Beginner's Hatch-A-Long

[MrsKitty]

Hello All! I'm on day 13 of 52 Coturnix eggs and 7 Silkie eggs!
I originally started with 60 Coturnix (7 clears and 1 stinker), 8 Silkie (1 no development) and 4 Millie Fluer (Never Developed)so I think I still doing well. This is my very first hatch and I am so excited! I just candled all my Silkies and a few Cot eggs- I saw a few dancers in the Cot eggs (they are SO hard to see through!) and all bit one of the Silkies are highly active (one is developed but kind of sluggish in movement).
The Coturnix are due right in between my kids birthdays and they are so excited! Lockdown for them is on Saturday!
The hardest part is the waiting but so far me and the boys are being patient! Yay for new hatchers!

 

[DavidKerk]

Thanks! It is KILLING me not to candle them yet (we're at 4 1/2 days) just to see if there's anything at all to see yet, but being as this is an LG incubator and thus notoriously finicky about temp regulation, I don't want to disrupt things! I'm being a good girl and waiting until Sunday!

Candling is so exciting!

 

[ohju1ia]

How long do I have to wait to start hatching my girls eggs? They literally started laying today and I'm itching to start hatching lol

 

[beverly evans]

Hi, You failed to mention if you had a rooster to fertilize your eggs. So of course if they are fertile you can begin immediately.

 

[ohju1ia]

Hi, You failed to mention if you had a rooster to fertilize your eggs. So of course if they are fertile you can begin immediately.

I have a Cochin rooster that is ~15 months old. that's pretty neat. I didn't know if the egg size could effect the hatching ability

 

[beverly evans]

I have heard that it doesn't . Anyway, I sure hope not because today I delivered 8 eggs to a friend who will hatch them for me in her incubator. Three were from a black copper maran and were only her 2nd week of laying and are quite small. But the attention she is getting from my randy roos makes me know they are at least fertile. Now to wait 21 days! She promised to let me know after candling them how many viable eggs I have.
I need to get rid of my roos but no one wants them. Every one already has too many or is afraid the neighbors will complain. Right now mine have a daily "crow off" every AM. But they are so gorgeous I wanted a bit of that gene pool before it was gone! beverly

 

[CashandTracy]

How long do I have to wait to start hatching my girls eggs? They literally started laying today and I'm itching to start hatching lol

IMO, based on research, not personal experience, I would wait until your girls are laying "normal" shaped eggs of average size for your breed. According to what I have read your hatchability increases when eggs have good shape and average size, overly large, small, and misshapen eggs have a lower hatch rate. Also, I would wait until closer to spring because the shells are thicker providing the chicks with the calcium they need to develop good strong bones. Of course, this is just my opinion, and I have yet to test the "hatching waters", my information is based on books.

 

[beverly evans]

Hi! Pray tell, what is a coturnix? Is it an emu or something? If it takes 52 days it must be big. Just curious.

 

[DavidKerk]

Hi! Pray tell, what is a coturnix? Is it an emu or something? If it takes 52 days it must be big. Just curious.

Yea! It must be a large bird egg!

 

[chicketydooda]

Yea! It must be a large bird egg!

coturnix is a type of quail so I'm guessing maybe a typo?