I ordered eggs to give to a broody hen - gave them to her on Saturday night. All was well - until today when I went to check the eggs to be sure she wasn't laying any more. One accidentally fell out of the nest, but one was missing - no trace of it. Thought a snake must have gotten in there.
After dinner, my dear husband went out with me to snake proof the broody box - opened the box and found a huge rat snake in there, having just swallowed an egg! My beloved caught the snake and squeezed that egg back out of its mouth - intact! I took the egg inside and wiped it off - was going to give it back to the broody, but thought maybe that was not a good idea, because I think snakes' mouths are loaded with bacteria. Put it inside by its lonesome in my unused incubator (which rapidly stabilized at 99 degrees - no decimals on my thermometer). Incubator was not preheated and it has no water in it.
Removed the hen from the nest, removed the eggs and set them aside in a box of shavings, covered with paper towels, while the security measures were being installed. While holding the hen, she expelled the poop she had been holding for days - onto the box of eggs!!! What are the odds? Fortunately, the paper towels caught most of the poop, although some of the eggs did get some on them.
I wiped them off with clean paper towels - while doing so, found traces of broken eggs on the outside - must have been from the snake visit that took the missing egg. Gave the dry eggs back to the hen, who must be rattled beyond belief, what with the enormous snake, the disturbance of her nest, the air compressor and staple gun...
Questions for the experts and experienced:
1. Did I do the correct thing by removing the egg that was forcibly regurgitated by the snake?
2. Should any of the eggs be cleaned in any way other than wiping off with a clean, dry paper towel? (Cleaned of poop, broken egg residue, or snake saliva?)
3. Should I add water to the incubator? I live in Florida - no A.C. as yet - cheap hygrometer in the room (for my daughter's hermit crabs) reads 55-60% humidity. Local weather online says 61% humidity currently. Have been reading about dry incubation - the egg in the incubator is an Ameraucana egg.
This is my first time with shipped eggs, and first time using an incubator (Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco with the rocking cradle).
After dinner, my dear husband went out with me to snake proof the broody box - opened the box and found a huge rat snake in there, having just swallowed an egg! My beloved caught the snake and squeezed that egg back out of its mouth - intact! I took the egg inside and wiped it off - was going to give it back to the broody, but thought maybe that was not a good idea, because I think snakes' mouths are loaded with bacteria. Put it inside by its lonesome in my unused incubator (which rapidly stabilized at 99 degrees - no decimals on my thermometer). Incubator was not preheated and it has no water in it.
Removed the hen from the nest, removed the eggs and set them aside in a box of shavings, covered with paper towels, while the security measures were being installed. While holding the hen, she expelled the poop she had been holding for days - onto the box of eggs!!! What are the odds? Fortunately, the paper towels caught most of the poop, although some of the eggs did get some on them.
I wiped them off with clean paper towels - while doing so, found traces of broken eggs on the outside - must have been from the snake visit that took the missing egg. Gave the dry eggs back to the hen, who must be rattled beyond belief, what with the enormous snake, the disturbance of her nest, the air compressor and staple gun...
Questions for the experts and experienced:
1. Did I do the correct thing by removing the egg that was forcibly regurgitated by the snake?
2. Should any of the eggs be cleaned in any way other than wiping off with a clean, dry paper towel? (Cleaned of poop, broken egg residue, or snake saliva?)
3. Should I add water to the incubator? I live in Florida - no A.C. as yet - cheap hygrometer in the room (for my daughter's hermit crabs) reads 55-60% humidity. Local weather online says 61% humidity currently. Have been reading about dry incubation - the egg in the incubator is an Ameraucana egg.
This is my first time with shipped eggs, and first time using an incubator (Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco with the rocking cradle).