eggs take 21 days to hatch. There is nothing good about eggs that hatch earlier than 21 days, just as there's nothing wrong with eggs that hatch later, except they aren't conforming to species. Eggs should take 21 days to hatch. 21 days means they were not under undue stress, they weren't starved of some element, they hatched "normally". Thinking they are ok hatching in less than 21 days is wrong, as is them hatching in more than 21 days...those that don't hatch in normal time have been deemed "ok", but in reality, less or more, you really shouldn't take eggs from them to hatch on.

They hatch early they are stressed, they hatch late, their stressed...nobody wants either. Now 21 days is a very short period, so 20 or 22 isn't necessarily "stressed", but you have to understand why they varied. Did you run the hatch too dry, too moist, so hot, or too cold?? Your goal should be to achieve a day 21 hatch, not just get chicks out of shells.

Forgive me, this is just my opinion, but I see ppl saying things like; "My eggs hatch early"...that's not a good thing. IMO, it just means your hatching process isn't natural, and it doesn't suggest you are creating new layers that will lay well.

If you are hatching a couple of eggs, I say, WTG, you got live chicks...but if your goal is to create great chicks, you should want them to be normal...???

I am not saying anyone has done anything wrong. I am encouraging everyone to recognize an early birth is not desired.

 

[NTBugtraq]

A chicken breed that consistently hatches on day 19-20, has a problem.

 

[dheltzel]

Please don't take this as fact, just my opinion. Chicken eggs take 21 days to hatch. There is nothing good about eggs that hatch earlier than 21 days, just as there's nothing wrong with eggs that hatch later, except they aren't conforming to species. Eggs should take 21 days to hatch. 21 days means they were not under undue stress, they weren't starved of some element, they hatched "normally". Thinking they are ok hatching in less than 21 days is wrong, as is them hatching in more than 21 days...those that don't hatch in normal time have been deemed "ok", but in reality, less or more, you really shouldn't take eggs from them to hatch on.

They hatch early they are stressed, they hatch late, their stressed...nobody wants either. Now 21 days is a very short period, so 20 or 22 isn't necessarily "stressed", but you have to understand why they varied. Did you run the hatch too dry, too moist, so hot, or too cold?? Your goal should be to achieve a day 21 hatch, not just get chicks out of shells.

Forgive me, this is just my opinion, but I see ppl saying things like; "My eggs hatch early"...that's not a good thing. IMO, it just means your hatching process isn't natural, and it doesn't suggest you are creating new layers that will lay well.

If you are hatching a couple of eggs, I say, WTG, you got live chicks...but if your goal is to create great chicks, you should want them to be normal...???

I am not saying anyone has done anything wrong. I am encouraging everyone to recognize an early birth is not desired.

I set multiple breeds together at the same time and they hatch as much as 36 hours apart. All seem equally healthy, but I have noticed that pens that I suspect have had more inbreeding are on the later end of that, and the hybrids or projects that are only a few generations removed from a hybrid hatch earlier. I don't think you can generalize that it is a problem with the incubation procedure if the time deviates from 21 days, any more than I can generalize about the "rightness" of a breed by it's hatch time.

 

[NTBugtraq]

I set multiple breeds together at the same time and they hatch as much as 36 hours apart. All seem equally healthy, but I have noticed that pens that I suspect have had more inbreeding are on the later end of that, and the hybrids or projects that are only a few generations removed from a hybrid hatch earlier. I don't think you can generalize that it is a problem with the incubation procedure if the time deviates from 21 days, any more than I can generalize about the "rightness" of a breed by it's hatch time.

Ok, so a given species shouldn't be thought to have an ideal time to birth...where does that work?

 

[NTBugtraq]

Let me say it differently, so your chickens consistently hatch early...why is that good?