What is the best way to hatch shipped eggs????

[CrzyChknLady81]

So cute!! Where'd you get the silkies from? Were they shipped? I've been reading debates on whether or not the shape of their heads play a role in hatch rate!

They were shipped..out of 18 I had 8 go into lock down..they had some seriously funky air cells, but surprising the 2 worst air cells made it to lock down but died before pipping (I'm guessing day18/19)..they were shipped from IN to WV..I had eggs shipped from same breeder sane time of year last year and had zero messed up air cells..
These eggs were the last before she switched breeding pens, but she should be up and running again soon..if you're interested let me know..I found her on FB..
I do think that their vaulted skulls has a HUGE effect on hatch rate..like I admitted earlier, I'm an intervener. .but they were into Day 22 and with the few eggs that made it and money invested, I refused to risk it..I did everything SUPER slow, starting with artificial air holes..but 4 out of the 6 were tucked so that their crest was hitting the shell, not giving them enough room to move their head enough to reach the shell to pip..I have one that I'm waiting on to finish absorbing vessels and it's head is still tucked up tight, if I hadn't made it an air hole, it would be dead by now. And I'm 99% sure its the head because once they were out, even though they were assisted, they were strong, dried fast and moved to the brooder within a couple hours..they are in with EE and RIR (4 chicks) that are about 5 days old and they are keeping right up, running around the brooder and playing on their heating pad hen like they've been doing it for days...usually when I assist usually the chick is weaker and probably shouldn't have hatched, these are complete opposites ♡

 

[CrzyChknLady81]

I just went up to her, lifted her up a bit and I put the chick under her wing and removed the eggs. She seems to have immediately excepted IT, she even pecked my hand later when I tried to check on the chick!

Do I have to give her a heat lamp? Mind you it is 33 C outside! Lol! Will she keep the chick warm enough?

No, you shouldn't need a heat source..mama will do everything fTom keeping them warm to teaching them how to take a dust bath..you've gotta share pics as soon as you can
It's a rule. .hehe

 

[Bryam]

Yes, I will! I am so disappointed the other 6 eggs died on day 19 and 20! Too bad! I got 1 chick out of 16 eggs originally ship! It is my third time getting very few chicks to hatch! With my own eggs I get 90 percent hatch rates!

Shipping really ruins the eggs! Too bad! Why grow and die at the last minute! Very disappointing!

 

[RubyNala97]

Yes, I will! I am so disappointed the other 6 eggs died on day 19 and 20! Too bad! I got 1 chick out of 16 eggs originally ship! It is my third time getting very few chicks to hatch! With my own eggs I get 90 percent hatch rates!

Shipping really ruins the eggs! Too bad! Why grow and die at the last minute! Very disappointing!

It is super disappointing!! The thing that's pulls me towards shipped eggs is the fact that you can pick exactly what you want and find really good breeding lines. And the eggs come right to your local post office. I'm not in a rural area and it's hard to find fertile eggs of a specific breed. It's such a catch 22! I'm going to try 10 more shipped eggs after these and see how that goes before I decide to give up on shipped all together! What really gets me is when I see comments from people that bought the same shipped eggs and say the got a 90% hatch rate!

 

[Bryam]

Yup, the first time i bought shipped eggs, 6 out of 8 hatched! I knew nothing! I popped the eggs into my incubator the minute I got them, turned them right away. I treated like any regular local egg and they hatched so well! Then afterwards I read and read and became so paronoid I think I ginxed myself!

Maybe ignorance is bliss!!

 

[CrzyChknLady81]

Total on the silkies : 4 out of 18..
Dunno what happened with the one, think it was vault head related, went from fine to gone in 15 minutes..the other was a white, it hatched and was rested and just didn't wake back up. But I has bad luck with the whites from this breeder last year too..I don't think it's her birds, think the whites are just more fragile and shipping really works them over.
On the up side, I ordered 18 paint eggs, breeder sent 24 and not one single egg has a wonky air cell so I have a lot of hope for these guys

 

[Bryam]

Crychknlady what breeder did you order the paint eggs from? I want some!

As for me I think I found my problem for the deaths on day 19 and 20. I put a small Tupperware container of water into the incubator on day 18 to increase the Humidty and the temp went from 100F to 102f for several hours before re-adjusting. Would that have killed the chicks?

 

[CrzyChknLady81]

I ordered them from Linda Rohleder at Twin Maple Ranch. Her email is [email protected] She is also on Facebook. .

A temp spike like that could have killed them, I'm not real experienced with temp spikes so don't want to tell you wrong, but I think the general rule is cooler is better during lockdown.
Have you ever tried dry incubation? I use 2 LG 9300s..one as hatcher, one as incu..I'm in WV for reference to climate..but I don't add water to my incu ever..it stays around 40% in there but I rarely even look at the hygro..when I remove or add eggs, I'll glance at it but that's it..I fill all the trays in my hatcher, and sometimes add a glass baby food jar with a sponge..my air cells are how I judge, not what my hygro says, and my cells generally still shrink another 1/3 of an inch after lock down..
But personally, I also think it's harder for some chicks to just make that grand entrance and exhaustion gets them first. My test run for the bators this year we're RIRs and EEs(4RIR and 2 from each EE for 4 of those..8 eggs total) from my layers..I have blue egg's and green from the EEs, just 2 hens so I know who lays what..they are all free range, all eat layer feed and get vitamins, treats, ect..they have their own compost piles...they have already went through pullet stage but are under 2 years old, so by all accounts should be perfect breeder stock for replacement layers..
My brown eggs did fine..none of the green eggs hatched, deaths from early on to the last dying right before pipping internally. .and I had 1 blue egg hatch and that chick acts like it has riboflavin defiency (it doesn't) but I think it was the way it was positioned in the shell..the green and blue shells are HARD, my mom even said the ones I give her to eat are harder shells..so I'm thinking they may need a little more humidity during 1-18, but I'd have to experiment some more to know for sure..
Don't let it get you down, I've bought A LOT of eggs this season, if you need an egg source, let me know..lol..I've got them from FL to NC and IN to PA

 

[RubyNala97]

Well out of 8 Silkies that went into lockdown, one looked like it died on day 18/19, ..that was also the worst a it cell of that group..another was turned odd in the egg and had an air cell that was a bit iffy..2 have completely hatched and are walking around, another has almost hatched, just resting for that final push and the final 3 are pipped, breathing and peeping away ..yes I am very bad..I opened the bator countless times, made air holes in a couple eggs..I broke all the rules. .I don't recommend it but was too afraid with them being on Day 22 and not much happening I was afraid to lose them

Where do you make the air holes? Into the air cells? How do you do it? I'm just curious. All of mine are white silkies from GA, Garry Farm. I know I'm gonna be PMing you next week on day 21!!! Lol

 

[CrzyChknLady81]

Where do you make the air holes? Into the air cells? How do you do it? I'm just curious. All of mine are white silkies from GA, Garry Farm. I know I'm gonna be PMing you next week on day 21!!! Lol

Yep, I usually candle and then do it off to the side of the top, on the side where the cell dips the lowest ..I take my trusty buck knife, score a teeny line (quarter inch or less), and then I take my teeny needle nose tweezers as pull teeny tiny pieces of shell until I have a small hole..I keep it tiny so egg doesn't loose extra moisture, it just needs to be big enough to let air in, so I aim for normal external pip size..
everything I know I learned on this site..with some 'live n learn' thrown in. The Hatching 101 was the best with the Dry Incubation close on its heels..I still reread both every spring..