Winter Hatch Along!

[Phillyndilly]

The air cell in my egg looked like day 14 on that chart when it went into lockdown. I have 2 more eggs in the incubator that are on day 10. I put a couple in late when I tossed the other eggs. I also ordered 8, day old chicks that should ship today.

Thank you that makes me feel better! And the second part of what you said made me feel better too. I do have eggs I replaced inside and that was making me nervous because they will probably hatch at a different time. Here are pictures of my furtherst along eggs.
What do you think?
Also when you candle your eggs do you take the top off the incubator or just grab eggs out?

 

[Tazbeaux]

It looks like you have decent size air cells in those eggs. If they get too big the baby may be shrink wrapped in the membrane and have trouble hatching. I don't candle that often. I try to keep it to day 10 and 18. When I do candle on day 18 I use a pencil to mark a circle where the air cell is. Then I set the eggs on their sides, with the side that the cell favors facing upwards. I usually just take the lid off and do what needs to be done as quickly as I can. You do lose warm air, but the egg cools much more slowly than the air, and the temp recovers quickly when the lid is replaced. Lost humidity usually isn't a big issue here. Another thing I do is put a couple bottles of water in the incubator when I set the eggs. These add thermal mass which helps keep the temperature stable and holds heat in the event of a power failure. I also use this water when I need to add water for humidity . It is the same temperature as the eggs so it doesn't cause a temperature fluctuation when adding water.

 

[Phillyndilly]

It looks like you have decent size air cells in those eggs. If they get too big the baby may be shrink wrapped in the membrane and have trouble hatching. I don't candle that often. I try to keep it to day 10 and 18. When I do candle on day 18 I use a pencil to mark a circle where the air cell is. Then I set the eggs on their sides, with the side that the cell favors facing upwards. I usually just take the lid off and do what needs to be done as quickly as I can. You do lose warm air, but the egg cools much more slowly than the air, and the temp recovers quickly when the lid is replaced. Lost humidity usually isn't a big issue here. Another thing I do is put a couple bottles of water in the incubator when I set the eggs. These add thermal mass which helps keep the temperature stable and holds heat in the event of a power failure. I also use this water when I need to add water for humidity . It is the same temperature as the eggs so it doesn't cause a temperature fluctuation when adding water.

Oh wow ok in that case I’ll the humidity between 30-50 where it’s been. I don’t think a water bottle will fit in the bottom of mine but I can try that’s a good idea. I just started measuring my water to see if I can track how much higher the humidity goes. Previously I would just squirt a little in and see how high it went so I think that will be be helpful. I only added a tablespoon and it shot up. I hope the fluctuating humidity doesn’t matter because mine has been really up and down since I can add water while I’m a work. My temps seem to stay pretty stable though

 

[Phillyndilly]

So my 6 eggs are in lockdown! I’m anxiously waiting now

 

[Tazbeaux]

So my 6 eggs are in lockdown! I’m anxiously waiting now

Fingers crossed for your hatch! The chick I hatched is doing great, 1 week old today. The other 8 chicks I ordered from the hatchery all arrived safely and are doing great as well. The brownish one in the foreground is the one I hatched.

 

[Phillyndilly]

Fingers crossed for your hatch! The chick I hatched is doing great, 1 week old today. The other 8 chicks I ordered from the hatchery all arrived safely and are doing great as well. The brownish one in the foreground is the one I hatched.View attachment 2047677

Oh my gosh he’s the cutest one lol! I’ve had a few problems I just posted on another thread that I was really upset because my humidity was staying pretty steady around 50-55, but this morning I woke up to it at 14! Even tho I added water right before bed! People said it should be ok because they haven’t externally pipped. They are on lockdown and it’s day 20. What do you think?
I really want some pips it seems so quiet in there!

 

[Phillyndilly]

I have one tiny crack! I’m not sure if it’s an actual pip yet but it’s def a small crack right where it should be by the air cell. Ugh so hard waiting it happened last night and no progress still!

 

[Tazbeaux]

Oh my gosh he’s the cutest one lol! I’ve had a few problems I just posted on another thread that I was really upset because my humidity was staying pretty steady around 50-55, but this morning I woke up to it at 14! Even tho I added water right before bed! People said it should be ok because they haven’t externally pipped. They are on lockdown and it’s day 20. What do you think?
I really want some pips it seems so quiet in there!

I am hoping that you have chicks by now. If not yet add some water to get the humidity up and hope for the best. After the pip if they havent hatched in 15-18 hours you may need to give a little, minor help. But that is tricky business. Just remove small pieces of the shell at a time and STOP at the first sign of bleeding. Also just help a little and see if the chick can take over.

 

[Phillyndilly]

I am hoping that you have chicks by now. If not yet add some water to get the humidity up and hope for the best. After the pip if they havent hatched in 15-18 hours you may need to give a little, minor help. But that is tricky business. Just remove small pieces of the shell at a time and STOP at the first sign of bleeding. Also just help a little and see if the chick can take over.

I do not . So only one shell pipped it cracked as I was telling you. I noticed the crack at about 8 pm so if I go home and nothing has happened I guess I may try to help. There didn’t seem to be any progress this morning. I’m not sure if it actually broke the shell either because it just looks like a tiny crack. Should I try to chip away with a tweezer. I will be home by 4pm so that will be the correct timing I’m reallyyyy hoping he made progress. My humidity is at about 55 by the time I get home ( I hope). When I left I had it up to 67. Also should I candle before I help? Just to make sure of the babies location?

 

[Phillyndilly]

Oh my gosh I have two silkies!!!! One is very dry the other is still very wet the dry one seems to get excited when I go in and starts bothering the other one. Should I remove the first one yet? They will both be alone if I do