experiment time- crock pot hatching project,* update

Okay, here's the story. My RIR just started laying last week and our neighbor's roo has been breaking into our yard to "party" with our girls except the RIR is the only one getting over the fence to actually meet him. Today I came home and she had laid her egg in the leaves under the old tree and her and her boyfriend were sitting on my picnic table sharing a snack, lol. So I took the egg and right away I thought I'd try to hatch it but I don't have anything to use. Then I had a light bulb moment and thought I could use a heating pad. That only lasted a few hours because the pad has 2 hour shut off. So, after dinner I thought what else do I have that stays heating until I turn it off. Another light bulb idea, I just had dinner in the crock pot so that'll have to work! It has a warm setting so I'm testing the temp and we'll see if it works. I have it wrapped in a damp wash cloth for humidity. If you have any advice, please by all means offer it. I have no idea what I'm doing. edited: I have a pic but there's no way of my uploading it. Are there technical problems with the site?

Sounds interesting! I think the warm setting may be too hot though (at least mine is). Have you used a thermometer to check how hot it gets?

I had about .5 inch of water in the pot and then a small plate upside down as a platform and then a deep soup bowl on top filled with a wash cloth. I had the eggs sitting on the top and I took the temp and it was to high, like 99-104, do you think if it was fertile it is cooked? I don't have many eggs from her and I hadn't seen them in action together but they were following each other around for about 2 hours a day for at least four days in my yard and I checked her vent and it looked messy so I assumed the deed was done, lol. I've got her 2 most recent eggs in there and I did find my heat lamp and set it over the pot and turned off the crock part and therm says it's 100.5. I have been turning the egg 1/4 turn on it's side 4 times a day. How do you candle?

yay! I had to download fire fox and it didn't work and then it said my java was disabled so I had to download it and now after a week of going nuts, I have smileys!

How about leaving the eggs in the leaves to see if she will go broody?
You can look for the bulls eye in the egg to see if they are fertile.
To candle the eggs just go into a dark room with a flashlight. Put the flashlight against the egg and block off all the light that isn't going into the egg.

will a RIR go broody? If she does can I move her and the eggs? I can't leave her on her nest because it's kind of out in the open and I'd be afraid of either my cat, one of my dogs or a wild animal taking her down. She did make a really cute nest. I'd like to replicate it in the nest box. Dirt bottom, long leaf stems swirled into a bowl and dried leaves around the outside and then she'll put one leaf on top of the egg with just enough showing so I can find it.

Here's a pic of the cute couple


what kind of roo is he??

That sounds like a wonderful nest.

I have a production read that looks just like a RR and she is broody. I would love to break her of it as I will not have anymore chicks until spring. If she went to all the work of making a nest like that she might be on her way to being broody. I'd give her some eggs and see what happens.

I don't know what the rooster is.

6littlechicks said:

will a RIR go broody? If she does can I move her and the eggs? I can't leave her on her nest because it's kind of out in the open and I'd be afraid of either my cat, one of my dogs or a wild animal taking her down. She did make a really cute nest. I'd like to replicate it in the nest box. Dirt bottom, long leaf stems swirled into a bowl and dried leaves around the outside and then she'll put one leaf on top of the egg with just enough showing so I can find it.

Here's a pic of the cute couple


what kind of roo is he??

Click to expand...

Unless the hen wants to go broody, then you can't make her. (Actually, you may be able to force her on the eggs, but I still don't think that would work too well either)
At this time of year, I wouldn't expect her to go broody. You might try using yours, or a friends electric skillet. I have seen where people have used those with success.

Back in the 50's-60's, electric skillet companies would do demonstrations inside local Sears stores where they would hatch chicken eggs in an electric skillet to prove how well it stayed at one temperature, and didn't fluctuate.

I don't think the crock pot idea will work, and I also would wait about a week, so you could get a cluster of eggs. If that one egg hatches by it's self, it will most likely die. I would hold out for a bit, until you can find an electric skillet from a Salvation Army, or a friend. By that time you could get a good amount of eggs.

By the way, I don't recommend leaving the egg wrapped in the damp cloth. When I am storing eggs (waiting to gather enough to place in the incubator,) I will leave them in the egg turner outside of the incubator, so the egg's embryo can still have the exercise it needs while I am waiting to get a number of eggs.

And the rooster is either a Blue Orpington, or an Andalusian.

This information is from research of course, but if someone else wants to put in there 2 cents, that's just fine.

thank you for the input! I just tried to check them and I just see a big dark spot that seems to have gotten bigger since Friday but no veins but I am using a broken flashlight. Is that sounding good or no? I think I will crack open a new egg tomorrow and see if I can tell if they are fertile.