May 10th due date Anyone else close?

[Harleyx2]

I got 2 out now.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I got 3 pipped and one hatched. How loch should I leave him in the incubator? It hatched at 5am eastern time. It's all dry and chirping away and rolling the other eggs around.

It really depends on who you ask. I've been scolded by others for opening the hatcher before all of the eggs have hatched. The theory is that opening the hatcher while chicks are still hatching increases the risk of shrink wrapping because you temporarily lower the humidity when you open it. The last hatch I waited until all of the eggs I was sure would hatch were hatched and dry before removing, though I did open it twice to remove chicks that were having trouble. But usually I pull them out a few at a time as they hatch. I personally have not noticed a difference in hatch rate or incidence of shrink wrapping between hatches where I've opened the incubator many times and when I've opened it fewer times.

 

[taterdee]

Just found this thread! Today is my hatch date. Had one early bird yesterday, a couple around 2-3am and then 3 more this morning and afternoon. So 6 hatched and still 5 that haven't even pipped. I know there is still plenty of time. It may be because I have so many different breeds for only 11 eggs. At least 8 varieties. And the six chicks are just running all over those unhatched eggs!

 

[Nursiedeer]

YAY!! Happy for all the new babies!!
I think my three are going to be it for this batch.
They were due Friday but haven't had a pip since the hatches on Thursday.
I did get some more eggs to put in the brooder though.

WE are chicken cray. Love the hatch!

 

[AinaWGSD]

We have one buckeye hatched and at least six more pipped. Happy mother's day!

 

[Harleyx2]

I have 6 hatched and 3 more pipped.

 

[AinaWGSD]

As of right now out of 21 eggs, we have 10 fully hatched live chicks, one mostly zipped, and at least 4 more pipped! We did have one that started to zip this morning and then just died sometime today, one that pipped externally and then seems to have died (we'll leave it in until everyone else is done just in case but I'm 99.9% sure it's dead), and one that hatched with intestines outside of the abdominal wall and then lost part of the intestines stuck to the floor of the incubator. There's also one that pipped and I can still see breathing, but sounds pretty weak so I'm not sure that one will make it either. But all in all we have lots of cute happy fuzz butts! And we set the same number of eggs as last time and already have 3 more, so I'm still pretty happy.

 

[taterdee]

Had six hatch then nothing for two days. I think I'm going to float test the rest.

 

[Penny Hen]

Well I have had my dehydrator unit go out in my incubator. I had to run an extra light in to take up the slack and add more thermal sinks. It is still running a little too cool. I have moved the eggs closer to the heat and am keeping my fingers crossed. By the way I found that if you fill a glass bottle up and stuff a rolled up paper towel in it (like a Molotov Cocktail) it serves as both a heat sink and a humidity source. I pulled a sloshy egg yesterday and another today. They were both scrambled. At least half of my eggs have developed to the point of having a little bird inside. I can feel them shift when I gently rock them side to side. Now whether they are alive or mummies is another matter.

 

[AinaWGSD]

This hatch is finally, officially, over. As of right now, we have 18 little buckeyes! I'm not sure if one of them is going to make it, he just doesn't look quite fully developed. His abdomen is very round and kind of bloaty, there's a little bit of an umbilical hernia, and right now he has splayed legs. Also his eyes look "puffy" like they're swollen or something. But he's hanging in there so we'll see if he makes it or not. And one of them I had to help out of the egg because the membrane dried on him after he got about half zipped. He's all dry now, but all the goo has sort of dried onto him. My husband says he's "shellacked." I've dubbed him "Slick" for now until he gets enough new feathers that I can't tell which one it is anymore. He looks pretty sad right now. I can't tell if he's really smaller than the others or if he just looks that way since they're all fluffy and he isn't.