26 days under a cochin x silkie and they passed the float test, what next?

[ALongton]

Float test should be the last ditch effort to see if the egg is alive, it could harm or kill an unhatched chick if the water is the wrong temperature.
Your purchased chicks will not hurt the eggs, however the broody might decide that the job is finished and leave the nest. the chicks could pick on the the egg chocks if they hatch but it won't be too bad and is easily remedied.

Also, I used a food grade thermometer to verify water temp was 100 F

 

[ALongton]

Ok so you have an additional 7 day period where any added eggs may still hatch.
The float test is for determining the freshness of an egg for EATING.
Please dont immerse hatching eggs in water. It removes the bloom, and may shock the chick inside to death.
The eggs in your your incubator still may hatch. Let them go to day 29 or 30 now, and use your nose and eyes to detect a rotting egg. It will smell and begin to sweat liquid out of the pores of the shell.
Good luck!

I know the difference between floating an egg for edible factors vs. viability. I did not hold it under water and checked for pip-ing before I placed it in the 100F water as well.

I will give it another week though. The hen has been sitting on the eggs and her new chicks are luckily not distracting her. They are busy scratching, exploring, and taking snuggle breaks/naps with their new mom.

I have a friend that is dropping off an incubator tomorrow. I will update and let you know if there is any change. I very gently marked the egg that rocked in the water with a pencil.

 

[ALongton]

Wait.... what? 25 cent chicks? Were they defective?

Tractor Supply! I was there with my kid...so naturally she wanted to stop and look at the chicks. I noticed the price and was like, "What?!"

I figured that they were old meat chicks that had feathered out. Nope! The only had one variety left because they were getting a huge and unexpected shipment of 300 chicks Thursday, so they were trying to, "make room", for them.

They had sold out of two varieties but still had, "California Tan", pullet chicks. All little pale fluff balls and looked like California Leghorns because of their black spots.

All with yellow legs and beaks...... except for 3 that had dark grey green legs I like mysteries so I asked for 2 of them. When we got home I noticed one green leg had spots like a Cali Leghorn...but....had an extra toe on each foot, 5 total, and it's beak was darker in color...grey. The other green leg had no Cali spots, 4 toes....but....had a darker coloration around it's beak and eyes, and it's eyes were much darker than the others. The beak base was also a dark grey green.

The other 2 look normal, have yellow legs and beaks, Cali spots on pale fluff, 4 toes.

I'm wondering if there is some cochin or silkie crossing with the green legs? No extra leg feathers though. That would be the dead giveaway.

Honestly, check with your local TS about pricing. The chicks are healthy, eating, drinking, and snuggling my bantum cochin x silkie. The TS isn't using bins for chicks this year and opted for stacked towers. I hate those things as they don't provide the best air circulation, food and water..... however maybe they are doing it because of covid

 

[BDutch]

The smaller breeds hatch 1 day quicker. So it’s max 6 days. Good luck. But dont expect too much.
If you candle eggs without life from early on, you see a light egg. Because nothing blocks the light. These and the ones with red vanes, you can throw away.