6th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2015 Hatch-A-Long

[domesticzoo]

I am in Mesa, AZ. Where are you?

Oh, I am in Imperial CA, we are not on the map but I know Brawley CA is and we are in the Imperial Valley. Close to the borders of Mexico on the eat part of CA.

 

[houdiniduck]

Oh, I am in Imperial CA, we are not on the map but I know Brawley CA is and we are in the Imperial Valley. Close to the borders of Mexico on the eat part of CA.

ok, I get the general area. I drive back and forth to el centro ca a lot to drop my son off. We drive along the border a lot. I am from San Diego originally. All my birds do well in the summer heat, but I am sure some more knowledgeable people have better ideas. hahaha

 

[Cynthia12]

I got rid of all my Welsummers but one, and now I wish I had kept one of the others for my OE project. She laid the most interesting eggs, they were light but with dark pores. They had kind of a stone look to them. Not exactly the desirable color in a Welsummer egg; I think they are supposed to be darker. She was a hatchery bird, so I don't know if I'll ever find that egg color again. I hollowed one out before I got rid of her. This is what it looked like. If anyone knows a chicken that lays eggs like this I'd like to know. I think it could make a neat OE. Or I can just get a bunch more hatchery Welsummers and hope I get another one.

That is a very interesting color. You are right, Wellsummers lay darker eggs to start out, wonder what happened to hers? Pretty though!

 

[Bazy]

I set 66 eggs, and finally found a flashlight to candle them tonight. I have two blood rings and one clear that I'm taking out. There are three marans eggs I can not see into and several dense ameraucana eggs too. This is a record for me.

I have a new home made fridge incubator and so. My silkie breedi g friend says she will save me a few silkie eggs to try it out. Well.....she shows up with 25 silkie eggs...and laugs at me because she knows I won't just set "a few" and so of course thwy all go in. Love those tiny silkie eggs, they are so easy to see into. This is day four.

I can not see a thing in any of the standard eggs yet.

 

[blackgoat]

I think my incubator hates me! How can it be 99 in one part and 93 in another!

That, or my thermometer hates me. Next time, I'm getting some old fashioned bulb thermometers. Or a new incubator....or both....grrrrr

 

[Pyxis]

I think my incubator hates me! How can it be 99 in one part and 93 in another!  That, or my thermometer hates me. Next time, I'm getting some old fashioned bulb thermometers. Or a new incubator....or both....grrrrr 

What kind of incubator is it? My thermometer in my Brinsea Eco 20 will give some funky readings while one part is up high and then low due to the autoturner, but the eggs all do fine and I have to assume it's the thermometer acting weird due to the turning. It's a probe type thermometer. My humidity gauge also has a thermometer in it and it always reads 99 degrees no matter what so I think it's my other thermometer getting confused by the tilting.

 

[blackgoat]

What kind of incubator is it? My thermometer in my Brinsea Eco 20 will give some funky readings while one part is up high and then low due to the autoturner, but the eggs all do fine and I have to assume it's the thermometer acting weird due to the turning. It's a probe type thermometer. My humidity gauge also has a thermometer in it and it always reads 99 degrees no matter what so I think it's my other thermometer getting confused by the tilting.

The incubator is a foam HovaBator still air. The thermometer is a digital one with a probe, so it gives two readings, so I can get readings from the top and bottom of the eggs. I did some rearranging of the eggs earlier today but that was hours ago, it should have had enough time to stabilize. But, maybe not.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I got rid of all my Welsummers but one, and now I wish I had kept one of the others for my OE project. She laid the most interesting eggs, they were light but with dark pores. They had kind of a stone look to them. Not exactly the desirable color in a Welsummer egg; I think they are supposed to be darker. She was a hatchery bird, so I don't know if I'll ever find that egg color again. I hollowed one out before I got rid of her. This is what it looked like. If anyone knows a chicken that lays eggs like this I'd like to know. I think it could make a neat OE. Or I can just get a bunch more hatchery Welsummers and hope I get another one.

That is a very interesting color. You are right, Wellsummers lay darker eggs to start out, wonder what happened to hers? Pretty though!

I have a hatchery white rock that lays eggs just like this.

 

[Amberjem]

Hey! If you dissolved the shell before they hatch, then the little chicks would have an easier time breaking out!

haha I thought of that except for the whole drowning thingie

 

[Roan]

i soaked that 1 for about 36 hrs. They were probably done in 3 or 4 hours but i forgot about em. No worries..vinegar will not absorb the membrane

@idiotswife , I guess we now know who forgot to turn on the egg turner in the incubator. lol

I have Partridge Penedesenca:

Okay, it's categorized as a "Layer" but it's productivity is "below average to average?" Or is that the egg size?

haha I thought of that except for the whole drowning thingie

Actually, you would take them out of the vinegar and put them in the incubator for the regular incubation period. But turning them would be very dangerous, in fact it would seem that handling them at all would be a risk.

Since the incubator protects the eggs from danger (including a broody hen coming on and off the nest and bumping eggs into each other and provided you have separators for each egg), the shell loses its necessity so perhaps hatching no-shell eggs will be the wave of the future? It's worth checking into.

Especially since bacteria can not live in vinegar so no need for the bloom as long as your incubator is sanitized.

My only concern would be damage from the chick itself, because as the chick grows, it flexes and moves around which, without the protection of the hard eggshell could cause it to accidentally tear the thin casing membrane.