The 5th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Anikaanimalgirl]

I haven't forgotten about that brooder emu chick cam i was talking about. : ) just waiting for my lap top to be fixed so that I can take the live stream to them. And BIG NEWS everyone......So the emu egg i set for this hatch-a-long, that I wasn't sure was fertile.... hit it's 30th day of incubation.....and so, I tried a wiggle test on it and...... well......THE EASTER HATCH ALONG EMU EGG WAS POSITIVE FOR WIGGLES TODAY!!! WE HAVE THE FIRST EVER EASTER HATCH ALONG EMU CHICK ON IT'S WAY! So happy that it was actually fertile!!!

THAT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!! congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mairead]

Today is Friday the 28th...So glad it is Friday too! They can be set today or tomorrow- the rules say +/- 2 days, so it should be fine...
Lisa

lol wow i feel stupid i just woke up and thought today was saturday whoops thanks though for posting this. Guess I am not fully awake yet lol

 

[Gardeningmama]

Mornin' ya'll...hoping someone's up who can help me.

I posted yesterday about some eggs I picked up locally (a dozen LF mixed eggs, 18 bantam mixed eggs). This is the first time I've ever bought eggs from anyone, but I have shipped eggs once (MarineCorpFarmer's eggbomb). I was particular when I chose which eggs I was going to send him...I only chose the cleanest eggs, chose eggs that were the right shape (you know, with a definite "egg shape" too them) and the right size (my flock is LF so I only chose the large eggs, not any small ones), and candled each one to make sure they had good air cell. My point is, I made sure they were good eggs.

Well, when I got home yesterday, I candled the eggs I picked up and started tracing air cells, as well as labeling each egg with either a number or a letter (to record which egg came from who, what possible breed it was, etc.). I was halfway through candling the LF mixed eggs when I discovered something floating around inside...and I realized it was a cluster of tiny bubbles. My mind started working in overdrive, thinking "how in the world did air bubbles get in there?" and then coming up with the answer "because there has to be a breach in the shell...it's the only way air can get in there like that". So I turned the light on (I was in the windowless bathroom with a flashlight) and looked over the egg. This is what I found (look at the tip of my fingernail in the first pic) :




Then, when I candled the bantam eggs, I noticed two of the silkie eggs had huge air cells, much bigger than the other tiny eggs (the two top left eggs...compare their air cells to the rest of the air cells I traced on the other eggs) :


So, I checked over both of those eggs in the light and found both have hairline fractures:






I sent messages to both people I got the eggs from. The woman who sold me the LF eggs replied right away and met me at the end of my road, bringing me two eggs to replace the one that was cracked. She was very apologetic...she told me she ALWAYS candles them before letting them go, but was in a rush that morning and totally forgot to. The other woman said she'd replace the two that have the hairline fractures, but I'll have to drive the 30 minutes to her house to pick them up.

So...here's my question. Can I repair the fractures in the two silkie eggs? I thought I read somewhere on this forum that people sometimes seal cracks with nail polish or super glue or wax. Can I do this with the silkie eggs? Or, because the air cells are so big, is it too late to save them?

You can do it and many people do, using candle wax, and some other items I can't recall right now. I've only done it once and it didn't work for me. The seal wasn't complete on mine and during the whole incubation the embryo grew, but so did the air seeping in at that spot. By lockdown the chick was viable but the air cell was HUGE and when it pipped internally it couldn't reach the shell for the external pip. I tried an assist, too late and lost it. I felt guilty for setting it in the first place. Many people do it with success..this is just my story. I won't do it anymore.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Quote: Ummmm...craigslist

Mornin' ya'll...hoping someone's up who can help me.

I posted yesterday about some eggs I picked up locally (a dozen LF mixed eggs, 18 bantam mixed eggs). This is the first time I've ever bought eggs from anyone, but I have shipped eggs once (MarineCorpFarmer's eggbomb). I was particular when I chose which eggs I was going to send him...I only chose the cleanest eggs, chose eggs that were the right shape (you know, with a definite "egg shape" too them) and the right size (my flock is LF so I only chose the large eggs, not any small ones), and candled each one to make sure they had good air cell. My point is, I made sure they were good eggs.

Well, when I got home yesterday, I candled the eggs I picked up and started tracing air cells, as well as labeling each egg with either a number or a letter (to record which egg came from who, what possible breed it was, etc.). I was halfway through candling the LF mixed eggs when I discovered something floating around inside...and I realized it was a cluster of tiny bubbles. My mind started working in overdrive, thinking "how in the world did air bubbles get in there?" and then coming up with the answer "because there has to be a breach in the shell...it's the only way air can get in there like that". So I turned the light on (I was in the windowless bathroom with a flashlight) and looked over the egg. This is what I found (look at the tip of my fingernail in the first pic) :




Then, when I candled the bantam eggs, I noticed two of the silkie eggs had huge air cells, much bigger than the other tiny eggs (the two top left eggs...compare their air cells to the rest of the air cells I traced on the other eggs) :


So, I checked over both of those eggs in the light and found both have hairline fractures:






I sent messages to both people I got the eggs from. The woman who sold me the LF eggs replied right away and met me at the end of my road, bringing me two eggs to replace the one that was cracked. She was very apologetic...she told me she ALWAYS candles them before letting them go, but was in a rush that morning and totally forgot to. The other woman said she'd replace the two that have the hairline fractures, but I'll have to drive the 30 minutes to her house to pick them up.

So...here's my question. Can I repair the fractures in the two silkie eggs? I thought I read somewhere on this forum that people sometimes seal cracks with nail polish or super glue or wax. Can I do this with the silkie eggs? Or, because the air cells are so big, is it too late to save them?

A light colored nail polish works great. It seals the crack & you can still see remotely well when candling. Just make sure to candle to make sure you covered the entire crack. I've hatched several this way. Never had any luck with wax because I have trouble controlling where it goes & miss part of the crack.

Quote: The key is making sure the entire crack is sealed & then monitoring the egg all the way to hatch.

 

[chicken pickin]

Mornin' ya'll...hoping someone's up who can help me.

I posted yesterday about some eggs I picked up locally (a dozen LF mixed eggs, 18 bantam mixed eggs). This is the first time I've ever bought eggs from anyone, but I have shipped eggs once (MarineCorpFarmer's eggbomb). I was particular when I chose which eggs I was going to send him...I only chose the cleanest eggs, chose eggs that were the right shape (you know, with a definite "egg shape" too them) and the right size (my flock is LF so I only chose the large eggs, not any small ones), and candled each one to make sure they had good air cell. My point is, I made sure they were good eggs.

Well, when I got home yesterday, I candled the eggs I picked up and started tracing air cells, as well as labeling each egg with either a number or a letter (to record which egg came from who, what possible breed it was, etc.). I was halfway through candling the LF mixed eggs when I discovered something floating around inside...and I realized it was a cluster of tiny bubbles. My mind started working in overdrive, thinking "how in the world did air bubbles get in there?" and then coming up with the answer "because there has to be a breach in the shell...it's the only way air can get in there like that". So I turned the light on (I was in the windowless bathroom with a flashlight) and looked over the egg. This is what I found (look at the tip of my fingernail in the first pic) :




Then, when I candled the bantam eggs, I noticed two of the silkie eggs had huge air cells, much bigger than the other tiny eggs (the two top left eggs...compare their air cells to the rest of the air cells I traced on the other eggs) :


So, I checked over both of those eggs in the light and found both have hairline fractures:






I sent messages to both people I got the eggs from. The woman who sold me the LF eggs replied right away and met me at the end of my road, bringing me two eggs to replace the one that was cracked. She was very apologetic...she told me she ALWAYS candles them before letting them go, but was in a rush that morning and totally forgot to. The other woman said she'd replace the two that have the hairline fractures, but I'll have to drive the 30 minutes to her house to pick them up.

So...here's my question. Can I repair the fractures in the two silkie eggs? I thought I read somewhere on this forum that people sometimes seal cracks with nail polish or super glue or wax. Can I do this with the silkie eggs? Or, because the air cells are so big, is it too late to save them?

I repaired a crack in one of my eggs after I dropped it on top of another egg when collecting from the nest boxes. I used a tiny tea light candle, a plain white one unscented. I lit the candle, let it melt then put a little over the crack. I placed it in the incubator and 21 days later I hatched a cute little Olive Egger.

 

[mlm Mike]

Anybody up? I'm freaking out right now. I set my eggs tonight. After my incubator held a steady 99.5 all day, I put the eggs in and it dropped to 90. Stupid me I put them in at 9:45pm, and I've been trying to get the temp up after it only got up to 93 in two hours. How long does it take for the temp to adjust after putting eggs in?? I'm scared to go to bed and have the temp spike high while I'm sleeping.

I saw other people answered this, but yes it give time to get back up to temp.

geese and pekin are set,,, excited to meet the dates!! Posting way to late, busy as usual

How many did you set?

Count me in. I'll be setting 15 blue splash wheaten amercucanas.

Welcome!

I Want To Participate

Welcome!

Okay i am a little confused the first post says to set chicken eggs on Saturday March 29th? today is Saturday 28th should i be setting them on Sunday the 29th? Just want to be clear so i don't miss setting my eggs! Thank you

You are in for a surprise sometime today!

lol wow i feel stupid i just woke up and thought today was saturday whoops thanks though for posting this. Guess I am not fully awake yet lol

You figured it out, I did that once. Neighbors fault, long story, she laughed, and laughed.

 

[mlm Mike]

I am in!
I'll be setting some Marans and some Silkies.

Welcome!

 

[chickenlisa]

lol wow i feel stupid i just woke up and thought today was saturday whoops thanks though for posting this. Guess I am not fully awake yet lol

welcome to my world! lol I just know it is Friday bc I was waiting for today all week...we have eggs due today (day 21!!!) and a prego foster cat due to whelp (is that the word with cats, like it is with dogs?) any day....Drink some coffee, wake up and enjoy this day...FRIDAY!!! Even though it is going to be gloomy and rainy here in NJ, I love that it will be 60 degrees and it is Friday! Summer is coming...ever so slowly...tiptoeing in ....but it is coming!

 

[Gardeningmama]

All of my Call Eggs are now out of the carton, and in the turner!! Air cells looking stable in 11, 2 I'm not quite certain, and I wasn't gonna tilt them to see. Not rocking the boat, ya know? One I tossed because it was so sloshy I didn't want it to grow even if it could have...Would've had me a nervous wreck at hatch time. Definite embryos in 8 of them, not saying the others don't, but I just hovered the flashlight over top of them to see aircells, I wasn't actually candling yet. I'm happy. Collecting more from my girl until the 4th, then I'll put them in the turner with everyone else. When I lockdown the 1st batch, I'll move the newbies to the LG for the duration of # 1's hatch, then put them back in for the remainder of their time. It's so nice to have a plan. I can't be settled without one.

A great feature of the cabinet bator that Ray just built is a top shelf that I wanted to be the hatching shelf. Wouldn't ya know..it's about 1.5 degrees cooler on that shelf so should be perfect for hatching. That was a happy find for me!

 

[ChickenFox]

Mornin' ya'll...hoping someone's up who can help me. I posted yesterday about some eggs I picked up locally (a dozen LF mixed eggs, 18 bantam mixed eggs). This is the first time I've ever bought eggs from anyone, but I have shipped eggs once (MarineCorpFarmer's eggbomb). I was particular when I chose which eggs I was going to send him...I only chose the cleanest eggs, chose eggs that were the right shape (you know, with a definite "egg shape" too them) and the right size (my flock is LF so I only chose the large eggs, not any small ones), and candled each one to make sure they had good air cell. My point is, I made sure they were good eggs. Well, when I got home yesterday, I candled the eggs I picked up and started tracing air cells, as well as labeling each egg with either a number or a letter (to record which egg came from who, what possible breed it was, etc.). I was halfway through candling the LF mixed eggs when I discovered something floating around inside...and I realized it was a cluster of tiny bubbles. My mind started working in overdrive, thinking "how in the world did air bubbles get in there?" and then coming up with the answer "because there has to be a breach in the shell...it's the only way air can get in there like that". So I turned the light on (I was in the windowless bathroom with a flashlight) and looked over the egg. This is what I found (look at the tip of my fingernail in the first pic) : Then, when I candled the bantam eggs, I noticed two of the silkie eggs had huge air cells, much bigger than the other tiny eggs (the two top left eggs...compare their air cells to the rest of the air cells I traced on the other eggs) : So, I checked over both of those eggs in the light and found both have hairline fractures: I sent messages to both people I got the eggs from. The woman who sold me the LF eggs replied right away and met me at the end of my road, bringing me two eggs to replace the one that was cracked. She was very apologetic...she told me she ALWAYS candles them before letting them go, but was in a rush that morning and totally forgot to. The other woman said she'd replace the two that have the hairline fractures, but I'll have to drive the 30 minutes to her house to pick them up. So...here's my question. Can I repair the fractures in the two silkie eggs? I thought I read somewhere on this forum that people sometimes seal cracks with nail polish or super glue or wax. Can I do this with the silkie eggs? Or, because the air cells are so big, is it too late to save them?

Honestly I don't see the harm in trying to seal them and see what happens. I had a cracked silkie egg where the crack ran all the way from top to bottom and spiderweb in a few spots. I sealed it up with clear glitter nail polish and 22 days later I now have an adorable white silkie chick.