6 eggs all seem at different stages despite being incubated at the same time??

[PaulaG]

Ok, so it is my first time at hatching my own eggs!

It was day 7 yesterday so I candled the eggs. The first 1 has the veins and the black dot (eye as I understand it) the second 1 has veins but no eye.

The next 3 have the redish colour blob (yolk as I understand it) but cannot see any visible veins of any sort and the last 1 has a very faint blob but seems to have a very porous shell.

At 1 point between the first and 5th day I noticed that the last egg seemed quite cool compared to the other eggs and I double checked the temperature and it may have dropped slightly that day so I am not sure if that may have had an adverse effect.

Does this mean that only the first 2 are actually fertile?? They were all incubated at the same time but I wondered and had read somewhere that if the temperature drops it may just make the egg progress slightly slower ie. maybe develop a day behind??

As I said this is the first time I have ever hatched myself and so it is a learning curve and I daresay next time I will know better what I am looking at.

What I don't want to do though is leave all the eggs there as I have read that bad eggs can explode and turn bad possibly affecting the good eggs!

If only the first 2 eggs hatch, they are bound to be cockerels and I won't be able to keep them!! Sods law! Still I guess I will have learnt more and hopefully be more successful (although the fertility is something I have no control over)

Thanks in advance for any help or advice offered

 

[spikennipper]

Hi, it may mean you only have two alive at this point but I would wait until day 10 before candling again and making any decisions as then it should be plain to see, no eggs should explode at this point if they were fresh to begin with which I presume they were so do not worry, out of interest what incubator are they in and is it still air or fan assisted?

 

[PaulaG]

Thank you

They are in a home made incubator and it is still air.

 

[spikennipper]

There may be some variations in temperature then so this could be why, I tried building one a few years ago but failed miserably as the temps were not consistent and I kept ruining hatches and wasting eggs, some people are very good at building homemade incubators though that work well, I have bought one from ebay that is homemade from a styro cool box with a little bulb/thermostat and fan, cost me under £40 with delivery and I have had good results from it, I prefer fan assisted to still air as the temps are more consistent in any given area, this is now my stand by incubator as I have a Brinsea mini advance which I love

 

[jammyjammy2112]

Temps may be differnt at each side of homead incubators and y would the other two eggs be bound to be cockerals

 

[PaulaG]

I will just have to wait and see I guess and check again on day 10. Maybe I will invest in 1. My dad made mine from a propagator and a heat mat with a thermostat, it's a very simple thing. Maybe those other eggs just weren't fertile. They can never be guaranteed.
Bound to be cockerels because I can't keep them as live in a residential area, my neighbours would be none too impressed lol, and after all that I may end up with no chickens and starting all over again! Mine got killed by a fox just before Xmas
Will keep you posted!

 

[PaulaG]

Ok, so day 10!! Next question, If there is only 1 fertile egg and it is growing will 1 chick be ok on its own?? Or should I get a couple of day old chicks to keep it company?

Thanks

 

[spikennipper]

Hi, how did the eggs go? sorry I was late in replying, if you only have 1 chick and you can get others that would be best but you can raise one on it's own if no choice just put a mirror in there and keep a radio on and give it lots of tlc and it should be fine although maybe a little noisy!

 

[PaulaG]

Sorry I am late!! Lol
They didn't develop

Have got more more on the go and even more probs. this hatching lark is not as easy as it looks!

 

[jammyjammy2112]

Sorry I am late!! Lol
They didn't develop

Have got more more on the go and even more probs. this hatching lark is not as easy as it looks!

youll get the hang off it how are they developing now