few questions new to incubating(:

[chicken head34]

I got my first egg from my phoenix hen today!!!

i had a few questions about incubating......i dont have a incubator yet but.. when do you put the eggs in the incubator???? as soon as u see them??? and someone told me that if a eggs cold then the chick already died, is that true??? please write any other tips on incubating, im new to it!

 

[PepsNick]

You can store eggs after they're layed for up to two weeks, but preferably 6 days. No less than 12 hours. I let the incubator run for one day to make sure it's going steady, and wait two days after the eggs are layed to put them in. You might want to put all the eggs in at once so that you have the same hatch date. Store the eggs in a warm, temperature controled room. But remember warm, not hot.

 

[PepsNick]

But you know that this egg isn't fertilized unless you have a roo, right? Candle the egg if you have a roo, aka hold it to a bright flash light and look for an embryo in about four days after you've put them in the bator.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What if I give you a link about incubating? If you read this and still have questions, I'll try to answer if I can.

Texas A&M Incubation site
http://gallus.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/b6092.pdf

 

[chicken head34]

thanx for the help!

and yes i have a roo but i never seen them mate before.... idk??? okay so let me try and understand!(srry a little slow lol ) okay so if i keep the egg i have now in a warm area and then move it to an incubator in two days it might hatch?

 

[PepsNick]

Quote:
No. It's not fertile until you see the roo mate the hen... about 2-4 days after that the eggs will start to become fertile for about 10-12 days. But you have to leave it in the incubator, it will hatch anywhere from from day 18-day 25ish. And you place them in an automatic egg turner in the incubator, unless you turn the eggs yourself. Do some reading up on that!

 

[TigerLilly]

Quote:
I was just thinking about reading up on incubating my own eggs & found this thread. The link you posted makes for great reading! I've had chickens now for about 6 months, but bought all of them at about the ages of 4-6 mos & up. Dont have any experience with baby chicks (& still not sure I want to to it--yet), but at least I know where to get my research reading in. Thanks!

ETA: yes, I have a rooster & at this point, he seems to be well-versed in 'fertilizing eggs.'

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
You know when the roo gets behind the hen and shakes his feathers for all of 2 seconds? They mated.

 

[mustangluvrjen]

ok since we are asking incubation questions I have one. Do I calculate the hatch date from day the I set eggs in the bator or the first 24hr cycle?

Example; I have 6 Golden 300 duck eggs that I set in bator Saturday afternoon/evening will the hatch date be the 24th or 25th.

I'm probably over analyizing this and just making something so" plan as day" hard...

 

[howeser]

As far as I understand it, for chickens, it is 21 twenty four hour periods @ 99.5 internal egg temp. If the internal egg temp is hotter than 99.5 then they hatch sooner... colder, later. I think that duck eggs take 28 days for some species and 34 for others.