Even more eggs in the bator. UPDATE Bev Davis eggs

[MaransGuy]

I was not even aware that Bev was working with the cuckoos. My copper blacks came from her and they are very nice birds, certainly worth the wait. My best hatch from Bev was 5 out of 18. Others have had as many as 13 out of 16. I have found that hatching marans is a bit different than hatching typical eggs, even the ones I set from my own birds. They do not dry down as quickly and can tend to have problems if they are not kept a bit drier. I believe that the extra layer of pigment somehow causes this. Incubating with other breeds can be a challenge and even though I have done it (even got a few in there now with some sebrights and pheasants) it is a real juggling act. I always prefer to set them alone. The only reason I am even dealing with it now is because it appears that I may have 5 roos out of 7 chicks from my last hatch.

The other thing to keep in mind is what shipping does to them. I bought some BLRW eggs from a good breeder that lives only one state away. She shipped 16 eggs, 11 developed to around day 18, and then 5 hatched out. I then ordered a second batch, received 16 eggs, 5 developed until around day 10 and I had a single chick hatch. When you ship eggs you just never know. During both of those settings I had eggs from different hens, both my own, and had 100% hatch rates. Was it the breeder's fault? - No. It is something that we all risk when dealing with shipped eggs.

Richard

 

[Arklady]

Telling a breeder about a zero hatch is not a bad thing, its about telling the breeder how many BLANKS there are. That way they know fertility is down. It is my belief that Marans suffer from a WEAK air cell seat. There are others breeds that have that issue as well. Bev sends eggs all over but when fertility falls its something they need to know about.

When doing as much breeding as she has done low fertility can be a problem and needs to be addressed. I send my eggs in a paper carton for eggs I then stuff the remaining area with pine chips. The last dozen eggs I sold out of 12 eggs 12 arrived whole and 8 fully hatched. Bev mailed her eggs to me all wrapped in bubble wrap which COULD have caused smothering of the egg. I am not sure. It would depend on many people stepping up and saying I got this many out of this many eggs and they were bubble wrapped.

I know for a fact I do not have an ideal hatchery but it is something I cannot reconcile right now. Still I average about 50% which means out of 15 eggs she sent me I should have gotten 7 at least.

Arklady

 

[MaransGuy]

My main point is that there is no way to tell if eggs are fertile or not when they are shipped. Shipped eggs that show no signs of development does not mean that they are not fertile. It can mean that they are infertile and it can also mean that the germ was damaged during shipping, even if the air cell is in good shape. Regarding the loosened air cells, I have hatched eggs in that condition and have not found it to be more likely in a marans egg than any other breed. On that last batch of BLRW eggs I received, 11 out of 15 never showed signs of development. I would find it next to impossible to believe that it was infertility. I have also shipped eggs where the person had what appeared to be clears yet eggs I set at the same time had 100% fertility. Same hens, same week.

Richard

 

[mel58]

wow, ray valentine sent me eggs from florida to indiana in feb and I still had 25% hatch rate and it was only my second try at hatching. he doesn't have the dark eggs she has, however.

 

[ChickNLittle]

Hey Marans

I am glad to hear that some clears hatch and it don't matter whether the air cell is loose or not. I have tossed out many of eggs since April thinking they were no good because it appeared to have a broken air cell or something. (Loose, watery, whatever).
I now have about 20 silkie eggs in the bator. Some due to hatch on the 19th and some due to hatch on the twenty fifth. I checked them yesterday, and again some of them appeared to have loose or flimsy air cells. But I said, heck no....and I left them in there to see if they would hatch anyway. I have lost soooo many silkie eggs (or so I was thinking anyway). I didn't think I would have hatch any silkies. This is my first year on silkies. I got some from Marie and 7 did hatch. So I'm hoping for a good hatch this time. At least 10. Everybody pray for me and my eggs.

 

[ginasmarans]

I may live to regret it,but I don't discard any egg until after day 14 unless it is weeping or has a bacterial ring. I only discard after day 14 if they are definatly clear.

 

[Katy]

It's day 21 for my Wheaten Marans from Bev. Out of 12 eggs that made it to the hatcher I've got one out and 5 more pips. I'll be happy with that if they finish hatching......maybe more will pip yet too.

 

[hcammack]

WOW good luck with all of these expensive eggs hatching around here!

Henry

 

[Katy]

I was not a happy camper yesterday because I miscounted and thought yesterday was day 21 and that they were setting there doing nothing!! Finally in the evening I had a pip so I went back and counted....sure enough today is day 21. Maybe I should go back to school and learn to count!!