Anybody setting today 9-20-09? Or close to it? Newbie Hatcher here!

[nhnanna]

I have SLW set on the 10th and cochins and EExCochins set on the 18th.

The SLW's were shipped and I see veining in about half of them. I had to throw one stinky one out but left the unsures in until next candling.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Ack!! Be careful!! I just saw these pics, did you know you can kill the embryos by moving them like that when they are early in their development? That's one reason why it's best to not candle at all until day 7, by then the embryo is a bit bigger, and less likely to get tangled in the veins. You should never hold the egg upside down to candle, if you use a turner just set the light on top of the egg, don't even take it out of the bator! If you have the eggs on their sides, just pic it up, lay it on the light on its side and candle that way

 

[SweetMotherOfMars]

Thanks, Shelley.

As I said, this is just our second hatch. We still have a lot to learn. We don't have a turner, so these guys stay on their sides.

We weren't set up to candle early last time, so we'll see if the jostling just after the start of incubation hurt these any more than the jostling both sets experienced before we put them in.
I wanted to check the shells as the only one that didn't hatch last time looked like this:

at day 8.
None of this batch look quite as porous as poor D was, so I'm relieved.

Quite a variety of eggs everyone has!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the hatchlings.

What did you find out about the olive eggs, faerielady? Two from our last batch were in blue eggs (including the only hen), but the rest were green. A family at our farmers' market lets us have ee crosses at the same cost as if we were going to make omelets.
(They just keep them in the basement for us instead of the fridge.)

 

[cojoin12]

Hi, we are setting 24 mutt eggs today, have incubated successfully before, but not this late in year. Should be interesting, glad to have company. This is my mother's project, she is 77. Claire, Wiggins, Miss.

 

[faerielady]

Turned the eggs this morning. The shelf had started to sink because of the weight of the eggs, so I lifted it (with the eggs) very carefully out of the bator and put two cups under it, then put it back. I moved as quickly as I could, hopefully the temp didn't drop too much.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Letting the eggs cool some is not going to hurt them. Remember that a hen will leave the nest 1-2 times a day for up to 1/2 an hour!

 

[faerielady]

Quote:
I'm also of the belief that the hens don't really "fuss" with their eggs much, so that has made sure I'm practicing the LITFA technique (leave it the eff alone!). Well, except for quickly turning them and putting the lid back down.

 

[JestersEye]

Today was day 12 for my son's "incubation" science fair project. We just candled them, and we can see very definate veining and chick movements in 13 out of 18 eggs! That's pretty good for our first time (with a homemade incubator, no less)... right?!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I'm also of the belief that the hens don't really "fuss" with their eggs much, so that has made sure I'm practicing the LITFA technique (leave it the eff alone!). Well, except for quickly turning them and putting the lid back down.

I use that method too. If you think about it, she probably doesn't turn each and everyone 6+ times a day. There might be a few that get turned that much, then some that get turned once or not at all. Everything doesn't have to be 'perfect' for it to happen! Case in point: I've been told hundreds of times not to open the hatcher during a hatch. I've done it with little to no problems, and I've also seen many of my hens leave their nest for a potty break when they have pips. I even had a chick hatch completely out of its shell while mama was out galavanting.

 

[faerielady]

I've been diligently not going over and messing with the 'bator... just rotating the eggs as quickly as I can and popping the lid back on it. It's been colder than normal for this area in the morning, so the temp has been dipping down to 98.6 but by mid day it's back to about 99.5-100.5.

It might be alright. I don't want to hatch chicks with cold weather related deformities, but I have no desire to jack with the thermostat all the time and cause bigger problems by having the lid off it every time I turn around!

Instead of candling on Sunday, which would be day 8, my dad is going to help me candle on day 10 (Tuesday).

I've been keeping my mind off the 'bator by making jam in the evening the last two evenings. Last night was strawberry rhubarb, tonight was 4 berry (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry). Hey, whatever keeps my mind off the eggs and my fingers from accessing the "eggs for sale" part of this site is a good thing right now... after these hatch, I have 2 doz silkie eggs coming!