Got old eggs? Help a mad hatcher out

[walkswithdog]

Looking for old eggs you can roughly date, 2-6 weeks is fine. Prefer PB for easier identification if I miss a hatchling. Daughter wants to compare age/rates of hatch. Will gladly pay shipping. My hatch was busted by the power out from the storms. Sigh. Might as well run a Play" set off eggs to get over the disappointment. And yes, I've hatched with fairly good success older eggs in the past. She wasn't there and now she won't believe me...daughters....

Sussex, orp, sal. Fav, amer., rir, araucana, Cochin, brahma, silkie sizzle, whatcha got? Stupid storm.

The Winkubator needs a hatch .

(wine cooler incubator)



Pm with what you have and shipping price. So far I've gotten some 3 week old ameraucana eggs, locally. And still looking. Even refrigerated eggs as long as you mark them so I know. Yes. I've hatched some of those too.

Mad hatcher. Hate rules. Sad really at the age of fifty...

 

[sourland]

Way back when I was a kid

, I routinely held and hatched eggs that were up to 25 days old with high % hatches. My only incubator was an old, round, metal Sears model.I would run through a hatch cycle 21 + days, remove chicks, disinfect, sun dry (Momma's rules) and start my next hatch. Eggs were stored in an earthen cellar, high humidity and temps. around 60 F, twice daily turning of stored eggs. It worked then - can't see why it wont work now.

Give us an update on how your hatch goes.

 

[pmessner]

So cool... I love your experiment! I am new to chickens and just picked up two 10 month old lemon cuckoo orpingtons... they started immediately laying eggs everywhere (in the bushes, on any old dusty scratched out pot hole, and yes, in the hen house but just on the floor, not in a nest). Since they have no feathers on there backs and obviously have been housed with a rooster it occurred to me, why not incubate the eggs... so I immediately started putting the eggs into the incubator every time I found one... okay, if you have read this far just go ahead and laugh at me. I just still can't get used to the idea that these things can lay around for weeks and then start to grow. My husband made the mistake of sticking one of these orpy eggs in the fridge.... he swore up and down it had only been in there 15 minutes but I held it in my hand it was ice cold... on his urging I put it in the incubator anyway just to see.

I wish I had old eggs laying around... I would happily send them to you... as you can see I have gone absolutely maniacal in the opposite direction and will have one to two chicks hatch out daily over the period of a week... not the way nature intended but that's what happens when humans intervene... eggs are amazing. Please post your results

 

[walkswithdog]

Once I had been hatching long enough to get over every failed egg as a tragedy, it got fun to see what impossible eggs really did hatch. And that weirdly inefficient incubators still worked, much like a first time broody lol, or really awful weather. Eggs are wondrous little miracles that sometimes find a way, no matter what. I have hatched eggs from ice cold mud soaked, water logged nests, or got up to 113' or due to power out went down into the80s. It happens.

Once I made a "mad hatcher's" game out of it, it's all good. You learn things every time and you learn to adapt. Broodies aren't perfect, nature isn't. Heck if you have Broodies you are practically certain to need an incubator to rescue eggs. I did. Perfectly viable chicks just a hatch day latter, cracked eggs, pipped and dried out chicks... It all happens out there too.

So anyone else with spare weird eggs? So far we've some wondrous mixes, I cant wait to see silkie over modern game. Lol. And we have Cochin mixes silkies, standard silkies, Marans and Sussex , hopefully some ameraucana if I can get there. Need about four dozen maybe five to balance it all out.

This'll be fun.

 

[Beautiful_Chickens]

What is your zip code...so I can find out shipping cost. I have all SORTS of chickens...most with either Marans roosters or Swedish Flower Hens Roosters. Not sure if any would be pure except possibly the Marans, if I send you the darkest eggs.

 

[walkswithdog]

21988!

And we've added, left in a car for hours eggs! So far we have eggs from 2-7 weeks, left in a car, misshapen eggs, refrigerated eggs I may be reaching its capacity but I may sandwich in another shelf. Lol

Many thanks to everyone sending eggs including dmrippy for the car eggs. !!!

We are going to teach my daughter a lesson about life. As DMRIPPY pointed out lol she can clean the brooders.

 

[smuggles]

Wow, there may be hope for me yet! lol I just finished my homemade incubator and have been watching my EE lay 6 eggs, waiting for her to set. So far nope. I was thinking I was going to end up having to just wait until she lays some fresher eggs once I know my bator is good to go and calibrated. But now I'm thinking once the temp is right, why not give it a shot? lol I hope you keep us posted as I've subscribed to this and truly anxious to see how things work out for y'all! So excited for you!

 

[walkswithdog]

Got about six DOZEN normal, old, over heated and refrigerated eggs all sitting and settling about to go in tomorrow! Have a few from the busted hatch still trying so they'll stay in as well.
Will have to use cartons for tipping because I'm flat out of shelf space lol. Thank you all for the eggs and spares and interest in showing my daughter the real deal! Replacing my thermostat, it's behaving badly after the last power surge from the storms.

Of course things are going to get interesting if I have to start rabies shots tomorrow. I was attacked by an insane whistle pig in the yard yesterday ( normal folks call em groundhogs). Caught the sucker and sent it with animal control. Awaiting test results. It bit Huey and was growling and carrying on. Would have been hilarious if I weren't worried about the dogs, especially Cricket my "giant" nine pounds when soaking wet rat terrier. And baby Bogart, the foundling boxer/beagle foster, who hasn't finished his shots yet. Both of whom were smaller than the ground hog. Crazy dang animal. Still if I hadn't caught it... I'd have had to start the shots last night.

I'll distract myself with the hatch if I do get the shots. I get 14/16 shots in my neck and back every three months any way. Probably hurt less in the gut. Wish me luck!?!

 

[mcmch91]

Just found your thread. Well? How's the hatch? How did the rabies thing turn out?

 

[nicolev]

how did it turn out any make it?