Day 1(4/27):
I am super excited to say that two of my Silkie hens, Alice and Ebony, have officially gone broody for the first time! Alice went broody early yesterday, and because they've "faked" going broody a couple times before(As in, sitting on the nest for several hours in a day and appearing to care for the eggs then having no interest in sitting), I let her sit until it was nighttime before deeming it safe to put eggs under her and take away the fake eggs. Unfortunately she had already laid an egg early that day, so that egg was sat on for about 8 hours before the other eggs were added, but I don't think that will be a big deal. Both hens have 6 eggs each. I don't want to overload these first time mothers, so I didn't put 10 eggs like I've heard they're able to care for. My only concern for these eggs is the fertility. I properly stored them and all, but the hens went broody 2 weeks after the roosters last mated with them. I keep my roosters and hens separated, so what I do is I put the roosters in with the hens for a week, take them out once the week is up, leave the hens alone for 2 weeks, then repeat the process. The hens went broody the very day the roosters were scheduled to go back into the pens with then hens. I used the six most recently laid eggs for the hens, but I'm still not sure if any of the matings were successful since the last time they mated was also the first time the hens and roosters ever mated.
Either way, I'm just happy they've gone broody. If the eggs don't show signs of life within the next week or two, I can always replace them with pheasant eggs.
Alice
Ebony
I'm really nervous and anxious about this first time raising chicks, so I'd really appreciate it if some kind users would follow along with me on this experience and help me out! I've raised other birds before, but I've found that chickens are much different from the birds I raised. I'll be updating this post as the eggs hit their milestones(First candling in 3 days, etc.) or if the other two hens go broody.
Day 5(5/1):
I went ahead and waited a couple more days in hopes that candling would produce a more definitive answer to if the eggs are growing properly, or at all. I feel pretty disappointed with what I found. It's been approximately 96 hours since the eggs were first put under both hens(Unfortunately, my other two hens have shown no interest in going broody), and from https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261876 the egg/chicks-are-here-egg-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation the eggs look like they're at 26 hours, not 96 hours. I still see lots of specks that the 26 hour egg shows and I don't see any veins/embryo's. I do see a very dark blob in all of the eggs and the eggs all have somewhat similar sized blobs. I don't know if that's the chick or the air sac. Am I just candling wrong? I don't have a fancy candling device, I just used a regular small yet bright flash light and wrapped my hand around the base of the egg/top of the flash light. I went ahead and took a brief video of each egg and I tried to show all the sides of the egg clearly. Sorry for the wobbly-ness!
Alice eggs:
Ebony eggs:
Day 7
5/3)
Movement! After being discouraged from the first candling, I decided to wait a couple more days before becoming completely disappointed. Tonight I candled them again, but this time, I saw movement! Three of Alice's and three of Ebony's eggs were clearly moving, though the other three from each nest looked like they hadn't grown at all. I removed them, and just to make sure, I cracked them and they were indeed duds. I'm a little confused because, according to candling pictures, the three viable eggs look like they're more at 12 days than 7 days. A good part of the inside of the egg is black, and you can clearly see breathing and/or movement. Could it be that they had grown a little while before they were put under the hens, when they were stored?
Also, while candling the eggs, I realized something that made me feel incredibly stupid. Those "blobs" in the eggs were the yolks.
I am super excited to say that two of my Silkie hens, Alice and Ebony, have officially gone broody for the first time! Alice went broody early yesterday, and because they've "faked" going broody a couple times before(As in, sitting on the nest for several hours in a day and appearing to care for the eggs then having no interest in sitting), I let her sit until it was nighttime before deeming it safe to put eggs under her and take away the fake eggs. Unfortunately she had already laid an egg early that day, so that egg was sat on for about 8 hours before the other eggs were added, but I don't think that will be a big deal. Both hens have 6 eggs each. I don't want to overload these first time mothers, so I didn't put 10 eggs like I've heard they're able to care for. My only concern for these eggs is the fertility. I properly stored them and all, but the hens went broody 2 weeks after the roosters last mated with them. I keep my roosters and hens separated, so what I do is I put the roosters in with the hens for a week, take them out once the week is up, leave the hens alone for 2 weeks, then repeat the process. The hens went broody the very day the roosters were scheduled to go back into the pens with then hens. I used the six most recently laid eggs for the hens, but I'm still not sure if any of the matings were successful since the last time they mated was also the first time the hens and roosters ever mated.
Either way, I'm just happy they've gone broody. If the eggs don't show signs of life within the next week or two, I can always replace them with pheasant eggs.
Alice
Ebony
I'm really nervous and anxious about this first time raising chicks, so I'd really appreciate it if some kind users would follow along with me on this experience and help me out! I've raised other birds before, but I've found that chickens are much different from the birds I raised. I'll be updating this post as the eggs hit their milestones(First candling in 3 days, etc.) or if the other two hens go broody.
Day 5(5/1):
I went ahead and waited a couple more days in hopes that candling would produce a more definitive answer to if the eggs are growing properly, or at all. I feel pretty disappointed with what I found. It's been approximately 96 hours since the eggs were first put under both hens(Unfortunately, my other two hens have shown no interest in going broody), and from https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261876 the egg/chicks-are-here-egg-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation the eggs look like they're at 26 hours, not 96 hours. I still see lots of specks that the 26 hour egg shows and I don't see any veins/embryo's. I do see a very dark blob in all of the eggs and the eggs all have somewhat similar sized blobs. I don't know if that's the chick or the air sac. Am I just candling wrong? I don't have a fancy candling device, I just used a regular small yet bright flash light and wrapped my hand around the base of the egg/top of the flash light. I went ahead and took a brief video of each egg and I tried to show all the sides of the egg clearly. Sorry for the wobbly-ness!
Alice eggs:
Ebony eggs:
Day 7
5/3)Movement! After being discouraged from the first candling, I decided to wait a couple more days before becoming completely disappointed. Tonight I candled them again, but this time, I saw movement! Three of Alice's and three of Ebony's eggs were clearly moving, though the other three from each nest looked like they hadn't grown at all. I removed them, and just to make sure, I cracked them and they were indeed duds. I'm a little confused because, according to candling pictures, the three viable eggs look like they're more at 12 days than 7 days. A good part of the inside of the egg is black, and you can clearly see breathing and/or movement. Could it be that they had grown a little while before they were put under the hens, when they were stored?
Also, while candling the eggs, I realized something that made me feel incredibly stupid. Those "blobs" in the eggs were the yolks.
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