California - Northern

[PetRock]

I would use wax on the hole. You'll do fine! Good luck with your hatch!

Thanks! Should I put some oxine on the hole before putting on the melted wax?

 

[ronott1]

I could use some advice! I was not planning on purchasing shipped eggs again at least not this year after my last shipped eggs bad hatch experience. But RoPo put up some of her BBS Langshan eggs up for sale! I've had some of her birds and 2 of my favorite roosters were from her line. I have a plethora of black Langshan chicks mostly from the trio from Sherry Parker but I really love the blues and splash. Anyway, I bought the eggs and they arrived this afternoon. Now, how do you recommend that I set them for hatch? I unpacked them and have them sitting large end up. I started reading the shipped egg thread but I don't have time to read over 200 pages to make sure I didn't miss anything. Ron, has anything changed in what you recommend since the first 23 pages of that thread? Also, I have 5 eggs that have poop on them and 1 egg with a tiny hole in the shell. Should I clean the dirty ones or dip them in oxine? I was planning on putting super glue on the hole. Would wax work better? Should I put oxine on the spot first? I've hatched out over 200 chicks this year so it is silly to be so nervous about these shipped eggs but I am. I just want to give them the best chance of hatching that I can!

I hope they hatch for you!

They should rest long enough to come to room temperature. Depending on how long the eggs were collected and the shipping time, the eggs can be well over 5 days old which is bad for shipped eggs. An egg is a closed system and only has so much energy in it. Some of that energy will need to be used to repair the damage from shipping.

I would wash them with activated oxine. You never know if the flock was sick or not. The eggs need to be treated very gently and not candled where they are picked up. Gently candling from the big end is ok.

Turning is debated now. Some say turning needs to start right away or you will kill all of the eggs. Others still say to let them rest big end up perfectly straight for up to several days. The up part is very important. All shipped eggs should be set up and not on their sides for both incubation and lockdown. Candle them to look for cracks and to check the air cell. If the air cell is detached, the best case scenario is that 30% of them will hatch. With those you need to let them rest and check after a couple of days to see if the air cell has re attached.

This can work for detached air cells:

1. Place big end up, perfectly straight.
2. Twist the egg 180 degrees each day.
3. check at two days to see if the air cell has re attached and if so start the turner.
4. Check again at day 4
5. Start the turner on day 5 no matter what the condition of the air cell.

If I find eggs with cracks or holes I toss them(or feed them to the chickens scrambled). If I were to repair them, I would use finger nail polish.

Shipped eggs will have a lower hatch rate. Doing the above things can help increase the hatch rate but it is still be lower than if the eggs had not been shipped.

 

[AmyPaperlady]

I resisted the muscovies at the feed store--they had a black-and-white 2 year old drake, and a fawn (? 2 shades of light brown) female. Of course, the main reason I was able to resist was the fact that, starting Saturday, I'll be in a fireworks booth for a week...

Considering the snail damage in the greenhouse, convincing my husband that we need muscovies may not be that hard

The timing just sucks right now, is all.

 

[PetRock]

I hope they hatch for you!

They should rest long enough to come to room temperature. Depending on how long the eggs were collected and the shipping time, the eggs can be well over 5 days old which is bad for shipped eggs. An egg is a closed system and only has so much energy in it. Some of that energy will need to be used to repair the damage from shipping.

I would wash them with activated oxine. You never know if the flock was sick or not. The eggs need to be treated very gently and not candled where they are picked up. Gently candling from the big end is ok.

Turning is debated now. Some say turning needs to start right away or you will kill all of the eggs. Others still say to let them rest big end up perfectly straight for up to several days. The up part is very important. All shipped eggs should be set up and not on their sides for both incubation and lockdown. Candle them to look for cracks and to check the air cell. If the air cell is detached, the best case scenario is that 30% of them will hatch. With those you need to let them rest and check after a couple of days to see if the air cell has re attached.

This can work for detached air cells:

1. Place big end up, perfectly straight.
2. Twist the egg 180 degrees each day.
3. check at two days to see if the air cell has re attached and if so start the turner.
4. Check again at day 4
5. Start the turner on day 5 no matter what the condition of the air cell.

If I find eggs with cracks or holes I toss them(or feed them to the chickens scrambled). If I were to repair them, I would use finger nail polish.

Shipped eggs will have a lower hatch rate. Doing the above things can help increase the hatch rate but it is still be lower than if the eggs had not been shipped.

When you say wash the eggs, do you mean gently wipe them? Only 5 of them have stuff stuck on them. Should I just dip the rest in a water oxine solution or straight oxine?

 

[ronott1]

When you say wash the eggs, do you mean gently wipe them? Only 5 of them have stuff stuck on them. Should I just dip the rest in a water oxine solution or straight oxine?

Yes, dip the others and gently wipe the gunk off of the others. Let them dry completely before putting them into the incubator. Watch them carefully for weeping. I would check them each day.

I have some ebay eggs to candle today. I have some shipped eggs this year too. The air cells seemed fine so I am hopeful.

I need to turn the coll down cycle on too....

 

[tommysgirl]

She looks a lot like my blue Langshans only mine have longer legs. Maybe you need a blue Langshan pullet, Barbara!

I am pretty sure there is no "Maybe" about it.

And because everyone needs a friend...

 

[caychris]

I am pretty sure there is no "Maybe" about it.

And because everyone needs a friend...

And apparently a dealer (In exotic chickens)

 

[PetRock]

I am pretty sure there is no "Maybe" about it.

And because everyone needs a friend...

And apparently a dealer (In exotic chickens)

x 2!!!

 

[Kaylish]

@Kaylish I know that at some point before this broody season is over...I have a second one on round 2 now...that I will be driving up to Nor Cal chickens to get some of her bantam eggs and possibly others so I will be good for the Woodland or Williams North segment...just don't know when yet but I will keep you posted.

That would be awesome! Thanx!

That hen was a freebie from a friend of mine. I suspected she was a cochin/cochin mix of some sort. She died a few months ago from being egg bound. I dont' have any like her or related to her, unfortunately.

She's really pretty! my blue cochin looks like she's going to be darker but she's super sweet.

 

[PGRanch]

She looks a lot like my blue Langshans only mine have longer legs. Maybe you need a blue Langshan pullet, Barbara!

I do believe that was a guess of her breed but something was off about her.