Anyone wanna help the newbie? Tips or some advice would be so appreciated!

[InsaneChicken]

Okay... I decided to try hatching eggs. It was just one of those out of the blue things. Lets just say.. Things may have gotten out of hand one of my chickens had gather quite a collection of eggs. She had been sitting on them for awhile and I don't know what eggs were laid when.. I just know a that a little over half had dark masses in them. I put them in an incubator and since I don't know how far along some of the eggs are I don't know what to do! I want to at least hatch a few of them. I would feel a little accomplished if I could get a few of them to hatch. There was an egg in there with a dark line going all around the egg... what is that? How long should I leave the eggs in there? She started collecting them... March 21st I do believe. I didn't mean for her to get so many eggs. She only started with 6 and ended up with.....more than that. Help. Help the first time egg hatcher! Please. >.< Ugh.

 

[InsaneChicken]

Also, I checked the eggs today and they are dark and I can see an air sac in them...... Still.. Some tips/advice from anyone who has done this before would be so helpful...

 

[fried green eggs]

If you go to the Learning Center tab then to Incubating & Hatching there is a Candling Pics that may help you get a idea as to if yours are developing and how far along they are. Did you mark the eggs to know which eggs she had Mar 21st ? Humidity Level in incubator needs to be 65 % - 80% starting on 18th day to hatch. You can search forum for more candling pics and to see if dark line in question is Air Sack or Blood Ring.
I hope this helps you and you hatch some chicks

 

[stevearino]

Hello there! I am quite new to hatching eggs myself, and am working on my first batch as we speak! but I have learned a couple things lately that might come in handy for you. The egg with the dark line around it, are you referring to when you candle the egg, or is it on the exterior? If you notice that dark line while your candling, I think that is a sign that the embryo was fertile and developing, but died. I just found 3 of my eggs like that, so don't feel bad. Someone may correct me though who has more experience in the matter.

I don't know what kind of incubator you have, but eggs need to be turned at least 3 times a day. If you have an automatic egg turner you don't have to worry too much about it, but I don't have that so I do it by hand. I mark one side of the egg with an X, and the other side with an O so I can keep track. Eggs take 21 days to hatch, give or take a day from what I understand, and since you don't know how long these eggs were laid, its hard to say how long they will be in the incubator. No more than three weeks is about all I can say.

Hopefully someone with much more experience can answer your questions with some detail. Good luck with your eggs!

 

[CarolJ]

The dark line going all the way around might be a blood ring - which would indicate the egg is bad. Since you're not sure how old each egg is or how far along they might be in incubating, I would think the best thing to do would be just leave them in the incubator and see what happens. If some of them started on March 21st - that means they could hatch in the next few days since Wednesday would make 3 weeks.

IF I were in your situation, I would put them in the incubator but without an automatic turner - in open egg cartons. That way they should hatch more easily than in the turner. Then just keep the temperature and humidity right and wait and see what happens. I hope more experienced folks will chime in . . . .

 

[InsaneChicken]

Thank you! All of you! I looked at the pictures and I do think mine are almost due to hatch. I guess I'll just wait it out and see. two more things though... Would it be okay to take a chick out of the incubator and put it in a cage after it hatches? I have a heat lamp and stuff.. (I had gotten chicks a few weeks ago but they don't use the lamp anymore). does the pointy side of the egg go down or up? I hear it's up from some people and then from others I hear its down. Argh. >.<

 

[CarolJ]

The pointy end of the egg goes down.
Once the chicks are dry and fluffy - you can take them out of the incubator and put them in a brooder with a heat lamp.

ETA: Chicks don't HAVE to have food/water for the first 2 or 3 days after hatching. It's best to open the incubator as little as possible - especially if you still have unhatched eggs. If you take chicks out of the bator, do it quickly so the unhatched eggs won't be adversely affected.

 

[InsaneChicken]

This is the egg with the ring. Thanks to all of you. You've been very helpful

 

[DirtCreature]

that looks like a "bad egg"

Also, yes you can take the chick out and put it in the brooder BUT if there are other chicks that have pipped or (poked holes in in egg) then you will run the chance of shrink wrapping the pipped ones in the shell and they could die.

I would suggest you leave the chick in, since the yolk has been absorbed it will be ok.

If you have to take the chick(s) out, wait until you think none of the others have pips and do it quickly.

Good luck! i will be watching for udates.

Melissa

 

[abbylane35]

Good luck! I had a broody who "gave up" at day 20...luckily I had an incubator going, but it was a cold day and I didn't know how long she had been off of the eggs! I did end up getting some of the little guys or girls to hatch...I figured better to give it a try than to throw away 20 days of work! Hope that you have good luck with this!