Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[familypendragon]

a hen squats and drops her egg in a clutch. My eggs travel via the usps

LOL! Yeah, some of mine came via the USPS stork though the majority are my barnyard mutts. I am excited to see what they look like though. nearly all are sired by my Cuckoo Marans so I think they will all have the Cuckoo Barring if I understand right. I am particularly excited by those that will be my Marans/Ameraucana crosses - olive eggers And of course I am trying not to be too hopeful about the USPS handled Welsummer eggs (although I am secretly hoping to defy the odds and have a great hatch!).

 

[loveourbirds]

Quote: im one of the other style hatchers, i agree with ozexpat on messing with a thermostat; it is a chick killer. more so because you end up baking the chicks. a little cooler temps for a few hours wont affect a hatch much at all. the opening the door thing is an old timer's method for increased ventilation, there is a lot of proof that the chicks do excersize more because of the cool blast. now with ozexpat's eggs he probably sets them on end to help fix displaced air cells from hauling - this is an issue i normally dont have because i hatch my own eggs. anything i have shipped in is set on end, i personally have not had any luck putting shipped eggs under a broody.

hatching is something like raising chickens, what works for me will not always work for you. the whole temp and humidity rules are more of a place to start and not the gold standard. i am at the point where i cant come close to telling you how many hatches i have had, or even how many chicks i have hatched. but i can tell you there is always something to learn from someone else. im envious of ozexpat's incubator, i hope to build one soon. since i have been on BYC i have probably passed out SallySunshine's articles well over 100 times. i also talk to Sumi a lot. she is great at narrowing down problems and getting people started.

 

[familypendragon]

Oh and based on your recommendation - I will let the boys see me candle 1 or 2 only and then wait till day 10. Mostly because I promised them. I was looking at this thread again too https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation and I can see how it would be so much more obvious telling a dud from a viable egg at 10 days or even 12 days. How many days in do you begin worrying about the "exploding egg" if one is non-fertile?

 

[NestingHillsSC]

what a day. so glad it is almost over. Neighbor's dog nearly had a chick dinner and dh nearly bagged the neighbor's dog. If it comes sniffing around again it is going to be drug back to the neighbor with a bullet in its head. Yep. that kinda day.

I don't blame you. If a dog got into my chickens, they would never see it again. Same with anything else.

 

[lizanne]

sally

i just bid on some ayam cemani eggs in ny.

if i win can i ship them to you? the adults birds sell for 1000s/pr

you can give me next generation eggs

I've been wanting some of those so bad!! They have several people selling eggs in the UK, but hardly any in the US.

 

[lizanne]

1st of the ten commandments of incubating

Thou shalt not ++++ with the thermostat.

It is normal to have fluctuation in a home style incubator. The thermostat has to deal with poor insulation, room temp variability, kids peeking when mom is not looking and a million other things. The average or sustained temp in the bator is the vital statistic.

If the temp is up assess room for changes first. then wait a few hours to see what happens.

In my narrow mind, playing yo-yo with the controller on a thermostat is a chick killer.

2nd commandment

Thou shalt not over candle

Apart from introducing bacteria to the eggs, the handling of eggs during candling can damage microscopic networks of vessels and fibers inside the egg.

I am moving to a no candle til day 10 rule. candling on day 5 or 7 gives you maybees that just require recandling.

but thats just me...

I've been wondering about the candling. I have to touch the eggs to turn them (no turner). How does candling them (I don't flip them over, just shine the light on top, down through the air cell) hurt them more than just turning?

 

[kaybee123]

I've been wondering about the candling.  I have to touch the eggs to turn them (no turner).  How does candling them (I don't flip them over, just shine the light on top, down through the air cell) hurt them more than just turning?

On shipped eggs, many do not turn the first 5-7 days.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Shoulda pmed this
Sally What was your final head count on pups?
My Mastiff Sophie is in heat.Had her AIed b/c the male buba is too lazy Hope it works hasnt in the last 2 heats and they have such great pups too
Little over a Yearold 200 lbs! and one is 35 " at the shoulder....... huge!
well i get carried away.My house is all about dogs and chickens.
Kids all grown and gone but for one teen grand daughter

Holy molasses! 200 lbs! omgawd! How do you take him to the vet!!! LOL!!!

Daisy had 6 pups! I love Debbies site for anything puppy/whelping.... http://debbiejensen.com/

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: isn't that how it always goes???

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Put together a grow out area in my juvenile coop today. Its possible (though unlikely) I will have 66 chicks all hatching or arriving in the span of a week. Hoping this will work, LOL! Still need to add bedding, feed etc. So far my cream legbar and blue isbar chicks think its theirs, LOL!

awesome! is that a stretcher on top!