Broody hen and eggs: Hatching journal! *UPDATE: PICS! 3 HATCHED!!!*

[77horses]

***Welcome to my Broody Hen and Eggs: Hatching Journal!***

Instead of writing each update day-by-day, I'm going to keep all the updates in here!

So check back to this post for everyday(or almost everyday) updates on Setherina(the broody hen) and her eggs.

Below is the record of how old the eggs are. Since the eggs are at different ages(about 2-3 days apart), I'm only recording the ages of the few older eggs that are around day 7, according to when I candled them. I'm pretty sure I'm close to accurate, but I'm not completely sure when she laid the eggs. I'm just basing this info on the candling, and I know that the embryo and veins can be seen when candled around day 7. I also added all the dates through the hatch, and I will add on info next to the day, such as what I've done already to the past days.

Oh and the "unknown" means that I wasn't able to candle on that day.

*RECORD:*
5-19-09: Day 1-unknown

5-20-09: Day 2-unknown

5-21-09: Day 3-unknown

5-22-09: Day 4-dark mass(could be yolk or something developing?)

5-23-09: Day 5-dark mass(could be yolk or something developing?)

5-24-09: Day 6-some veins

5-25-09: Day 7-network of veins and tiny embryo seen

5-26-09: Day 8-unknown(veins and embryo developing?)

5-27-09: Day 9-unknown(veins and embryo developing?)

5-28-09: Day 10-unknown(veins and embryo developing?)

5-29-09: Day 11-unknown(veins and embryo developing?)

5-30-09: Day 12-unknown(veins and embryo developing?)

5-31-09: Day 13-unknown(veins and embryo developing?)

6-1-09: Day 14-unknown(veins and embryo developing?)

6-2-09: Day 15-unknown(veins and embryo more developed...growing bigger)

6-3-09: Day 16-unknown(veins and embryo more developed...growing bigger)

6-4-09: Day 17-unknown(veins and embryo more developed...growing bigger)

6-5-09: Day 18-most of egg is dark, chick is moving around

6-6-09: Day 19-most of egg is dark, chick is moving around

6-7-09: Day 20-most of egg is dark, chick is moving around

6-8-09: Day 21 *Hatch Day?*-unknown if eggs have pipped/hatched

6-9-09: Day 22 *Hatch Day?*-unknown...still waiting...(eggs may be younger than I thought)

6-10-09: Day 23 *Hatch day?*-unknown...still waiting...(eggs may be younger than I thought)

6-11-09: Day 20-24?(eggs may be younger than I thought...) -unknown...still waiting...

6-12-09: Day 21-25??? ONE CHICK HATCHED!!!!!



(We place some of our Red Star's eggs under the broody hen)

*Number of eggs: 10+(about)

*Eggs: BOxStandard Cochin, and Red StarXRIR

*Name of broody hen setting on eggs: Setherina

*Fathers of eggs: Rhode Island Red, and Splash Cochin(standards, not bantams)



*PICTURES:*

Broody hen:

Fathers:

Splash Cochin:

Rhode Island Redand 2 of the Red Star hens, Linda(back) and Cinnamon(front))

Egg candling:

Mothers:

Caramel, Buff Orpington(the sister of the broody hen, whose eggs are also under the broody hen):

Cinnamon, Red Star(pic above)

Linda, Red Star(pic above)

Penny, Red Star(no pics)

Abby, Red Star(no pics)

*Family picture of Splash Cochin rooster(named Foghorn) and two Buff Orpington hens:
(left to right: Caramel, Foghorn, and Setherina)

Enjoy and watch for more updates on this thread!

-77horses

______________________________________________________

***UPDATE: After candling, 4 eggs are planned to hatch on week of 6/8***

 

[lux_interior]

 

[77horses]

6-1-09

Day 14


*OK everyone, today is day 14(or at least it's around day 14) And I'm so excited because just the thought that next week and the week after that, the eggs are going to hatch!

SOOO eggciting!!!

No updates. Still at mom's house, so not able to candle; dad doesn't like candling the eggs.

 

[77horses]

6-2-09
Day 15
(sorry forgot to post this yesterday!)

Not sure about egg development, but Setherina is still sitting on her eggs.

I will be able to candle them this weekend and will post updates on Sunday or Monday.
So far, so good!

GO BROODY HEN AND EGGS!!! GO GO GO!!!

 

[77horses]

6-3-09
Day 16


Hurray! Today is day 16 for the older eggs!

They are halfway through their teen days! They grow up so fast.

Not able to candle, so not sure on development. By now the embryos should be moving around and there should be a strong network of veins. I can't wait to candle this weekend and see what has changed since two weeks ago!

That's all for Day 16 for our broody hen and eggs. So far, so good!

 

[77horses]

6-4-09
Day 17


*Today is day 17 for some of our eggs!

Tomorrow evening will be the "moment of truth" when I candle the eggs!

I can't wait to candle them and see what has happened over 2 weeks!

Hopefully most of the eggs will be developing! I'm going to try and count the eggs, that way I can know how many are good out of how many are bad.
I will let everyone know the results on Sunday or Monday. Keep your fingers crossed that we have a lot of developers!

That's all for now. We are heading out of day 17 and into day 18! How did the days go by so fast!!??

Oh and I just realized something; if I'm accurate with what day some of the older eggs are on, then we may just have a chick or two hatch this weekend! But you guys won't know until I come back, which will be even harder for me than you think! LOL

That means I will have to wait all weekend before letting you guys know of any surprises.

But if I want to candle the eggs this bad, than it can wait another day.

Also some of the younger eggs were laid around two weekends ago(5/23) which was about 2 weeks ago, so I'm guessing that some are around day 14.

And the eggs that are older were around day 4-7 when I candled, so my guess on how old they are is actually pretty right!

 

[77horses]

6-5-09
Day 18


*Today is day 18 for our broody hen and her older eggs!

I will be candling this evening, and I can't wait to see what has developed!

Again, I will post the results on Sunday evening or Monday.

So you will have to wait patiently until I get back.

But anyway, not sure how they are doing right now, but if my research on candling eggs is correct, on day 18 the eggs should have a large dark mass, which is usually not moving much because it's too big to wiggle around in there, and air pocket should be fairly large. According to this link(http://lancaster.unl.edu/4H/embryology/EmbryoPhotos.shtml) the chick should have legs, feet, toes, beak, eyes, wings, and downy feathers.

Can't wait to candle them! Just a few more hours(2-3 to be exact) and I will know how much they have developed. The suspense is killing me!!!!

That's all for Day 18. Tomorrow is Day 19, and then we will be well on our way to hatching!

 

[77horses]

6-7-09

Today is day 19-20 for our eggs!

Over the weekend, I had a chance to candle all the eggs. I was both disappointed and happy about the results. I was disappointed because only 4 of the eggs were good.

But I was happy to find that those 4 eggs each had a lively chick in them and veins, and they looked like they were going to be hatching pretty soon!(probably sometime this week)

Also, some other bad news is that we found one of the eggs was stepped on and cracked and the baby chick died.

So, 4 or maybe 5 chicks are expected this week!

Sadly, I probably won't be able to watch them hatch because I'm at my mom's house, which is over an hour away from my dad's house(where the chickens are).

But at least I will hopefully see them the weekend after this week!

That's all for today. Now we are just waiting on 4 eggs to hatch this week.

 

[77horses]

What do we do with the clear eggs? Toss them out? They aren't leaking or anything and all there is is a dark yolk shadow in them and they are around day 14ish... I don't want them to explode on the eggs with chicks in them!

And I know that at day 18, you should stop turning the eggs. Does the broody hen know this? Won't the eggs still get turned if she shifts around or something?
Thanks!

 

[:D chicken]

COOL i cant wait to c pics of the chix hatches!