Beginner's Hatch-A-Long

[wolfandfinch]

So am I making a huge mistake not being there all day to help the hatch on day 21? I can't even get at the bator on day 20. I went with the advice of the very kind lady who gave me the eggs (and she has a LOT of chickens) but reading about your experiences is making me very nervous

 

[Alaskan]

Ok lets see if I can describe this accurately without whipping out my drawing pencils.  If you have a square block of eggs (like 2 18 egg cartons together or an egg flat), you would move the block from one corner to the next corner causing the fluid inside the eggs to shift a complete 360˚ after a full rotation. Now because you admit that you are OCD I know that that is not going to be enough (I have a touch myself). You are not going to come close to being satisfied till you get an automated turner. Now you might not get it in time for this hatch but definitely make plans for one. And remember even good broody hens don't hatch all the time at 100%.

I forgot to tell you thanks for that description! I was completely able to see it.

 

[Penny Hen]

I forgot to tell you thanks for that description! I was completely able to see it.

I want to thank you for the ovation, now can you tell me how you give somebody one of those?

 

[Penny Hen]

Silly me it's the Thumbs Up icon.

 

[Alaskan]

he he he.....

now I just need to figure out how I am going to actually be able to WAIT until my eggs, that I put in yesterday will hatch.

 

[FFAChickenFan]

Hey guys, I'm a little worried here!

I just candled my eggs today for the first time- two that are moving and look great, I'm really excited!
Others are... too dark to see? I'm really confused because some of them are hardly visible on the inside- is that a good sign or a bad sign? I didnt remove them, since its hard to tell whether they're a go or a no on day 7.

Also, I couldnt really see an air sac. Does that mean my humidity is too high?

 

[Alaskan]

If you can't see clearly, I would leave everything alone, get a brighter flashlight and try again tomorrow.


7 days is still very early.

Maybe practice different ways to candle on some eggs you are going to eat. Then you don't have to worry about bumping them, and you can see what method works the best for you. You will also quickly learn exactly what an unfertilized, not gonna hatch egg, looks like.

 

[ivyrash]

Last night was day 18 for us but we weren't home so I upped the humidity and left them till this morning and locked them down this morning instead. I don't know if anything is alive in there or not but I am done fiddling with them at this point. Whatever hatches, hatches. I am for sure going to get a better thermometer before I do this again and look into a better hygrometer, I didn't have one that worked at all this time so who knows what the humidity was doing.

Crossing my fingers that something hatches!

 

[DavidKerk]

he he he.....

now I just need to figure out how I am going to actually be able to WAIT until my eggs, that I put in yesterday will hatch.

I think that's the hardest part of incubating!

 

[Funky Chooks]

Hi Everyone!

I'm not sure if I qualify here as I've only read a few pages so far and have not seen anyone in my situation, but I'm a NOOB!

I ordered 4 bantam Coachin blue/black frizzle eggs on Ebay, received 5 and put them under my broody bantam brahma straight from the mail. They came in 2 days all the way from Texas. I hope a couple survive as my mama seems so proud. I've been making sure she eats a lot so she won't lose her broody behavior too early.

Well, next time I'll join you guys with an incubator, but I can't afford one yet!

PS-- I know incubation time is 21 days, but if it took about 4-5 days for the seller + transportation... when does the clock start for them? Once they are under the warm hen? Thanks!!