11th Annual Easter Hatch a Long 2020

[hysop]

Tomorrow is lockdown day!! So excited to see which ones hatch!!

Tomorrow is the last day I will be weighing them.

I want to hatch some of my favorite rooster’s chicks, but I recently removed my leghorn from among them to ensure all the fertilized eggs will be from my favorite one. Is 2 weeks good enough time?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Just pulled 4 infertile eggs. This is my first hatch using my own flock’s eggs & they all have a beautiful heavy bloom. But wow are they hard to candle. I know I kept them in the incubator longer than I normally would have, but I am nervous to pull them. I still have 3 of my Marans eggs in there that I suspect are duds too. How do you all deal with candling Marans eggs? Just hope for the best?

I candle at night with all lights off and use a small pocket sized high lumen flashlight to candle them. They're a bit like candling rocks but you should be able to see something between day 12-15. I always do the sniff test before putting them back in the incubator if I'm unsure to make sure I'm not putting a stinker in there. lol

Here are some examples of candling dark Marans eggs.

 

[Stonewall Acres]

I candle at night with all lights off and use a small pocket sized high lumen flashlight to candle them. They're a bit like candling rocks but you should be able to see something between day 12-15. I always do the sniff test before putting them back in the incubator if I'm unsure to make sure I'm not putting a stinker in there. lol

Here are some examples of candling dark Marans eggs.

View attachment 2078743View attachment 2078744View attachment 2078742

Great photos! I think I need to invest in a better light to candle with. I have been giving them the sniff test and hoping for the best. I suspect most are infertile. I think my roosters are knocking each other off in dominance & not getting the job done.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Great photos! I think I need to invest in a better light to candle with. I have been giving them the sniff test and hoping for the best. I suspect most are infertile. I think my roosters are knocking each other off in dominance & not getting the job done.

Thanks! A 1200-1300 lumen small sized flashlight is indispensable to me when hatching. Best $30 I've ever spent! Don't lose hope though! I've hatched plenty of eggs that I put a question mark on because I wasn't sure about them, lol. I have a "?" baby on lockdown right now!

 

[CindyinSD]

Tomorrow is lockdown day!! So excited to see which ones hatch!!

Tomorrow is the last day I will be weighing them.

I want to hatch some of my favorite rooster’s chicks, but I recently removed my leghorn from among them to ensure all the fertilized eggs will be from my favorite one. Is 2 weeks good enough time?

Two weeks is the usually cited cut-off date. Be careful of adding your favorite boy into a confined space with more than 2-3 hens he hasn't been in with. Just because he's a boy, doesn't mean they won't eat him. It's probably best to put him in first, along with maybe one girl or two, then add them a couple at a time up to five or six or less. More than that and you might not get good fertility.

 

[Kiki]

Guess who has an internal pipper!!???

 

[DogAndCat36]

@casportpony is keeping track of the numbers but it may be too late to get added to that list, we'll see what she says. You can absolutely still share your hatch with us even if it's not in that contest. Good luck on your hatch!

Thanks!

 

[catsndogs4us]

I read the messages about adding shelf paper to the incubator to prevent leg problems. Could someone let me know if this type (in pictures) would be okay? It has rather large holes, it feels rubbery to the touch. Bought it for the kitchen awhile back and it hadn't yet made it out of the package.

 

[hysop]

Two weeks is the usually cited cut-off date. Be careful of adding your favorite boy into a confined space with more than 2-3 hens he hasn't been in with. Just because he's a boy, doesn't mean they won't eat him. It's probably best to put him in first, along with maybe one girl or two, then add them a couple at a time up to five or six or less. More than that and you might not get good fertility.

Oh he’s been with the girls for a month now. I had two roosters with 7 hens, but they seemed to have a favorite and I saw her head/neck was bald, so I removed my leghorn since I don’t want small chickens for food

I’ll have to keep an eye on him to see if he even mates all 7 now. He’s an older rooster, he was a rescue from the street but I’m pretty sure he’s pretty old at least 2-3 years. His spurs are pretty large now but when we found him they had been either cut off or filed off.

 

[Stonewall Acres]

Thanks! A 1200-1300 lumen small sized flashlight is indispensable to me when hatching. Best $30 I've ever spent! Don't lose hope though! I've hatched plenty of eggs that I put a question mark on because I wasn't sure about them, lol. I have a "?" baby on lockdown right now!

Exciting!
I hope to see “?” in pictures once it hatches.