Late Feburary-Early March 2016 Hatch-A-Long!

[Gone-Quackers]

I've set 10 eggs in my incubator. My ducks aren't laying a lot yet-- I'm assuming that only 2-3 are laying from the 1-2 eggs I am getting every day. I have a variety of runner colors and 1 Pekin hen to add neurosis to the group.

I'm on day 5 of incubation and will do my first ever candling in 5 days. When I was a kid we tried candling but ended up throwing out the live eggs! We decided to get rid of rotten eggs by throwing them at the side of an abandoned, condemned house-- the duck carcasses horrified me and I realized we may have gotten it wrong.

So I may post photos of each egg and ask for confirmation before I toss them.

I'm starting to collect eggs for the easter hatch-a-long and am writing the date and conditions of the eggs on their shells (warm, cool, almost too cold when gathered). Eggs will be stored in a room in the high 50's to low 60's (lowest temp I can manage in my house) in a plastic bag to help prevent moisture loss.

 

[drumgerry]

7 Complete days of incubation so time for candling. I had forgotten how difficult it is to candle Marans eggs. So....the upshot of it is there are no obvious clears in the 24 eggs. That's not to say I'll get 24 chicks but you never know! I'll try again in 7 days when things should hopefully be a little more obvious!

Here's my attempt to get a pic of one of the eggs

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

11 days into our incubation, Easter eggers fertility test #1 we went early with low expectations. Set 18 still have 11 in developing. More than our expectations. Lots of pullet eggs. Hoping one of our older gals will want to set. Maybe after our Cold snap ends next week.

Good luck with em! 11 out of 18 isn't bad, especially for pullet eggs :-D

Most Most excellent timing! How funny. My eggs are Mille Fleur/Calico Cochins.

Ah yeah, I remember that now!

I set 72 golden quail eggs on Saturday. It's my first go at incubating and my first trial of my incubator.

Wow! Beautiful little eggs! This will be an interacting hatch-a-long! We had chicken and ducks, and now there's some quail!

Well, candled this morning. Batch 1, I'm down to 3 eggs all with healthy, moving babies. Batch 2, down to 4 eggs with good veins. But in batch 2, I don't really like the way the veins are spreading through the eggs.... Super excited about the first batch, due the 28th, they're all khaki campbell eggs and I'm expecting daddy to be my Cayuga. The babies are all dark too!!!

Woohoo! That will be an interesting cross!

I've set 10 eggs in my incubator. My ducks aren't laying a lot yet-- I'm assuming that only 2-3 are laying from the 1-2 eggs I am getting every day. I have a variety of runner colors and 1 Pekin hen to add neurosis to the group. I'm on day 5 of incubation and will do my first ever candling in 5 days. When I was a kid we tried candling but ended up throwing out the live eggs! We decided to get rid of rotten eggs by throwing them at the side of an abandoned, condemned house-- the duck carcasses horrified me and I realized we may have gotten it wrong. So I may post photos of each egg and ask for confirmation before I toss them. I'm starting to collect eggs for the easter hatch-a-long and am writing the date and conditions of the eggs on their shells (warm, cool, almost too cold when gathered). Eggs will be stored in a room in the high 50's to low 60's (lowest temp I can manage in my house) in a plastic bag to help prevent moisture loss.

:-( one time I threw out an egg after it's been in the incubator 4 days after the rest hatched. Luckily for it, i put it in the kitchen trash can and was about to take the bag out when I heard cheeping. It hatched in the incubator the next day :-D I am also beginning to collect for the Easter hatch-a-long. I know it's a ways a way but at the pitiful rate my girls are going I could use an extra week of collecting...

7 Complete days of incubation so time for candling. I had forgotten how difficult it is to candle Marans eggs. So....the upshot of it is there are no obvious clears in the 24 eggs. That's not to say I'll get 24 chicks but you never know! I'll try again in 7 days when things should hopefully be a little more obvious! Here's my attempt to get a pic of one of the eggs

Marans are so dark, but the one in the pic deffinately looks like it's got something in it! Good luck on your next candling, hope there's lots of babies!

 

[Em Ty]

I just added water and pulled out two eggs to weigh. It's been just over 4.5 days and the biggest egg I've got has lost 2.7% and an average egg lost 4.1%. I'm concerned that the 2.7% isn't enough and that the 4.1% may be a tad too much. The 2.7% egg is in the row closest to the water and the 4.1% egg is in the middle of the rack. I don't know if that's a factor, and I do have a fan going constantly.

Thoughts?

edit:

I pulled 3 more out, 1 about 60% from the front of the rack (2.7% loss), one 90% back (3.8% loss) and the last from the last row (2.8% loss it is also my smallest egg).

 

[drumgerry]

Marans are so dark, but the one in the pic deffinately looks like it's got something in it! Good luck on your next candling, hope there's lots of babies!

Yep - the pic isn't the best but there are definite veins to be seen. 24 chicks is a few more than I had bargained for! There's bound to be fewer than that I suspect but maybe this is going to be my first ever 100% hatch!

 

[HerbGir1972]

I guess the way our plan is running well be in the Easter hatch along too.
A
Whatever hatches currently is sold.
We are looking for someone local to us to keep our bloodlines not inbred with Easter eggers. Looking to trade out some chicks, we do not sex them.
See ya'll on hatching day

 

[sharonmc2002]

Day six and I couldn't help myself I candled my eggs. They are a few darker shelled so I couldn't really see what was in them but of my eight two were clear the other six seem to have something in there. Hope that means for a first timer I'm doing something right. Fingers crossed.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I am only mentioning the mom's the dad is a dark brama,

3 BCM, 2 Cockoo Maran, 4 blue isbars, one tan cochin buff bantam,
5 gray eggers, and one, grey egger/BCM mix.

 

[butterfliesdoku]

I am only mentioning the mom's the dad is a dark brama, 3 BCM, 2 Cockoo Maran, 4 blue isbars, one tan cochin buff bantam, 5 gray eggers, and one, grey egger/BCM mix.

How do you get Grey Eggers? Those look lovely!

 

[gimmie birdies]

purple-y pink egg and a green egg olive mix.