5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[Bluetick340]

Alfalfa is very good for the birds. I don't like the pellets. The when mixing ratins fr othe species the pellets are the last eaten. Something about the Pelleting process.

 

[Cynthia12]

Question I have never really seen on here. How gently do the eggs need to be handled? When I candle I try to do it as fast as possible so that they will not get cold. Will the jostling them around make them die or burst the veins? Or can they take a pretty hard drop or shake?

This is something that I asked a while back, didn't get a response. I had read that turning them fast in the first week can cause a blood ring. Not sure. I am trying to catch up on reading..maybe someone has answered.

 

[Penny Hen]

This is something that I asked a while back, didn't get a response. I had read that turning them fast in the first week can cause a blood ring. Not sure. I am trying to catch up on reading..maybe someone has answered.

There was a post either at the beginning of this thread or in the Incubator's Anonymous that said there is some research that says that especially with shipped eggs it can be better not to turn them the first 7 days.

 

[Cynthia12]

So I was candling tonight and had one of my silkie eggs that was growing and it slipped out of my hand and broke :-( I feel sooooo terrible

Oh man, that's not good. So sorry.

I decided to candle my Rhodebars today. Saw a quitter..day 9. Thought I would check it out, and bam..my first explosion! That egg went sideways into the sink..ha, lucky me, just a bit on the counter. I cracked it open by the sink. Looked as thought the baby quite not that long ago..not sure why the egg was so ready to explode like that..sure glad I got it out.

 

[ronott1]

This is something that I asked a while back, didn't get a response. I had read that turning them fast in the first week can cause a blood ring. Not sure. I am trying to catch up on reading..maybe someone has answered.

Someone did answer. Remember the candling pictures that showed 18 days of candling? Someone pointed out the days that you need to be extra gentle with the eggs.

You have to be gentler with shipped eggs. They are very fragile and should not be candled for the first week to 10 days. They incubator should not be in a place where it will be bumped and etc, like the kitchen table. (That is where the incubator was for my first hatch--bad idea).

 

[ronott1]

Oh man, that's not good. So sorry.

I decided to candle my Rhodebars today. Saw a quitter..day 9. Thought I would check it out, and bam..my first explosion! That egg went sideways into the sink..ha, lucky me, just a bit on the counter. I cracked it open by the sink. Looked as thought the baby quite not that long ago..not sure why the egg was so ready to explode like that..sure glad I got it out.

I open the eggs in side a zip lock bag...

Sorry for the gas bomb!

 

[Cynthia12]

Someone did answer. Remember the candling pictures that showed 18 days of candling? Someone pointed out the days that you need to be extra gentle with the eggs.

You have to be gentler with shipped eggs. They are very fragile and should not be candled for the first week to 10 days. They incubator should not be in a place where it will be bumped and etc, like the kitchen table. (That is where the incubator was for my first hatch--bad idea).

Oh yes, I can see the kitchen table being a great place if you want your eggs turned .. without you having to open the bator.

Yes, I've always turned them very careful during the first week. Well, probably since about my third time hatching.

 

[Cynthia12]

 

[Wunjo]

Woohoo

36 of 36. All eggs have veins. I'm excited that I currently have 100% hatch rate but if all do hatch I will be shocked. This is only my 3rd hatch and it seems I always run into problems when it comes to day 21. If this hatch goes all well I will definitely have enough laying hens to supply our egg buying customers again.

Quote:

A cheap one. HovaBator 1602n with an LG auto turner from TSC and a pc fan from an old pc.

 

[Avlana]

With shipped eggs, I usually only turn them once a day the first week. And I try to keep them upright. Almost every batch of shipped hatching eggs I've received has had detatched air cells. And they have a sloshy appearance to them upon candling, like someone just previously mentioned. So I take extra care with those eggs, especially during the first half of incubation.