Adventures in Incubating Shipped Eggs

[Morrigan]

It's 3 days since the last egg hatched under my broody hen. She rejected the last chick that hatched so I brought it in and put it in the brooder. I haven't been able to collect the unhatched eggs because she is crazy! Went out to check on her and the babies and one of the eggs left in the nest had hatched. It's been 3 days! I grabbed the baby because she rejected this one as well, and the 3 remaining eggs. I stuck the eggs in the brooder. My question is can I see if anymore will hatch in there? The eggs were expensive and I would like to get as many chicks as I can. Do I need to supplement humidity? I tried to candle them but they are welsummer eggs and I can't see a thing. Thanks for any help! ps. I don't have an incubator

I've heard of people getting abandoned eggs to hatch by placing them between two heating pads -- protected by towels and laying a damp cloth in with the egg (near the egg, but not touching, I think). I've never tried this, so I don't know if it will work for you.

 

[Zinjifrah]

I swear this year is cursed.

My experimental local eggs were ready early, today instead of Friday. 12 huge (Hey, I've been incubating Serama eggs!) assorted eggs from a mixed flock. The other person with eggs never contacted me to pick them up. So the eggs I picked up today are;

Cochin roo. Potential hens: Cochin, RIR, EE, unknown black (I suspect Australorp) and unknown buff (I suspect Orpington). My suspicions are just based on what I've seen available around this area at the feed stores.

I came home to a dead incubator. The heating element went out, or stopped working, something. Fan still humming away, no heat.

The only incubator available in under a four hour drive is a still air Little Giant. I don't like it, but it's what I could get. So... guess I'll be giving that a try. So much for figuring out if my incubator was an issue! It had been holding temperature and humidity perfectly for three days prior to abruptly dying.

So here we go. 11 brown or beige eggs, 1 blue egg, and scrambling to have the incubator at temperature and humidity so they can go in tomorrow morning. They range from 47g to 69g currently.

 

[WVduckchick]

It's 3 days since the last egg hatched under my broody hen. She rejected the last chick that hatched so I brought it in and put it in the brooder. I haven't been able to collect the unhatched eggs because she is crazy! Went out to check on her and the babies and one of the eggs left in the nest had hatched. It's been 3 days! I grabbed the baby because she rejected this one as well, and the 3 remaining eggs. I stuck the eggs in the brooder. My question is can I see if anymore will hatch in there? The eggs were expensive and I would like to get as many chicks as I can. Do I need to supplement humidity? I tried to candle them but they are welsummer eggs and I can't see a thing. Thanks for any help! ps. I don't have an incubator

Many makeshift incubators have been created around here. Do some searches for DIY incubator. But they will need something to hold the humidity around the eggs. But they also need ventilation and air circulation, and the proper temperature.
I would try candling with the brightest light you can find, with fresh batteries. She may have left the eggs because they are duds, and may not be worth your effort.

 

[Cerise1924]

I swear this year is cursed.

My experimental local eggs were ready early, today instead of Friday. 12 huge (Hey, I've been incubating Serama eggs!) assorted eggs from a mixed flock. The other person with eggs never contacted me to pick them up. So the eggs I picked up today are;

Cochin roo. Potential hens: Cochin, RIR, EE, unknown black (I suspect Australorp) and unknown buff (I suspect Orpington). My suspicions are just based on what I've seen available around this area at the feed stores.

I came home to a dead incubator. The heating element went out, or stopped working, something. Fan still humming away, no heat.

The only incubator available in under a four hour drive is a still air Little Giant. I don't like it, but it's what I could get. So... guess I'll be giving that a try. So much for figuring out if my incubator was an issue! It had been holding temperature and humidity perfectly for three days prior to abruptly dying.

So here we go. 11 brown or beige eggs, 1 blue egg, and scrambling to have the incubator at temperature and humidity so they can go in tomorrow morning. They range from 47g to 69g currently.

View attachment 1418853

It sounds like you have a wonderful mix. I've never been especially interested in trying the Little Giant, either... but what if it turns out to be a great incubator and you have an excellent hatch? It could happen! I always like to thing that disasters are somehow blessings in disguise.

Good luck, hang in there. Keep us posted!

-Cerise

 

[Morrigan]

I swear this year is cursed.

My experimental local eggs were ready early, today instead of Friday. 12 huge (Hey, I've been incubating Serama eggs!) assorted eggs from a mixed flock. The other person with eggs never contacted me to pick them up. So the eggs I picked up today are;

Cochin roo. Potential hens: Cochin, RIR, EE, unknown black (I suspect Australorp) and unknown buff (I suspect Orpington). My suspicions are just based on what I've seen available around this area at the feed stores.

I came home to a dead incubator. The heating element went out, or stopped working, something. Fan still humming away, no heat.

The only incubator available in under a four hour drive is a still air Little Giant. I don't like it, but it's what I could get. So... guess I'll be giving that a try. So much for figuring out if my incubator was an issue! It had been holding temperature and humidity perfectly for three days prior to abruptly dying.

So here we go. 11 brown or beige eggs, 1 blue egg, and scrambling to have the incubator at temperature and humidity so they can go in tomorrow morning. They range from 47g to 69g currently.

View attachment 1418853

It's an attractive looking set of eggs. I hope the new incubator works out. Looking forward to hearing how your hatch goes.

 

[wendymichele]

thank you for the responses. There was no action after a day so I decided to let them go.

 

[JohnEugene]

Of the seven shipped Regular Gray Game Fowl eggs I first placed in the incubator on 5/17/18, and have been reporting about in earlier posts, I removed one on the first candling (day five) because it had a blood ring. Of the other six, all had detached air sacs, and five appeared clear. Only one was showing signs of veining. I left all six in the incubator hoping that the clear five would start to show signs of development.

Then there was an unfortunate incident on the day of the tropical storm when I lost power for a few hours. On day eighteen the five clear eggs were still clear. One remaining egg was showing very strong signs of development.

I removed the five clear eggs and locked down the incubator with the one remaining egg. Now today, on day twenty, one day early, when I went in to check the incubator to my surprise when I looked through the incubator window the egg looked like it was piping.

Sure enough it was, and I sat there for a couple of hours and watched a little round pea-sized hole develop. It looks like one egg of the original seven will indeed hatch. (It is killing me that it is taking so long.) It has been a struggle to keep from helping, but I am managing to resist the temptation. I am praying that at least this one egg will hatch successfully.

 

[Morrigan]

Sure enough it was, and I sat there for a couple of hours and watched a little round pea-sized hole develop. It looks like one egg of the original seven will indeed hatch. (It is killing me that it is taking so long.) It has been a struggle to keep from helping, but I am managing to resist the temptation. I am praying that at least this one egg will hatch successfully.

Great news on the pip! It can take quite a while to from pip to zip -- 12 hours is typical, although I've definitely had some take longer than that (and some go faster). Hope the little chick is out soon!

 

[Jayellebee]

I swear this year is cursed.

My experimental local eggs were ready early, today instead of Friday. 12 huge (Hey, I've been incubating Serama eggs!) assorted eggs from a mixed flock. The other person with eggs never contacted me to pick them up. So the eggs I picked up today are;

Cochin roo. Potential hens: Cochin, RIR, EE, unknown black (I suspect Australorp) and unknown buff (I suspect Orpington). My suspicions are just based on what I've seen available around this area at the feed stores.

I came home to a dead incubator. The heating element went out, or stopped working, something. Fan still humming away, no heat.

The only incubator available in under a four hour drive is a still air Little Giant. I don't like it, but it's what I could get. So... guess I'll be giving that a try. So much for figuring out if my incubator was an issue! It had been holding temperature and humidity perfectly for three days prior to abruptly dying.

So here we go. 11 brown or beige eggs, 1 blue egg, and scrambling to have the incubator at temperature and humidity so they can go in tomorrow morning. They range from 47g to 69g currently.

View attachment 1418853

@Zinjifrah.. this is my first time hatching. I have the Little Giant Still air incubator... it was a little frustrating at first, but if I can figure it out, I'm sure you can! I'm on day 25 with duck eggs, I've lost 3, but I don't think it was the incubators fault (one wasn't fertile and 2 were early quitters). Our power went out a couple days ago and the incubator held a pretty steady temperature until it came back on too.

 

[lawson1986]

One duckling has hatched!!! The 2 others have pipped but are very clearly not done absorbing the yolk. So excited, as these were shipped and its my first try with duck eggs!!!