JANUARY 2015 Hatch-A-Long

Love, Love, LOVE incubating the TJ eggs because they're so easy to see into the white eggs. The last batch of marans drove me nutz. If all goes according to plan, they should hatch out on the 18th......

Hi. I'm Peep_Show. I'm a hatchaholic.
 
I am a total newbie to hatching.
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I set 7 mixed eggs on Saturday,so today is day 3. Hatch date 1/17.

Candles them today just to get a baseline of what I was looking at and was surprised at how porous they were.....very spotty looking. I was afraid to keep them out of the incubator for too long so I was quick about it.

I also weighed two eggs that were the same weight as when I set them....that's not a bad thing, is it? It's too soon to show any weight loss, right?

The good thing was i was able to locate some of the air cells and get familiar with them.

Do you get over being intimidated by handling the eggs?

I'm going to try to wait for day 7 to candle again. It will be disappointing to look again and not see anything definitive.
I came across a hatching article (I can't remember now where it was) that said the more porous ones were less likely to hatch, but I don't know why. I have a couple shipped eggs that are very porous, and seem to be doing okay. I guess I'll see if there is any merit to that claim.
Sometimes, I get too careful with the eggs and try to pick them up too gently, and they end up slipping out of my fingers. I've dropped a few (it was only about an inch or so, but still, not good for them XD)
 
I came across a hatching article (I can't remember now where it was) that said the more porous ones were less likely to hatch, but I don't know why. I have a couple shipped eggs that are very porous, and seem to be doing okay. I guess I'll see if there is any merit to that claim.
Sometimes, I get too careful with the eggs and try to pick them up too gently, and they end up slipping out of my fingers. I've dropped a few (it was only about an inch or so, but still, not good for them XD)
i did that with one of the muscovy eggs too..they are so large and satiny it makes them slippery almost. i was putting it back in the turner and it slipped about an inch or so up...it still seems to be growing though.
 
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I am a total newbie to hatching.
1f60d.png


I set 7 mixed eggs on Saturday,so today is day 3. Hatch date 1/17.

Candles them today just to get a baseline of what I was looking at and was surprised at how porous they were.....very spotty looking. I was afraid to keep them out of the incubator for too long so I was quick about it.

I also weighed two eggs that were the same weight as when I set them....that's not a bad thing, is it? It's too soon to show any weight loss, right?

The good thing was i was able to locate some of the air cells and get familiar with them.

Do you get over being intimidated by handling the eggs?

I'm going to try to wait for day 7 to candle again. It will be disappointing to look again and not see anything definitive.
Welcome to the Jan HAL!! Yes day 3 is to soon to candle and show weight lose...you wont see anything. Day 6 you can candle but you still wont see a whole lot, a few veins. You only need to weigh on day 1, 7, and 14 more then that is just moving the eggs more then you need too. you can usually safely keep the incubator opening for a good 5-10 minutes and not do any damage at all depending on temp of the room your in. in fact after day 7 you will be cooling your eggs anyhow so it is a good time to candle. If you choose to cool anyhow. i have never been intimidated by the eggs but i do get worried i am messing things up and chicks that maybe would have lived might die because i didnt do it right....maybe paranoid is a good word lol.
 
my 13 coturnix quail eggs are due around the 8th. candled some and 2 or 3 are showing veins the others are just a dark yolk when should i quit on them. first hatch with my homemade rubbermaid water jug incubator, i got one chick from 12 eggs. one other chick diedin shell but the rest must not have been fertile. second attempt now due on the 8th.
 
my 13 coturnix quail eggs are due around the 8th. candled some and 2 or 3 are showing veins the others are just a dark yolk when should i quit on them. first hatch with my homemade rubbermaid water jug incubator, i got one chick from 12 eggs. one other chick diedin shell but the rest must not have been fertile. second attempt now due on the 8th.
i found this if you havnt seen it yet https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/102281/coturnix-quail-basics-information-and-pictures-galore

For tossing eggs i would go with 12-13 days would be safe i think. You could also just wait until day 14 and candle before lockdown then toss.
 
Well my plan was to set my 2nd batch of eggs on January 17th with a hatch date of Feb 7th but I am dying to set some NOW! I think I'm going to ask the person I'm getting eggs from if it's possible to get them on the 2nd and I'll set them on the 3rd! I'm so impatient!
 
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Well my plan was to set my 2nd batch of eggs on January 17th with a hatch date of Feb 7th but I am dying to set some NOW! I think I'm going to ask the person I'm getting eggs from if it's possible to get them on the 2nd and I'll set them on the 3rd! I'm so impatient!
i dont think any of us have much patience when it comes to hatching lol

There is a vday HAL as well so if you have the equipment to do more then one hatch you could do both and set your second batch on Jan 24th.
 
i dont think any of us have much patience when it comes to hatching lol

There is a vday HAL as well so if you have the equipment to do more then one hatch you could do both and set your second batch on Jan 24th.
I have a borrowed incubator, I suppose the owner may want it back at some point. Unfortunately I don't have the space to hatch more batches. We are only giving it a 2nd shot because my 1st one was almost a total failure. Only got 1 to hatch out of 10 eggs that went into lockdown. All 9 of the others were all fully grown but got shrink wrapped :/ anyway after this next try I won't be able to do it again for a while... either to replenish lost chicks/hens or when we finally get a house with a bigger yard. If I can get the eggs I'm going to set on the 3rd!
 

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