A How-to Guide to Hatching Your Own Chicks - Page 3

Nifty,I may sound dumb.But do u mean that if the egg is fertile at laying and you keep it out for how many days? Is this when the incubation starts.I have hatched so many eggs and still have ?`s. I have 3 LG,and this is the 1st time I have used them instead of the Hova Bator 1588.The reason  my thermostat started going nuts.It would not stay at 99.5.It went up to like 105-106.And should I fill all the troughs with water and just wait.Yesterday was day 18 sorry jumped the gun,lol.But I am now talking about my LGS with Circulated Air.Any Help would be so wonderful,Thanks BackSwampGirl    Sandra

Development of a fertile egg begins when the egg is warmed to incubation temperatures.  I do not list a specific temperature, because that can vary a bit.  Ideal incubation temperature is 99.5 degrees F but it can vary a bit from that in both directions.  Consistently lower temperatures will cause development to take longer; consistently higher temperatures can shorten development time; both of these situations can cause problems in the developing chicks.  Slight differences have less affect than larger ones.  99-100 degrees is unlikely to manifest problems, but 97 or 102 is much more likely to affect the developing embryos without completely killing them.  For example, low temperatures during early days of incubation can affect the number of toes that develop.

 

Typically a hen will lay a clutch of say eight to ten eggs, one per day, then she will begin to brood them.  They will all hatch at approximately the same time as they all begin developing when she begins incubating, not based upon when she laid them.  The first laid egg is no more likely to be the first to hatch than is the one most recently laid.

 

Viability decreases with the age of the egg, slightly at first, then more pronounced as the egg ages.  A week old egg will almost certainly be viable; a five week old egg may be viable, but chances are pretty good that it will not be.

Well thank God I found this thread..... I've been on BYC for a short time and am clearly addicted to my chickens in the yard.  The other day I went to Knotts Berry Farm with my daughter's 3rd grade class and there were a number of hens and roosters roaming around together where the kids were eating lunch..... Being curious and a chicken lover I asked one of the workers there about them.  She responded that people are "dropping off" their "extra" chickens all the time and then before they know it, there are a bunch of new chicks running around.  It appears that there isn't anyone there who knows much about them, much less about the birds and bees of roosters and hens.....

 

ANYWAY... I was then shown a lovely clutch of eggs that I was told were going to be done away with.  (I clearly wasn't going to let that happen)  Suffice it to say that I now am the proud owner and new incubating Mom of 10 lovely wee pinkish white eggs. 

 

Totally lost in the process I am reading everything I can and turning the eggs myself.  I was able to find an incubator @ the elementary school that the teacher said I could use!  Sooooo excited.  As far as I know, they're fertilized, but will keep very diligent and candle in the next three days or so.  We set the eggs on 3/30.... any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

 

                  Thanks everyone!  Jane

 

PS.. I think the most appreciated help would come from a win in a "GET A NEW CHICKEN COOP" contest... (gulp)

How exciting!!!  I am a newbie too, so can't offer much help, but did want to let you know we have a nice group of hatching buddies on this thread:

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644236/setting-eggs-tomorrow-night-3-29-12-anyone-want-to-hatch-with-us

 

We didn't all start on exactly the 29th... I think there are two that started on the 30th and I'm bringing up the rear since I started mine on the 31st.  So you'd fit right in!

 

 

Well, I candled..... I could be wrong but I think I saw 6 out of 9 viable embryos!  Wheeeeeee!!!!

 

Jane

Very interestig, we have an incubator that holds 100 some eggs. We have had a pretty good hatching rate this year, this is my first year incubating, but my boyfriend has been doing it for years. I've read very little about candling, but this was some good info. When useing an actual candle how close would you hold it to the egg? Im sure not to close as you dont wana cook the egg, and would you use the candle to check the bottom of the egg, Im always interested in the old ways of doing things and im just trying to learn more. When I ask my boyfriend about candling he either forgets or just blows me off about it. Id like to learn how to do this. I wont do it to all 100 some eggs just maybe to check a couple and see if i learn anything.

 

 

I feel silly responding to my own post, but hoping that this thread being what it is may help someone else.  I did have quite a few viable embryos when I candled.  Can't remember what stage the eggs were in at the time, but when things progressed... well, they didn't progress.  These eggs were a rescue from Knott's Berry Farm and I was only hoping to give them a better chance than the outcome they were going to have if I left them there.  When my hubby and I opened the eggs... jus to see what was happening and at what stage,  we saw weenie little embryos that never progressed... it seemed we didn't do anything wrong (hopefully) and at least we learned a bit. 

I plan to keep some eggs from my layers to hatch .  I have a buff orfington roo and a mix of other hens. mostly RI reds and a few Wyandottes.  So I want to pas this tidbit on-  someone told me that if you keep the eggs that are more rounded than pointy, you will have more hens than roosters.  this person told me that it is an old theory and that they have used it with pretty true results.  So-  I am going to try it out.   I'll be starting incubation in the next few weeks, so I'll post as thing progress.

Has anyone else ever heard of this?

Thank you for posting this thread.

"Eggs that have died will show a dark ring". Is the 2nd candled egg picture what you consider a dark ring?