The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[junebuggena]

Weird. Can you get pictures? I hope chickie is okay.

This was the draw down side. It's like the air cell got knocked out of place when the chick tried to get into position for pipping. Instead of just the chick moving into position, the whole inner membrane moved, too. Looks like some vessels may have torn. Chick is still moving, but I don't have high hopes for this one.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Wow day 18 came too fast!

You're telling me!!! I'm still trying to finish the brooder build after moving the other babies outside last weekend...

I'm almost 1000 posts behind, so I can't possibly catch up, but.... LOCKDOWN DAY!!!!

Weight loss is right on target for 18 days (11-13%), air cells look good in size (though for two it was hard to guess where the pip would be - did my best). Moved them over to the hatcher this evening after marking the air cells (I didn't even try to see what was going on in there - from experience, I didn't really expect to see much since it gets so full). No rocking or chirping, but it would be early for that, I think.

I gotta go bed - need to finish the brooder tomorrow.

- Ant Farm

 

[junebuggena]

You're telling me!!! I'm still trying to finish the brooder build after moving the other babies outside last weekend...

I'm almost 1000 posts behind, so I can't possibly catch up, but.... LOCKDOWN DAY!!!!

Weight loss is right on target for 18 days (11-13%), air cells look good in size (though for two it was hard to guess where the pip would be - did my best). Moved them over to the hatcher this evening after marking the air cells (I didn't even try to see what was going on in there - from experience, I didn't really expect to see much since it gets so full). No rocking or chirping, but it would be early for that, I think.

I gotta go bed - need to finish the brooder tomorrow.

- Ant Farm

Same here. Moved the 6 week olds out on Sunday. I finished the brooder this afternoon. Still have to get it all setup, but that can wait for morning.

 

[deserteggs22]

I got 3 popping under mama hen, and 1 in the Bator. And it is only the night of day 19!

 

[fnwolffie]

Move all eggs out of the turners! Separated types with my daughters legos. I hope the heat distributes evenly! Lock Down is happening now

 

[emvickrey]

I candled mine and out of the 10 eggs left I only saw 2 with movement. I took out the turner and closed it back up and the temp dropped 2 degrees and humidity went up 15% I'm sure whats left drowned. I'll find out in a few days.

 

[gander007]

So if I set on Sunday afternoon, what day do I lockdown and change humidity. What humidity and temp do you recommend? Ive had some trouble maintaining high enough humidity throughout hatch so any recommendations on keeping it up during lockdown? what if i need to open to add water?? Sorry its been years since we have done this and i can't remember!

I have been thinking about your question you are asking here and I am going to give you something to think about on the way I have been hatching eggs just for the last twenty years with a Styrofoam incubator from G.Q.F. with forced air and a egg turner ..



This is it from the outside and the humidifier on the left and the right is a temp ..





This is the inside with the eggs marked and the egg with the T is an egg temp from E-Bay it works Farley well as My eye sight is failing I get older and I do have grandchildren in High School So you might want to think about the free info you are getting here ...






If you notice the rolled up hand towel in the rear of the incubator that is how I control the humidity and yes it will hold high humidity or it can also be used to lower the temp by using cold water and to achieve high humidity use warm tap water so this simple tool can be used in different ways to control your incubators temp and humidity and it just comes with practice and don't give up is you get good or bad hatches and if you get good at hatching you will wind up with several incubators and brooders

Most of the time I leave the chicks in the incubator for several days and the reason for this is they have three days of food id them that was sucked up in the last stage before hatching and yes the incubator will need to be cleaned out once in a wile but I normally have bigger chicks in the brooder and the chicks have enough time to grow before getting tossed in with the big boys

Not all my egg get put in the incubator on a single day so I have hatches at different times and there are also different types of chicks hatching from Russian Orloff's, Raster Eggers, Molten Houdan's and Marans so I have to keep an eye on them as some chicks need to be separated as the Marans are much larger and more aggressive then the Molten Houdan's as the Molten Houdan's are a gentle bird ....





Yes you will have days you feel just like this when it comes to incubating and you should never start of incubating with expensive eggs but rather fill your incubator with inexpensive eggs and for this I use eggs from my yard and yes I do get eggs from other breeders to keep from inter breeding and keep a good blood line some chickens I have been working for years to het what I am really looking for and this is the Spangled Russian Orloff but to each their own .

I use this box to grow the chicks for several more days before putting the chicks into the brooder and with the temps here I am only using a normal light not a heat lamp and right now it is in the high eighties and down to the low eighties in the evening so I have little worries ...






Now this young lady is less then twenty five weeks old and she figured out how to hatch her first eggs with the out side temp of over one hundred and twenty degrees day and night so I have faith in you as it is a since project but there is a lot of lee way on what you do but the words location, location, location is where all the difference is made.

Here this egg is hatching but yet it is clearly marked twenty two meaning it was candled yesterday as today is the twenty third when the photo was taken but her the egg is hatching but when the eggs were candled the out side temp was in the high eighty's so if the temp was in the forty's as it gets here for three to four weeks every winter then the smart thing to do would be to heat the room up before opening the incubator ,,,

Now this egg did alright as the egg is clearly marked on top with a three and the chick is coming out on the twenty third and I follow only a few rules when hatching and that is to keep the incubator in a room that stays at the same temp and cold winds or hot winds do not get to the incubator and is best at eighty to ninety degrees but I managed to hatch eggs when the temps exceed one hundred twenty degrees so anything is possible and hatching is not like building a piano you do not have to be exact on every little piece so if I can hatch with incubator I purchased in nineteen ninety seven and hatched every thing from geese ducks chickens peacocks guinea pigeon pheasant so if you follow the simple rules you will do a lot better and what works in one part of the world may not work in another and it also works the same for one place to another in the house or barn ...



If you have anymore questions just ask and I just might have an answer for you ..

gander007

 

[CyndiD]

@Lacrystol @caesargirl @Debs Flock

Hi, can anyone let me know if i should assist anymore. I think i really know the answer, but just want a confirmation.
My Pekin duck is on day 26

this is what the AC looks like. to me it looks like the duck has not broken through or moved into the AC

this is where she/he is pipping from, the side. the lowest part of the AC is on the back side of where she is pipping.
I peeled back some membrane and I saw red veins, which means the veins still have blood flowing through, correct?
I stopped and blotted the membrane w/a damp papertowel and put her back in the bator. she is breathing and pipping (trying to hatch).
should i just keep watch and wait.?
my Q is, if she has not broken through the AC, she doesnt have enough room to move around and get out, correct?

 

[Jessimom]

Hi all! I'm thousands of posts behind! No way I can catch up. I'm sure there are lots of hatching stories and lots of lock down ones. GO CHICKIES GO!!!!!!

For me - Lock down today! I started this HAL with 60, took out 15 of my 19 silkies. My rooster was not doing his job in February. Took out all the Trader Joe eggs. Was ready to lock down the rest, and I dropped a Spitzhauben chick. I opened the Brinsea when it was tilted and this one came loose. It bled EVERYWHERE and soon died.

That leaves me with 15 Spitzhauben, 15 Bantem Blue EE eggs and 4 of my own silkies. Lots of Wonky air cells, but I laid them all flat and will hope for the best!

This is my first hatch in the Brinsea - let's hope it goes better than my LG or my deathbator!

As a side note, my deathbator is actually hatching chicks. 17 eggs in, 5 have hatched, 2 more are pipped. Let's hope I wake up to more chicks!!

Happy hatching everyone!!

 

[Jessimom]

I have been thinking about your question you are asking here and I am going to give you something to think about on the way I have been hatching eggs just for the last twenty years with a Styrofoam incubator from G.Q.F. with forced air and a egg turner ..








gander007

Adorable Chickies!!!