April 2023 Hatch-A-Long

Well, 11 of of 12 Silkie eggs hatched! And even more exciting, 11 out of 16 shipped Cuckoo Silkie eggs are viable for a 4.28 hatch, which is the best result I've ever had with shipped eggs.

Picture for tax, lol.
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Well I did my last candle. All 18 of the eggs have veining and most had movement, in spite of the incubator unplugging incident. Some of the chicks seem to be smaller/ less developed inside the egg though, so I have the feeling some will have a delayed hatch. The air cells on almost all of them are very small but I am hoping some will be able to hatch at least. Hatch day should be Wednesday 🤞
 
There are two now that I'm unsure of BUT there are four who look like they're almost ready to internally pip! I might have to put them in lockdown tonight but I also might make them wait until tomorrow to give their siblings a chance to catch up. Lamb has assumed her position and is a bit confused about why it's not warm or making noise like before.
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Last of my April hatcher should be going into lockdown in a day. I don't have my hopes up, some don't look good at all...

April 2023 has been the WORST month of the year! And that includes me freezing my b*** off in -50 weather with heaters that could not supply enough. Everything in my trailer froze. Spent two days curled up in bed with my dog as a heat source!
 
9 chicks made their way into the brooder, 7 white and 2 black! Three eggs left in the incubator (two pipped) but I'm not super hopeful for them. Still 9/12 isn't bad at all for shipped eggs! They're such friendly little things, crawling all over my hands when I was adjusting their food and water.
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For those of you who incubate eggs collected from your own flock, what is your method to decide which eggs to incubate?
I look for eggs that are:

similar in size and weight, not too big or small
clearly egg-shaped, not round or pointy
smooth shells
clean
no cracks
evenly colored
no deformities, calcium deposits, or wrinkles
 

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