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- #431
I just posted over on another page about the new eggs. If it's okay I'll just copy and paste part of it here so I don't have to retype it on accounta I'm lazy.
Did the day 7 candling last night. So many floating air cells again. But this time we have more eggs that look good than not, unlike the last fiasco, so that's encouraging. Some of the air cells seem pretty doggone big for 7 days. Upped the humidity a bit and put a second hygrometer in there - both calibrated using the salt method. I have on one side of the incubator and the other directly diagonal from it on the other end. Checked this morning and they were dead on with each other...how cool is THAT? Thermometers are another issue. Got 3, with 3 different temps reading. But they are all super close, so I'm going with it and hoping the law of averages works in my favor. The two bulb thermometers were calibrated, but it's a little hard to plunge the transmitter of a digital thermometer in ice water, stir and read. Yeah, that'd be accurate after it came out, right? If there is an error, is it better to err on the high side or the lower side?
I still have doubts about the 2 bantam eggs. Not sure I see anything in them at all, but Ken spotted a little dot in one. I don't see any obvious veining in them. The 3 Australorp eggs are so porous it's like trying to find a cobweb against a field of stars. So they stay too. The Silkie egg is just plain clear. Nothing, nada. Easter Egger and Leghorn look great - better than any of the eggs I had last time...very strong. But the air cells in both still wobble and bobble like mad. The Nankin has development and a distinct saddle bag shaped cell. The Naked Neck looks good on both counts. The Cochin is a total guessing game at this point - looks to be some development but man, the air cell is huge and wobbly.
So that I don't repeat the mistakes of last time, do the air cells just look large to me because they wobble? I don't turn them on their sides and candle through the air cell - they are held upright through the entire process with the light shining down through the air cells. Did you ever try to trace the outline of an air cell that's over here one minute, and bobbles over the other way when you slightly move your hand to re-position the egg to continue tracing? Like trying to catch a two year old after a birthday party....all over the place!
While the percentage of good eggs is higher in this group, there are still some shipping issues. NOT that you did anything wrong - they were extremely well packaged and shipped, and took almost no time to get here. It's just the nature of shipping something as fragile as eggs. And far be it from me to be critical...you donated those eggs and then got them shipped out very quickly and I sure appreciate it!
Did the day 7 candling last night. So many floating air cells again. But this time we have more eggs that look good than not, unlike the last fiasco, so that's encouraging. Some of the air cells seem pretty doggone big for 7 days. Upped the humidity a bit and put a second hygrometer in there - both calibrated using the salt method. I have on one side of the incubator and the other directly diagonal from it on the other end. Checked this morning and they were dead on with each other...how cool is THAT? Thermometers are another issue. Got 3, with 3 different temps reading. But they are all super close, so I'm going with it and hoping the law of averages works in my favor. The two bulb thermometers were calibrated, but it's a little hard to plunge the transmitter of a digital thermometer in ice water, stir and read. Yeah, that'd be accurate after it came out, right? If there is an error, is it better to err on the high side or the lower side?
I still have doubts about the 2 bantam eggs. Not sure I see anything in them at all, but Ken spotted a little dot in one. I don't see any obvious veining in them. The 3 Australorp eggs are so porous it's like trying to find a cobweb against a field of stars. So they stay too. The Silkie egg is just plain clear. Nothing, nada. Easter Egger and Leghorn look great - better than any of the eggs I had last time...very strong. But the air cells in both still wobble and bobble like mad. The Nankin has development and a distinct saddle bag shaped cell. The Naked Neck looks good on both counts. The Cochin is a total guessing game at this point - looks to be some development but man, the air cell is huge and wobbly.
So that I don't repeat the mistakes of last time, do the air cells just look large to me because they wobble? I don't turn them on their sides and candle through the air cell - they are held upright through the entire process with the light shining down through the air cells. Did you ever try to trace the outline of an air cell that's over here one minute, and bobbles over the other way when you slightly move your hand to re-position the egg to continue tracing? Like trying to catch a two year old after a birthday party....all over the place!
While the percentage of good eggs is higher in this group, there are still some shipping issues. NOT that you did anything wrong - they were extremely well packaged and shipped, and took almost no time to get here. It's just the nature of shipping something as fragile as eggs. And far be it from me to be critical...you donated those eggs and then got them shipped out very quickly and I sure appreciate it!
