Valentines Day Hatch-A-Long 2016

[ShadesofSable]

I'm so nervous, I turned my incubator around last night so I could see the eggs better when they were hatching and the temperature dropped a couple degrees last night and I haven't been able to get it to come all the way back up even after turning it back around. I don't know what could have caused it to drop... The heat elements are in the lid and I was moving that around all incubation with no change. Is it too late? They dropped to maybe 96-97 over night and got them back up to 98 now, but they've been very steadily between 99-100 all incubation and now this... I'm already dealing with shipped eggs so 2/3 already were gonners, I don't want to loose the last few.

I put one of the plugs back in hoping that that'll help bring it back up, but it hasn't been long enough to judge yet.

 

[TJordan]

I'm so nervous, I turned my incubator around last night so I could see the eggs better when they were hatching and the temperature dropped a couple degrees last night and I haven't been able to get it to come all the way back up even after turning it back around. I don't know what could have caused it to drop... The heat elements are in the lid and I was moving that around all incubation with no change. Is it too late? They dropped to maybe 96-97 over night and got them back up to 98 now, but they've been very steadily between 99-100 all incubation and now this... I'm already dealing with shipped eggs so 2/3 already were gonners, I don't want to loose the last few.

I put one of the plugs back in hoping that that'll help bring it back up, but it hasn't been long enough to judge yet.

I hope you save them.

 

[ShadesofSable]

I hope you save them.

Me too. Thank you.

 

[FridayYet]

Luckily chicks start to generate some of their own heat at the end, so your temps are not as critical.

Sable: Can you wrap the base in towels or scarves to help keep the heat in?

 

[ShadesofSable]

Luckily chicks start to generate some of their own heat at the end, so your temps are not as critical.

Sable: Can you wrap the base in towels or scarves to help keep the heat in?

I think so. I have a pint of water in there as a heat holder, so I think that is helping too.

 

[ShadesofSable]

I hope you save them.

Good news! I heard cheeping, but don't see any external pips yet so we must have an internal pip on at least one egg! So at least they've gotten this far. Incubator is back up to 99 too, so they were only down a few degrees for a total of one day.

Edit: couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to check on them one more time and I have an external pip from one of the farmyard mixes!

 

[TJordan]

Good news! I heard cheeping, but don't see any external pips yet so we must have an internal pip on at least one egg! So at least they've gotten this far. Incubator is back up to 99 too, so they were only down a few degrees for a total of one day.

Edit: couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to check on them one more time and I have an external pip from one of the farmyard mixes!

That's great. Remember, in the wild a hen can't set a machine to keep her nest at exactly 99 degrees so don't worry to much unless it was a massive drop or rise for a long time.

I'm still holding my breath on those other eggs here. If no others hatch I'll know I need to check my incubator well for faults. They were all alive at day 18... My 12 babies are going strong. Even Pip Squeak has started to get a little bigger

 

[MontainBourbons]

My turkey eggs weren't supposed to hatch until Valentine's Day but one is on it's way out and looking fine. Did I do something wrong?

 

[TJordan]

My turkey eggs weren't supposed to hatch until Valentine's Day but one is on it's way out and looking fine. Did I do something wrong?

If the temp is even a degree high they might hatch early. The early bird might of started gestating before you put in incubator. Several possibilities.

 

[TJordan]

Pip Squeak vs. Goliath update. Both doing well

And introducing Blondie! Almost solid blond cap where most have black heads or just blond bands