Setting eggs today 5-3-12...anyone with me? - Page 8

I just candled my eggs and...all ten are fertile!!!  I'm so happy! There are a couple that I'm not 100% positive are still alive, but most of them looked just like they should! On the first egg I candled tonight, I didn't see anything at first, and thought maybe I saw a blood ring and was getting discouraged, when slowly the embryo moved up the side of the egg, allowing me to see it and all its spider-vein-iness! I was so excited! 23 more days! 

Can I join late? I set 9 eggs today (5-09-12) for my first time hatching. I'm so stressed! I keep thinkin I will kill them. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by wordgirl 

 

Hmm. I don't know - it's still early to tell. There was a dramatic difference for me between day 4 and day 5 (are you on day four?). I'm not positive those black dots are part of the embryo/veins but I saw a couple of dark spots (they weren't quite like yours, though) on a yolk a couple of days ago and thought maybe the egg wasn't fertile or had died - but now it's definitely growing and looks like an embryo with the veining.

Right now i'm on day 5.  I'm going to wait until day 10.  People say when you are on day 10 for darker eggs, you can be sure that it has a chick.  I am pretty sure it does, because I compared it to a non fertilized egg, and I didn't see the black spot in it.  I'm going to give the little guy some more time just to be positive.  I'm just worried about the crack and if any bactiria got into it..

    Alyssa13, have you tried Craig's List ?? Maybe you could put out a request for a peep.. I am in Ohio and I see people giving away chickens all the time.. The single surviving chick from the hen that has been broody for a few months now is 3 weeks old now and my wife noticed it has green legs.. Guess they call that willow leg and my wife's coworker husband wanted to buy it off of us because it is a rare genetic anomaly but she said heck NO.. She wants this girl as a pet and does not want it tossed in with the rest of the working girls we have laying eggs.. The wing and tail feathers are growing well and have bands of gold, black and brown so we have high hopes that she will grow into a well marked adult..  

     I have 41 eggs in my incubator , added 1 freshly laid egg on day 2.. We hope that we get a 75% or better fertile/hatch rate and I will have a good idea in another 5 days when we candle the batch..  It took almost 24 hours for the temp. to get up to 100 deg. and the humidity to drop to 50% but I checked it every few hours and now I am confident as it has been stable for 2 days.. 2 thermometers helps to make sure accuracy is maintained.. Gave up on the thought of building a wood frame brooder and am using the large cardboard box setup as I have done in the past.. Cover the open top with chicken wire and hang light bulbs from the chicken wire for heat.. Since we are going to do 3x sessions of full incubator and the batches will be 3 weeks or so apart I will have to scrounge up 2 more bigger boxes and that way we can move the chicks every 3 weeks from small to medium to large box as they grow..  

Day 7 !

1/3 of the way there!

I have 19 eggs set. Yay! Temp is stable at 100 only going up and down .2 degrees. Humidity is at around 50%.  I'll candle in like, 7 days?

How about Rosecombs?  Docile, and cold hardy. I would like to try them at some point.  I just love their white cheeks.