April Hatch Thread--Come Join Us!

[hokankai]

oesdog - I really would candle them at this point if there are no pips...

 

[oesdog]

There is little point in breaking the lockdown to candle? If there is life in them then I would have compramised the Hatch and if there isn;t well - it's all going to end in eggtopsy Wednesday. Either way it doesn;t look good and candling probably wont do me anygood apart from stop thelightbulb in the bator comming on and off for a few days. It is a little sad. But I have to leave them a while - Funny thing is I really thought I heard a chirp earlier. - Just wishful thinking as Nothing happend today just 4 sad blue eggs staring abck at me! Humidity is fine Temp is fine - nothing else to do but wait and see. - You all know it doesn;t look good. I knew it I guess from day 20 something wasn;t quite right. I think we will have two fully formed chicks and one late quitter (the wax egg) say day 14-16. The other egg I reckon is empty as it was very light. - as I said Nothing day 21 th, 22 fri. 23 Sat, SO this is day 24 and we are sitting at near 7 pm so another day gone by. Day 25 Mon( Which we know folk have had hatches on so will watch that day. and 26 Tuesday as we have had hatches this late before and then Wednesday Day 27 - must think is it worth it that late on. I have had hatches up to 28 days. But some folk don;t count the first day of setting so for some that would be Day 27 I guess. Which sits with others who have had late hatches up to then. I don;t think anything viable can be there at that stage if nothing is pipping.

Anyhow DH got a new humidity monitor and so I guess once the Bator is scrubbed out and we have a little time out doubtless we will be back on another hatchalong! ASAP!

Oes

 

[melina90]

While waiting for my last april-hatchling I took my 1,5yrold outside and spent most of the day caring for our outdoor pets while he played in the mud and stayed on safe distance from our roosters. He's terrifyed of the roosters, one of them came jumping at him by accident once and after that he has major respect for the feathered mafia bosses!

Anyways, thought I'd share this shot with you guys, the kid and the horse having a moment:

There's something about seeing little kids interact with animals that make me feel all fuzzy and warm inside...

 

[hokankai]

There is little point in breaking the lockdown to candle? If there is life in them then I would have compramised the Hatch and if there isn;t well - it's all going to end in eggtopsy Wednesday. Either way it doesn;t look good and candling probably wont do me anygood apart from stop thelightbulb in the bator comming on and off for a few days. It is a little sad. But I have to leave them a while - Funny thing is I really thought I heard a chirp earlier. - Just wishful thinking as Nothing happend today just 4 sad blue eggs staring abck at me! Humidity is fine Temp is fine - nothing else to do but wait and see. - You all know it doesn;t look good. I knew it I guess from day 20 something wasn;t quite right. I think we will have two fully formed chicks and one late quitter (the wax egg) say day 14-16. The other egg I reckon is empty as it was very light. - as I said Nothing day 21 th, 22 fri. 23 Sat, SO this is day 24 and we are sitting at near 7 pm so another day gone by. Day 25 Mon( Which we know folk have had hatches on so will watch that day. and 26 Tuesday as we have had hatches this late before and then Wednesday Day 27 - must think is it worth it that late on. I have had hatches up to 28 days. But some folk don;t count the first day of setting so for some that would be Day 27 I guess. Which sits with others who have had late hatches up to then. I don;t think anything viable can be there at that stage if nothing is pipping.

Anyhow DH got a new humidity monitor and so I guess once the Bator is scrubbed out and we have a little time out doubtless we will be back on another hatchalong! ASAP!

Oes

I have a very loose lockdown. In fact, I don't even lockdown until I see internal pipping in the eggs. It's not a clear-cut process, and sometimes you have to go in and see what's up. I candle in a steamy bathroom and have never had any chicks shrink-wrapped as a result of this. However I HAVE rescued a few chicks who had pipped internally (I could hear them) and needed assistance due to them being malpositioned inside of the egg. I would have never known if I hadn't candled them to see if they'd pipped internally and then made an emergency air hole.

If you want to wait it out, that's fine. For me I like to know and move on. I also don't like risking having an egg explode in my incubator.

 

[TheCrazyChick]

Decided to quickly candle remaining 22. Day 23. The light Sussex and silver penciled rocks all appeared dead. Upon ectopsy they were indeed not alive, yet full term fully formed. The marans also appeared not alive to me. Upon ectopsy every single one had never been viable. zero. No growth whatsoever.

Hubby is working on a fan for the incubator right now before setting new eggs this week and putting a bunch in lockdown this coming weekend.

I am glad this batch is done. Very stressful.

 

[melina90]

I practice a very loose lockdown too. The important thing isn't if the incubator has been opened, but that the humidity doesnt get to sink alot.

sorry about your maran eggs, crazychick. What do you have in lockdown next weekend?

My last chick is almost hatched - well, it's hatched but it's kinda stuck to the lower part of the shell. It seems alot weaker than all the other hatchlings, and there was alot of blood with the hatch-gunk from the egg so I'm kinda worried he`/she won't make it. Going to bed now, so I'll know tomorrow morning... Nothing I can do but let it rest out and hopefully perk up in the incubator anyways. It was another buff one, by the way. I'm pretty baffled that I got 33% completely buff chicks with light feet out of a clutch of buff x black (and I mean really black - their mother is a mix between black bantam cochin and swedish black hen, so her feet and comb and everything is black).

 

[MadamContrary]

This is day 22 no pips I think I am about to get the bathroom steamy and candle some more. I am thinking that the temp spike I had the day before lockdown did them in. I had candled two on day 20, 1 clear, 1 nearly fully developed with visible veining. So does anyone know how to determine if it's dead beyond float testing or cracking it open?

 

[hokankai]

This is day 22 no pips I think I am about to get the bathroom steamy and candle some more. I am thinking that the temp spike I had the day before lockdown did them in. I had candled two on day 20, 1 clear, 1 nearly fully developed with visible veining. So does anyone know how to determine if it's dead beyond float testing or cracking it open?

Yes. Look for a beak inside of the aircell, movement against the basement membrane of the aircell, movement and shifting inside of the shell. Listen for chirping, feel for movement when you hold the egg, and LOOK FOR VEINING. If the egg is not pipped externally you should see veining within the egg in the area that isn't completely dark.

If the eggshell looks washed out (no veining), you see a shadow that isn't moving (might have to look for a minute), don't hear chirping or shuffling...then it is a quitter.

 

[TheCrazyChick]

I practice a very loose lockdown too. The important thing isn't if the incubator has been opened, but that the humidity doesnt get to sink alot.

sorry about your maran eggs, crazychick. What do you have in lockdown next weekend?

My last chick is almost hatched - well, it's hatched but it's kinda stuck to the lower part of the shell. It seems alot weaker than all the other hatchlings, and there was alot of blood with the hatch-gunk from the egg so I'm kinda worried he`/she won't make it. Going to bed now, so I'll know tomorrow morning... Nothing I can do but let it rest out and hopefully perk up in the incubator anyways. It was another buff one, by the way. I'm pretty baffled that I got 33% completely buff chicks with light feet out of a clutch of buff x black (and I mean really black - their mother is a mix between black bantam cochin and swedish black hen, so her feet and comb and everything is black).

Lockdown is for black tail buff marans, cuckoo marans, blue laced Plymouth rocks, choco/mauve rocks and painted white plumes. The last 3 groups are someone's project eggs. Really want these to survive!

Hope your little guy makes it through the night.

 

[MadamContrary]

Yes. Look for a beak inside of the aircell, movement against the basement membrane of the aircell, movement and shifting inside of the shell. Listen for chirping, feel for movement when you hold the egg, and LOOK FOR VEINING. If the egg is not pipped externally you should see veining within the egg in the area that isn't completely dark.

If the eggshell looks washed out (no veining), you see a shadow that isn't moving (might have to look for a minute), don't hear chirping or shuffling...then it is a quitter.

Ok thank you very much, I had several obviously early quitters and a few blood rings and clears. 5 still are maybes still had viens but look behind on development. I honestly cannot say if there was movement or not! It seemed like two had fluctuating light as I was watching but I cant help wonder if its just my eyes! I cracked open an early quitter for the first time, I was too squeamish to try last hatch, and the baby would have been beautiful! So sad but not much that can be done. I am really debating whether or not to order more eggs or find a local fertile egg source. This is Sooo fun and sooooo stressful all at once!

Good luck everyone else and Congrats on all the pretty babies!!!!