setting BBS Amer 5/12 for a birthday hatch! :) Let's make it a party!

Happy Birthday to me! Anyone want to join in on my 'birthday hatch'? May 31-June 1

My birthday isn't until May 31 but DH bought me an early present--a new Brinsea Eco 20 incubator! I had been eying them for a while, he was pretty reluctant but then we had a temp spike in one of the sytro bators and all the eggs were lost! He felt really bad b/c I watch those bators like a hawk for temp spikes (think one of the kiddos might have touched it this time). anyway, he knows how much i love to hatch and thought i'd like it early so i could actually set some eggs to hatch ON my birthday! I did have to start the eggs in one of the styro ones (have four total ) have been hand turning these even tho i have a turner, my hatch rates actually went down when i used it.

I had been waiting on some BBS Amer eggs since March and the breeder and I were finally able to find a good weekend day for me to drive out to pick them up. She was only about 2 hours away so I did not want to risk the shipping. We all drove out the Saturday before Mother's day to pick them up. I had bought a dozen eggs. When I arrived the VERY, VERY generous seller gave me an additional 17 eggs!!! AND five of those are spilt Lav! Her bator's were full and they were starting to approach 2 weeks old so she thought I might have room for them. I could have kissed her I was so excited! I don't think she really knew how much this meant to me! so, SO excited! even hubby could not believe how generous she was. He must have asked me 6 times on the way home, 'HOW many did you buy again?' I think he thought I was jiving him when I said only a dozen and trying to sneak in more!

I set 29 BBS Amer (well 24 BBS, 5 split Lav bonus eggs) on 5/12. Hatch date is 6/1 but I'm hoping at least a couple will pip on my birthday (day before), I usually have pips on day 20. I was planning to put them in on 5/11 but wanted to do a final calibration on my hydrometer beforehand so I didn't get the eggs in until the morning of 5/12.

I decided to weigh each egg to see how humidity is based on weight loss. I weighed each one before putting in and then again on day 6 (too excited to wait for day 7, lol). I'll include the 'raw data' of the weights in another post, don't have numbers in front of me. I also candled each egg. Out of the 29 total, 22 have distinct veining and look great! WOOHOO! the other 7 are questionable, some b/c the shells are so dark.

sooooo, I could use some hatch buddies...someone to join the party and help me pass the time while I awaiting my actual Birthday present(s)!

Weight and candle results from day 6:

Egg # weight day 1 weight day 6 candle day 6
1 55.2 52.4 +
2 58 55.7 +
3 56.8 53.8 +
4 54.6 51.4 +
5 57 54.4 +
6 53 49 +
7 56.2 53.8 +
8 54.5 52.8 +
9 58.9 53.3 +
10 50.2 45.5 +
11 59.4 53.5 +
12 55.7 52.8 +
13 56.2 53.3 +
14 53.8 51.7 +
15 57.4 55.3 +
16 52.6 50 ?
17 53.8 50 ?
18 51.6 49.1 ?
19 52.4 50.2 +
20 54.5 51.4 +
21 53.4 51 +
22 49.5 47.7 +
23 55.9 52.5 +
24 50.2 47 ?
25 50.5 48.1 +
26 56.3 53.5 ?
27 47.5 45.2 ?
28 47.8 45.5 +
29 50.4 48.2 ?

so, it looks like the ones to watch (based on weight) are eggs 6,8,9,10, 11 and 17.

Candled again this morning, 22 are fertile and look to be developing normally, 7 either quit early or weren't fertile. All of the split Lav's were not good. kind of a bummer but oh well, if any had hatched they would have needed a new pen so I guess I'll just think positive and say that now I do not have to make a new pen! In total that's about 75% fertile eggs so that's not too bad, esp considering some were older. Including just the confirmed fertile eggs, average weight loss is 12%.

Egg # weight day 1 weight day 6 candle day 6 weight day 12 candle day 12 day 12 actual % loss
1 55.2 52.4 + 50.2 + 10%
2 58 55.7 + 53.1 + 9%
3 56.8 53.8 + 50.5 + 12%
4 54.6 51.4 + 48.2 + 13%
5 57 54.4 + 49.8 + 14%
6 53 49 + 45.7 + 16%
7 56.2 53.8 + 51.4 + 9%
8 54.5 52.8 + 50.6 + 8%
9 58.9 53.3 + 49.5 + 19%
10 50.2 45.5 + 41.1 + 22%
11 59.4 53.5 + 48.8 + 22%
12 55.7 52.8 + 50 + 11%
13 56.2 53.3 + 50.6 + 11%
14 53.8 51.7 + 49.2 + 9%
15 57.4 55.3 + 52.8 + 9%
16 52.6 50 Q 46.6 + 13%
17 53.8 50 Q 46.6 Q 15%
18 51.6 49.1 Q 46.1 Q 12%
19 52.4 50.2 + 47.3 Q 11%
20 54.5 51.4 + 48.5 + 12%
21 53.4 51 + 47.6 + 12%
22 49.5 47.7 + 46 + 8%
23 55.9 52.5 + 51.6 + 8%
24 50.2 47 Q 45.3 + 11%
25 50.5 48.1 + 45.3 + 11%
26 56.3 53.5 Q 51 Q 10%
27 47.5 45.2 Q 42 Q 13%
28 47.8 45.5 + 43.4 Q 10%
29 50.4 48.2 Q 45 Q 12%


as you can see some are losing more weight than they should yet still appear to be fertile? Eggs 9,10 and 11 are WELL over the 'normal' loss but yet still appear good. Eggs5 and 6 are also over (14% and 16%) and eggs 4 and 14 are right at 13% now. All of those also appear to be fertile. I had DH weigh them all while I candled so I know all the weights are accurate (he is a chemist so well aware of the importance of accuracy now). The eggs are very difficult to see into but i could see either veining and/or movement in many. hmm, better keep an eye on those AND my humidity. Not sure what is going on with some of the weights, if anything I think they would have had LESS weight loss b/c it's been SO humid here the past week. I have both the channels in the Brinsea about 3/4 way full and the vent 1/2 open. I just put in another hydrometer to recheck the humidity. I know just here in the house it's in the 70% range right now, how can it possibly be low in the bator?!

Being that this is the first time I'm tracking by weight, i'm not going to discard eggs just based on weight but will keep an eye on those and will be noting if they do hatch. There are some that I've confirmed both via weight and candling that appear not fertile, those have all been moved to the LG bator and will get one more candling before I lockdown just to be SURE they are not good.

Also, when I was candling the eggs, i accidentally hit one of the collected Russiana Orloff eggs and cracked it! I have an order to fill that I really need to send this week so I'm not real happy with myself today!