Early Christmas present

[Garden Peas]

Hey wouldn't that make a cute name?

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

We have about 1 1/2 inches of brand new snow in the backyard this evening...

And we also have number 17

Congrats, how many fertile so far?

 

[Garden Peas]

Congrats, how many fertile so far?

Too soon to be able to say, since she is still laying, but I currently have 10 eggs in the incubator... Will be interesting if I can get ANY of them to hatch. Have only candled four of these ten, but so far, each that I have candled that has been laid since the end of December has been fertile. The first seven eggs (of the seventeen total eggs so far) were clear.

Since I actually observed mating activity last weekend, I don't have any reason to believe that newer eggs would stop being fertile

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Too soon to be able to say, since she is still laying, but I currently have 10 eggs in the incubator... Will be interesting if I can get ANY of them to hatch. Have only candled four of these ten, but so far, each that I have candled that has been laid since the end of December has been fertile. The first seven eggs (of the seventeen total eggs so far) were clear.

Since I actually observed mating activity last weekend, I don't have any reason to believe that newer eggs would stop being fertile

That's great, waiting for winter baby pics

 

[twhjmm]

Any hatching eggs for sale? I am in Northwest fl and my peas seem to be getting close to mating. My 2 year old male jumped my older peahen yesterday but she escaped him anybody I the southeast have any hatching eggs? I have a broody buff orpington.

 

[Garden Peas]

Gosh, not me... mine are all in the incubator, where I stare at them in shock when I go in to turn them. We are a trifle out of season ;-)

Should be lots available by May if you ask around in the spring. There's plenty of folks breeding in Florida... Should be easy to find them close to home

 

[Garden Peas]

Has anyone tried disinfecting pea eggs before incubation?

I candled lots of the eggs last night, and I am pretty sure I've got some quitters, as well as some that are progressing. Despite OCD levels of hand washing before handling/turning eggs, I strongly suspect bacterial contamination as the cause for quitting. All that reading I was doing on disinfection and bacteria counts a couple weeks ago has me thinking that may have been what the problem was last summer, also.

Apparently there are a number of ways to do it... I posted some of them when I was looking it all up.

Now my question is, has anyone here among the pea-brained ever actually tried it? I'm trying to decide which technique to try first, and while the hen is still laying, there's not a "limitless" supply of eggs, so I'm not wanting to go completely trial and error with pea eggs. Even if you only tried it with chicken eggs, or some other bird species, I'd really like to hear how it went, and what method you used.

Thanks very much!

 

[KsKingBee]

After reading your posts a couple of weeks ago I thought that it was worth a try especially after having so many quitters last year. I am also going to use a lot of broody chickens to begin the process, bring inside for finishing in the incubator. I think that a disinfecting after being under a broody and going into the inc is a smart idea.

 

[DylansMom]

Has anyone tried disinfecting pea eggs before incubation?

I candled lots of the eggs last night, and I am pretty sure I've got some quitters, as well as some that are progressing. Despite OCD levels of hand washing before handling/turning eggs, I strongly suspect bacterial contamination as the cause for quitting. All that reading I was doing on disinfection and bacteria counts a couple weeks ago has me thinking that may have been what the problem was last summer, also.

Apparently there are a number of ways to do it... I posted some of them when I was looking it all up.

Now my question is, has anyone here among the pea-brained ever actually tried it? I'm trying to decide which technique to try first, and while the hen is still laying, there's not a "limitless" supply of eggs, so I'm not wanting to go completely trial and error with pea eggs. Even if you only tried it with chicken eggs, or some other bird species, I'd really like to hear how it went, and what method you used.

Thanks very much!

What about the Egg wipes they sell at TSC? They recommend using them to clean eggs for eating saying that water can open the pores in the egg shell and allow bacteria in if the temp is too warm. The egg wipes will apparently still remove the "bloom" but at the same temp as the eggs will not affect the pores. Or maybe that's just a load of you know what.

I believe they simply list "surfactants" as the ingredient in the wipes.

Much as I hate to admit it, I hardly ever wash my hands before turning or candling eggs. I had a lot of shipped eggs quit on me last year, but mine were mostly okay, the year before my hatch rate was fantastic, like 3 quitters all year. I can only imagine the bacteria level under a hen who has scratched a nest out of the dirt, so I tend to think we get a little too neurotic about this.

 

[zazouse]

I never wash my eggs i incubate , i may wipe them off if they got some poo stuck to them and i have never had a hatching problem, heck my guineas, geese, ducks,chickens don't wash their eggs and they have a very high hatch rate no quitters unless they get rotated in and out of the nest, so i figured if they don't need to wash them than neither do i, there is a film on the egg to protect the embryo so why take a chance and wash that off and allow the bacteria to enter

Perhaps some of the hatching problems folks have beside the scrambled eggs from shipping is due tithe fact that the eggs have been washed

I have seen eggs hatch just fine in a hens nest after an egg has gotten broken on the others so that tells me to leave them alone and let that membrane do what it is suppose to.