Day 1 - Incubating with the kids!

[lmdengler]

Well - we are on our way with 12 Maran eggs (I traveled 137 miles to fetch) and 12 "Silver-Laced Heinz" eggs (I traveled out the back door to fetch).

What is a "Silver Laced Heinz" egg you ask???? That is a Bob (who is a Silver Laced Orphington) and "God Knows the Rest" egg.

I am very excited. But I have to say I my excitement is nothing compared to my friend's 3 year old - who is extremely excited for baby chicks. Everyone pray with me that we get at lease ONE baby chick 21 days from now.

 

[JaeG]

It's always nerve wracking. Hopefully you'll be able to candle Bob's eggs and show your friends little one the baby chicks growing inside (I love candling)! That's always so exciting. Good luck!

 

[happyhens1972]

It's wonderful sharing incubation with children. My neighbour's 8 year old girl came round to watch me candle at day 7 and was so excited to see the little 'tadpole' wriggling around in there! So was I, I might add! Lol! Even more so when I got 14 out of 15 tadpoles! xxx

I'm on day 16 now so they'll be hatching at the weekend, when the little girl will be back to watch the action x

 

[Coturnix Quail]

I really like this article:

http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/resources/egg_to_chick/development.html

Is it your first time incubating eggs? Good luck!

 

[lmdengler]

Yes it is. There is so much to be worried about! What kind of candler should I buy? Will it hurt the eggs "temp wise" if I take them out to candle them?

 

[lmdengler]

It's wonderful sharing incubation with children. My neighbour's 8 year old girl came round to watch me candle at day 7 and was so excited to see the little 'tadpole' wriggling around in there! So was I, I might add! Lol! Even more so when I got 14 out of 15 tadpoles! xxx

I'm on day 16 now so they'll be hatching at the weekend, when the little girl will be back to watch the action x

We are very excited. We are also hoping that TSC had chicks for sale in 21 days in the event nothing hatches!! LOL

 

[JaeG]

Yes it is. There is so much to be worried about! What kind of candler should I buy? Will it hurt the eggs "temp wise" if I take them out to candle them?

Not at all. Your Maran eggs will probably be too hard to see into but you should be able to check their air cells at least (which is important to make sure they are tracking right). I candle tiny little Button quail eggs (far more than I should) and they aren't affected in the least. A strong light will work - hopefully someone can give you some pointers there as I have teeny lights for my teeny quail egg.

 

[happyhens1972]

Yes it is. There is so much to be worried about! What kind of candler should I buy? Will it hurt the eggs "temp wise" if I take them out to candle them?

I use a Brinsea Ovaview and it's fabulous....gives a really clear view of what's going on in there...but it's not cheap...about $40 to $50. They do an even more expensive one that has a scope on it....it covers over the egg and the lamp and magnifies what you are looking at to give a better view. You can attach a webcam to it too, to film what's going on. There are loads of lower budget ones, though, on Amazon and Ebay but if you go down that line, I would say, try and get one where the area you place against the egg is rubberised and of a decent size.....at least an inch or so. Some of them are more like a pen torch and I found these to be awkward to use and they gave a poor view.

We are very excited. We are also hoping that TSC had chicks for sale in 21 days in the event nothing hatches!! LOL

Hopefully you won't need to go down that road, eh? What incubator are you using? x

 

[lmdengler]

My brother told me to get the Little Giant one with the fan and automatic turner. So - me being the sheep that I am - that's what I got!

 

[lmdengler]

I use a Brinsea Ovaview and it's fabulous....gives a really clear view of what's going on in there...but it's not cheap...about $40 to $50. They do an even more expensive one that has a scope on it....it covers over the egg and the lamp and magnifies what you are looking at to give a better view. You can attach a webcam to it too, to film what's going on. There are loads of lower budget ones, though, on Amazon and Ebay but if you go down that line, I would say, try and get one where the area you place against the egg is rubberised and of a decent size.....at least an inch or so. Some of them are more like a pen torch and I found these to be awkward to use and they gave a poor view.



Hopefully you won't need to go down that road, eh? What incubator are you using? x

Yeah - that's probably a little more than I can spend right now. I spent $139 on the incubator, $60 on eggs, $30 on gas to get the eggs - these are very expensive chicks!