27th or 28th May hatch, looking for buddies

[GeoKan]

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Thanks Sorin! We are going to re-candle the BCM eggs on Tuesday evening. Hopefully we'll get a better idea how they are doing.

In regards to Gretta — I'm no expert on broody hens, but I wouldn't see any harm in give the eggs a turn. Did you mark the eggs on one side? I had always thought hens turned there eggs on instinct. I may be wrong in thinking that. I sure hope they aren't bad.

Good luck and let us know what you find out!

 

[AlexKilpatrick]

Did some more candling tonight. I saw actual movement in one of my eggs, which was really cool.

I did see this one. Hard to tell, but there are two dark spots which I think are eyes? In most of the other eggs, I saw one dark spot. Is is possible this egg is trying to develop two embryos?

 

[GeoKan]

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It might be. I wish you the best of luck. Most double-yokers don't fair well, although I have read a couple of success stories here on BYC. How far along is it?

 

[AlexKilpatrick]

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It might be. I wish you the best of luck. Most double-yokers don't fair well, although I have read a couple of success stories here on BYC. How far along is it?

I don't expect things will work out if it is a double, which is why I am worried about it. I don't know what the other dark spot could be, except another chick eye.

The egg is about 9-10 days.

 

[Tala]

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I'm certainly not an eggspert but if you look close you can almost see the outline of 2 yolks, the one on the right is either smaller or turned away from the camera.

 

[Lightfoote]

Well, I wasn't going to candle my eggs (15 True Ameraucana) wanting to keep handling to a minimum, but reading the recent posts, and looking a a few photos I decided as long as I did so carefully...

Mine were set starting the morning of Saturday, May 7 - and perhaps I would notice some development

I did not candle every single egg, but I found good, and clearly pronounced visible veining on at least 4 eggs,

what I would describe as fairly well-defined dark masses in another 3 or 4 (one with what looks like the beginnings of veining coming from closest to the darkest portion of the mass), and what (I will guess) some of you describe as a "blood ring" on another few.

On at least 2 of the eggs, the blue-green shells are too dark/thick to get anything discernable, so they remain mystery eggs 'til perhaps the end, when they either hatch - or not. I will also note that there is, to date, no "rotten egg smell" emanating from a single egg - and since that seems to be considered a quickly and readily apparent negative indicator, I take encouragement from it.

One egg did have a dimple crack in it (on the side - away from the fat air cell end), which I promptly covered with melted candle wax days ago, and even that one has a visible mass inside, and exudes no unseemly odor.

Some few who read my earlier posts may recall I am building my own incubator cabinet. It is not quite done yet, so I am using a brooder lamp with a 125w heat bulb kept at a distance from the eggs, which are contained within a styrofoam medical supply cooler box measuring 15.5"L x 12"W x 9"H (walls are 1" thick) with a Taylor thermometer probe to check vitals, and a spray mist bottle full of warm H2O nearby to keep the peeps froom going dry.

This is temporary until I finish my build...delayed by an outside build area and an unseasonable amount of rainfall, but I should be able to finish my cabinet doors tomorrow and then test the box for temp and humidity.

 

[natchlaly]

Morning Alex, looks like twins to me. I read a post on here about double yolkers developing and it was saying that the chicks find it very difficult to hatch as they have nothing solid enough to push against. There was a link to a video on youtube of a woman manually hatching the chick which both survived. I watched it and think it may help you I typed in hatching twin chicks and it was the first video

 

[GeoKan]

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I hope you're taking a few photos.

I would enjoy seeing your creation.

Sounds like you have a viable batch using your primitive set up. You set your eggs the same day I did, except I set mine in the afternoon. I have about 2 dozen Marans eggs and couldn't determine squat. Like you, I thought I saw a few dark masses, but couldn't be certain. I am going to re-candle those eggs tomorrow. That will mark the 10th day of incubation, which is optimal for dark-colored eggs.

 

[Lightfoote]

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I hope you're taking a few photos.

I would enjoy seeing your creation.

Sounds like you have a viable batch using your primitive set up. You set your eggs the same day I did, except I set mine in the afternoon. I have about 2 dozen Marans eggs and couldn't determine squat. Like you, I thought I saw a few dark masses, but couldn't be certain. I am going to re-candle those eggs tomorrow. That will mark the 10th day of incubation, which is optimal for dark-colored eggs.

I've taken several pics of my incubator cabinet build - step by step. I guess I need to find directions on uploading pics from my own hard drive onto either my BYC page or onto a forum thread for others to view.

I set my Ameraucanas in the morning hours of the 7th - Pacific time - so we probably set them at the same time, give or take an hour. Inconsequential for our purposes. Even on day 10, I question whether the visibility will be meaningful in darker-shelled eggs. I just now received my other eggs at the door from USPS...12 Black Australorps, and 6/6 split between Heritage Delawares/French BCMs. I haven't even opened the box to check things yet; I may have a break in the clouds I need to take advantage of...drag out my old Inca table saw, and rip the excess off the cabinet door edges, so I can finish the assembly and check temp/humidity control.

 

[Lightfoote]

Here are the humble beginnings of my homemade incubator project, starting with the sides and basic framing...I am happy to field questions about the process from any who are curious as to material or measurements, etc... I have 12 photos thus far and a little more work to finish, so I'll show 4 per posting (maximum) on this forum thread.