DECEMBER Hatch-A-Long!😊

[LadiesAndJane]

My friend sent my son some fertile eggs as a Christmas gift!! lots have detached air cells though and I'm terrified of incubating them because I always have such a poor hatch rate (all my incubators lay the eggs on the side). I think I read I can prop them up in an egg carton with holes cut in them for a week then lay them down and manually turn until lockdown.. does that sound right?

So many different opinions on how to incubate shipped eggs. How badly are they saddled? Are the air cells completely detached? Are the eggs fresh? I have successfully and unsuccessfully hatched shipped eggs, some have even had to cross the Pacific to get to me. (Alabama to Hawaii). I have had mixed results. Your plan sounds solid. Let the eggs rest pointy side down in the cartons for 24 hours before setting them in the incubator in the cartons, hole is important to give them air. Hand turn by just moving them from side to side gently in the cartons. Best just to let them be otherwise and not handle to much. If you candle, make sure to keep the eggs upright and not move them if possible. Candle after one week and see if air cells look better. If they still are detached, leave them in the cartons, if they look good, lay flat as planned. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[mcdze]

mine were hugely messed up .. i did my standard procedure with ebay eggs - straight from shipping box into the incubator with normal incubating procedure .. yes they do come out all wonky BUT .. most of them have survived for me out of several ebay batches .. this is this morning with my latest ebay mixed batch i did for a friend at work .. at least 7 pipped this morning day20 .. two have pipped questionably low in the butt end and are at risk with one way far into it ... my learned experience with that is theres a high probability they will suffocate if i dont open the pip up very carefully with something just a millimeter or two so i can see their beak and they can breathe .. then i'll leave them alone for all of today until i get home from work tomorrow and assess ..

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Welcome and please keep us updated!

 

[lazylizzy]

My eggs just arrived!

I bought six mystery eggs from Amazon because I thought my hen was broody... nope. So now I have 10 (four extra!!) that arrived a week earlier than expected and I'm trying to throw together an incubator. They are much larger than my last batch, I'm a little worried, haha. They arrived on Saturday, 11/28, and have been in their packaging until yesterday, 12/1.

So, my first question is, have they been sitting out for too long? I am keeping them in a room that stays between 68 and 70 Fahrenheit. BUT it got cooooooold overnight while they were shipping.

I took them out and inspected/numbered them, but then my incubator went all wonky. This is my second time building my own out of a styrofoam cooler/lightbulb/computer fan. Luckily I hadn't put them in yet! So now I am at work, but all I can think about is getting home to fix the 'bator and get those eggs started!

My 'bator is a styrofoam cooler with a lightbulb and a bowl of water, with an indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer. I have both the indoor and outdoor readers next to each other but they are more than 6 degree different...

My second question is, should I stick my candy thermometer (I know it's accurate) in there to see which is reading correctly or replace it? I have no idea how to calibrate it, and the instructions are silent on calibration.

Also I was going with still air because I live in the Midwest and my house is soooo dry right now, but the notion of hot or cool pockets has made me nervous. I called a computer repair place and they gave me a few small fans from their recycle bins - WIN!

Here is a pic of my eggs, I'll take some with a reference quarter and some pics of the 'bator when I get home.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

My eggs just arrived!

I bought six mystery eggs from Amazon because I thought my hen was broody... nope. So now I have 10 (four extra!!) that arrived a week earlier than expected and I'm trying to throw together an incubator. They are much larger than my last batch, I'm a little worried, haha. They arrived on Saturday, 11/28, and have been in their packaging until yesterday, 12/1.

So, my first question is, have they been sitting out for too long? I am keeping them in a room that stays between 68 and 70 Fahrenheit. BUT it got cooooooold overnight while they were shipping.

I took them out and inspected/numbered them, but then my incubator went all wonky. This is my second time building my own out of a styrofoam cooler/lightbulb/computer fan. Luckily I hadn't put them in yet! So now I am at work, but all I can think about is getting home to fix the 'bator and get those eggs started!

My 'bator is a styrofoam cooler with a lightbulb and a bowl of water, with an indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer. I have both the indoor and outdoor readers next to each other but they are more than 6 degree different...

My second question is, should I stick my candy thermometer (I know it's accurate) in there to see which is reading correctly or replace it? I have no idea how to calibrate it, and the instructions are silent on calibration.

Also I was going with still air because I live in the Midwest and my house is soooo dry right now, but the notion of hot or cool pockets has made me nervous. I called a computer repair place and they gave me a few small fans from their recycle bins - WIN!

Here is a pic of my eggs, I'll take some with a reference quarter and some pics of the 'bator when I get home.

Welcome to the hatch-a-long!
Pretty eggs! Going to be fun figuring out what they are when they hatch! I would advise sitting them up right in an egg carton pointy side down while you get your incubator ready. Better they are a bit cold then too warm in the meantime.

Yes, you can use your accurate candy thermometer to check your thermometer readings. I would recommend calibrating your hygrometer with the salt in a bag method.
Good luck, sorry I am not much help with homemade incubators. My daughter and I made one out of a cooler many years ago. We ended up buying an incubator about halfway through the process as we could not get the temp or humidity accurate. Many though here have successfully hatched eggs using them though!

 

[mcdze]

couple hours later went out to get the girls situated and coop cleaned for the day and when i came back one was out .. we'll call it 'Goldie' lol .. note the trace of blood on the one pip i opened up in the butt end, felt bad but i feel it had to be done .. maybe it will make it i hope ..

 

[Xouie]

I’m jealous everyone can hatch lol I just need 1 egg just as long as it’s from a chicken or quail, it’s fertile!

If you weren’t 3000 miles away I’d drive over some quail eggs to ease your suffering. Sorry!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

couple hours later went out to get the girls situated and coop cleaned for the day and when i came back one was out .. we'll call it 'Goldie' lol .. note the trace of blood on the one pip i opened up in the butt end, felt bad but i feel it had to be done .. maybe it will make it i hope ..

Congratulations! Love her color! Do you know what breed she is?

 

[seeingreen]

day 20 there’s exactly one pip and the chick has been chirping on and off but no movement from any of the others. I was really hoping for a slow mo explosion of movement.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

day 20 there’s exactly one pip and the chick has been chirping on and off but no movement from any of the others. I was really hoping for a slow mo explosion of movement.

I have had both experiences! Silkies I hatched this past Spring popped out one after another like popcorn, some at the same time! Marans were painfully slow, hours and hours between eggs.