Christmas hatch! Who's in?

[Wegs813]

My eggs arrived this am!!

I will be setting them tomorrow morning. I'm soo excited.

 

[bikechick]

I'm in! I set my eggs Dec 1st & 2nd for that is just how things came together, but that's OK for Xmas Eve & Day can be a bit crazy.
I set 35 Black Copper Marans eggs from two different breeders/lines. I'm keeping them seperate until I can band them.
I'm currently making a hatcher with a big viewing window so my kids can watch the action. Our Hovabator has such small windows it's too hard to watch the action.
Tonight or tomorrow night I will do the first week candling. I hope to find a stronger flashlight ASAP to see thru those dark brown eggs.
I can't believe I am following another thread on this forum.

A part time job.

Here are my soon-to-be fuzzy butts

 

[Lotsapaints]

Beautiful eggs bikechick sending you great hatch vibes keep your camera charged

 

[nuts4chickens]

Oooo I am so eggcited! Hope everybody has a good hatch! I candled last night because I am very impatient and I have veining in a lot of them! A lot of my Dutch eggs look like they are infertile but that's ok- I had 37 eggs crammed in my bator so that makes it a little more comfy in there. I went ahead and pulled three out last night but I'm pretty sure I have 3 or 4 more infertile or nondeveloping ones. Its still too early to really tell.

Mustang- that is a really neat candling pic! We wanted to hatch ducks for xmas but we've never done ducks before and decided to do that for Easter instead.

Good luck to everyone! This is the most eggciting hatch- my kids will be waiting for Santa AND watching babies hatch (hopefully)!

 

[nuts4chickens]

Hello everyone! How's everyone doing? Has anyone candled yet?

I candled again this morning and pulled 5 more Dutch eggs. I guess my rooster isn't feeling the love vibe in these frigid temps! I have 5 more Dutch left.

All 10 of the bantam crele wyandottes are good. Yay! Those were some expensive eggs, so I'm hoping it keeps going well for them!

Of the bantam cochins, I discovered 1 was a double yolker! However, I am pretty sure it has quit.I can't ever tell what is a double yolker when the eggs aren't mine. I just thought it was a big egg. Guess I'm a doofus!

I have one other that I believe is a quitter, but I have left both eggs in for right now. I will candle again in a few days so I can get them out before they explode, if that is the case.

All 3 buff orpingtons are good.

So now I am down to 29 eggs! Still quite a lot! Shwew! 12 and 13 more days left! Bantams due to hatch LATE 12/23 and BO's due to hatch xmas eve evening.

Its getting close!

 

[mustangluvrjen]

Candled my 5 duck eggs last night(day14) and saw tiny wenzy webed feet kick about

I actually had to break down and buy an incubator. Our homemade one temps starting flucating like mad when the outside temps started to drop below 40'F

...I couldn't stomach it any more. So off I went to TSC and got a still air bator and placed my fan in w/ eggs once temp was stablized. Temp hasn't move out of the 99 range....whew Come on duckies

 

[bikechick]

I candled(7 day) all the eggs Wed and recandled the shipped eggs agiain last night. I apparently needed to let the shipped eggs sit longer before I put them in the bator for I'm not sure if any are developing.

I pulled the really clear ones out, but kept a few in just in case. Of course I am nervous about an explosion. All 24 eggs that I picked up locally look great!

I started working on the hatcher today. I'm making one out of an old ice-chest. I have everything I need except for the transformer for the computer fan(120v to 12v) and tubing to fit in the drainage hole. I cut two holes out for the viewing windows. Tomorrow I will insulate the openings and caulk the picture frame glass over the holes. I will then start installing and wiring the bulb and thermostat. I hope this works for I want my kids (and me) to watch the chicks hatch.

I can not wait to see what I get from the Black Copper Marans eggs. Lots o hens, please.

How is everybody else doing?

 

[nuts4chickens]

Bikechic- you should post pics of your hatcher when you are done! That sounds really neat! I wish I was electronically inclined enough to build something like that!

 

[greeneacre]

Candled last night and glad I did I was supposed to go out for the evening and also didn't. My bulb burned out and the temp was down to 72 degrees. Candled at 5:30 and I know that the bulb was working at 2 pm. Hope they do ok. Out of 9 Blue Cochin eggs 2 look like they are clear and 3 Black Copper Marans eggs one looks clear. I in my first two hatches I ended up leaving the clear in just in case and will do so until next week. The rest look like they are developing. My hatch date will be the 27th unless the period of low temp stretches it out.

 

[dwegg]

I am in day 9 and have not candled any of my eggs yet...I am new and this is my first time..I think I am too scared to handle the eggs and don't know what I am looking for...I did read the thread on candling with all the pics...

ok so I just grabbed one out and put a flashlight under it...it was mostly dark and I couldn't see much...it did have an air pocket..I think? and then I quickly put it back in...