California - Northern

[casportpony]

Quote: What I meant was if one candles at day two, three, four or five and sees veining in all eggs there would be no reason to do it again at day 7, but that's just me. Of course if only one is candled at day 2,3,4 or 5, then one would want to candle everything on day 7.




-Kathy

 

[lawatt]

hello all -- update from here is that Blue the isbar rooster who got grabbed and/or shaken by a fox on thursday is amazingly still alive! goes up into the henhouse each night, comes back down each morning, but otherwise spends most of his time standing still with his head down. i gave them some black oill sunflower seeds just now, and he tried to nibble at them, but i'm not sure he's eating. tips of his comb are turning dark, which i think means poor circulation, yes?

he clearly was injured somehow by the fox (a big chunk of his feathers is missing from the back of his neck/shoulders), but i can't tell whether he might be slowly healing, or whether he's just suffering needlessly and i should put him down. poor guy.

 

[chickee]

Oh, I meant I'm going to candle the rest of the eggs on day 7.

You don't need to take them out to candle. I never do. Do just like you did with this one egg and shine your light through the top. Strong veining around the edges of the air cell means a healthy, living embryo. If veins disappear, it means the embryo has died. Better for the eggs not to handle them.

 

[casportpony]

Quote:
Yay!! I'm so excited. Only 3 more days until I can take them all out of the turner to candle. Should I expect all the viable eggs to look like the bantam egg in the picture? Should I mark the ones that don't have veins, then candle them again in a few days and throw them out if they still don't have veins?
I number my eggs and keep notes on them in an Excel spreadsheet. Since I tend to not trust my candling skills, I leave the eggs in until I'm 100% sure that they aren't viable and just make notes on blood rings, air cells, shell quality, weight, etc.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

hello all -- update from here is that Blue the isbar rooster who got grabbed and/or shaken by a fox on thursday is amazingly still alive! goes up into the henhouse each night, comes back down each morning, but otherwise spends most of his time standing still with his head down. i gave them some black oill sunflower seeds just now, and he tried to nibble at them, but i'm not sure he's eating. tips of his comb are turning dark, which i think means poor circulation, yes?

he clearly was injured somehow by the fox (a big chunk of his feathers is missing from the back of his neck/shoulders), but i can't tell whether he might be slowly healing, or whether he's just suffering needlessly and i should put him down. poor guy.

I'd give him a chance, just keep an eye on wounds and watch for maggots.

-Kathy

 

[chickee]

I number my eggs and keep notes on them in an Excel spreadsheet. Since I tend to not trust my candling skills, I leave the eggs in until I'm 100% sure that they aren't viable and just make notes on blood rings, air cells, shell quality, weight, etc.

-Kathy

Wow! I'm impressed! You really get into it!! That's great!

 

[SpringPeeper]

My incubator isn't even here, and I'm lurking in the hatch-alongs already thinking it'd be handy to be going through with a group of people all at the same stage as me. I don't even have any eggs I want to hatch in mind yet! I kind of like the idea of TJ eggs (and would like to have some White Leghorns) but setting refrigerated eggs of uncertain eggs in a brand new incubator for my first hatch since I was a kid (when I can only set about a half-dozen) seems like I'm setting myself up for disappointment. Maybe I'll have to wander over to Papa's Poultry's facebook and see if he has cuckoo Silkie eggs on special coming up.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: It's a great way to track possible problems with the fertility, bacterial infections and other abnormalities. Last year I had very low hatch rates, so I swore I would do things differently this year, and one of those things was keeping notes, the other was cold storage of eggs.

-Kathy

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Very pretty birds.  On this last picture, is that a side sprig on his comb?

Yes it is a side sprig towards the back

 

[Chickengirl1304]

What does this poop mean?