Valentines Day Hatch-A-Long 2016

[FridayYet]

Congrats on the pip Jacks! Are you leaving the turner rails in for hatching? I heard that is dangerous for chicks since they can get hurt or trapped while flopping around.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Mine are due today,first pip!!!

Yeah, I agree with @FridayYet , even if you have unplugged the turner its still a bad idea to leave it in. Firstly, it will be a mess to clean, plus once the chicks are out of the shells they may move the shells out of the holes, leaving holes for the chicks to get stuck in. Best to just lay the eggs on their sides on the floor of the bator.

 

[ShadesofSable]

Sounds good. I did that with the one that died before totally zipping. Poor thing had its head turned wrong. I guess it ran out of air.

the other 12 hatches are great right now.

So I pulled a stinky one today and eggtopsied it, looks like it quit around day 17/18... I think the temperature fluctuation may be the culprit. If the others look the same in a couple days I'm blaming that. I just wonder why the local eggs didn't seem effected.

 

[NTBugtraq]

So I pulled a stinky one today and eggtopsied it, looks like it quit around day 17/18... I think the temperature fluctuation may be the culprit. If the others look the same in a couple days I'm blaming that. I just wonder why the local eggs didn't seem effected.

While its certainly possible to "cook" an incubating egg to death, its rarely provable that temperature drops result in deaths. We all like to find a reason why our eggs failed, its comforting, but its rarely that easy. We may see an inconsistency, and blame it, but in the wild such events are far more common and therefore far less likely to actually be the cause. Eggs are subjected to many stresses prior to being put into an incubator, something which is usually not true of eggs brooded by a hen. The length of time, and conditions of care, of an egg between being laid and being incubated are major factors...I would argue much more important factors than how the eggs are treated during incubation.

Hence the observation that shipped eggs typically fare worse than local eggs. The time it takes to ship, and the treatment of the eggs during that shipping, dramatically effect the viability of those eggs.

So, keep track of your observations, but keep your mind open to other reasons for failures.

 

[4stakes]

We had one pip last night, but it was at the wrong end of the egg. I think it died. We will see. Thats the way it goes. Son wants to start a new batch this next weekend.

 

[RonoKT]

I can home from work to find a very lively fluffed up chick and another egg with a pip, but humidity was at 20%!
I was absolutely gutted, the incubator had run dry, I looked this morning and it was half full, I thought it would be best not to open the incubator and went to work. I can't believe how fast it dried out! I have another incubator at day 15 that was sitting at 70, I added water to both yesterday, but way more to the now dry one, I don't get it.
I was very upset, added water and carried on doing what i needed to do, setting up a little brooder for the lonely hatcher.
Once I moved him into the brooder I checked the eggs, thinking the worst, three unzipped eggs, seem not to have pipped internally. The egg that had pipped, I pulled a tiny triangle of shell away at the pip and saw white membrane and a moving chick. I am leaving it for a while and I will check again, keeping an eye on the pipped egg, I may remove some more she'll at the aircel to see what is happening to the chick. Any advice would be very welcome. Also advice on dealing with hatching stress!

 

[TJordan]

I can home from work to find a very lively fluffed up chick and another egg with a pip, but humidity was at 20%!
I was absolutely gutted, the incubator had run dry, I looked this morning and it was half full, I thought it would be best not to open the incubator and went to work. I can't believe how fast it dried out! I have another incubator at day 15 that was sitting at 70, I added water to both yesterday, but way more to the now dry one, I don't get it.
I was very upset, added water and carried on doing what i needed to do, setting up a little brooder for the lonely hatcher.
Once I moved him into the brooder I checked the eggs, thinking the worst, three unzipped eggs, seem not to have pipped internally. The egg that had pipped, I pulled a tiny triangle of shell away at the pip and saw white membrane and a moving chick. I am leaving it for a while and I will check again, keeping an eye on the pipped egg, I may remove some more she'll at the aircel to see what is happening to the chick. Any advice would be very welcome. Also advice on dealing with hatching stress!

Leave him in the incubator. He will prompt the others to hatch. They can live on the yoke for 48-72 hours. That's why they can safely ship hatchlings. He will be fine. As for the pip. They can take 24 hours to zip. Don't panic yet.

 

[RonoKT]

I've already taken him out, I could have left him in for a couple more hours, but I only have time to teach chicks to eat, drink etc in the evenings. He is within hearing distance of the incubator. The pipped egg is now shaking and peeping so panic over. I have read that humidity drops are only a problem for pipped eggs, but 20% is very low, if the other eggs fail to hatch could the drop be a possible cause?

 

[TJordan]

I've already taken him out, I could have left him in for a couple more hours, but I only have time to teach chicks to eat, drink etc in the evenings. He is within hearing distance of the incubator. The pipped egg is now shaking and peeping so panic over. I have read that humidity drops are only a problem for pipped eggs, but 20% is very low, if the other eggs fail to hatch could the drop be a possible cause?

If you worry go get a little spray bottle and mist the eggs 2 times a day. This will keep humidity up and those chicks moving.

 

[RonoKT]

The incubator I am using (janoel-12) gets up to humidity really fast and holds a very high humidity, sometimes over 80, I just need to keep it full! I will spray the eggs if I need to open again but hopefully I no longer have to add any water.