First Time Hatching Anyone With Me??

[HathawayHens]

No news to report yet... the waiting is the hardest part!!!

Lockdown is taking longer than the whole rest of the incuabation!!!

Hurry babies, come out and play!!

 

[latebloomer]

can't wait to see the pictures

 

[KZ]

Kathryn, when are you doing lockdown?

What time of day on the 18th did you put your eggs in the incubator? I was thinking Tuesday evening I would lock it down and try to get some more humidity in there. I SOOOO hope I get a few chicks, at least.

Since all my eggs are so dark, all I can see is a dark blob inside, so I have given up looking. I really don't know what to expect as far as hatch rate. The cool thing is, by next week this time, I should at least know the answer to that question - I will either have chicks or not.

 

[Kathryn4629]

Quote:
I am going to candle again today, and try to take some pictures

Its pretty hard to hold the egg and take a picture at the same time. I am going to see if I can get a friend to came over and help me

 

[Kathryn4629]

Quote:
At first I was thinking lockdown would be on tuesday, but after reading more I guess you are not supposed to count the first day

I put the eggs in at about 12:00 pm on the 18th. So am still debating tues or weds for lock down, maybe I will just do it tuesday night after I get off work (about 12:00am)

I am sooo glad that I didn't start with dark egg after you guys saying you can't see anything!! I dont think I could stand not knowing.

 

[youngbiddy]

I can see that the dark(er) area of the egg is getting larger when I candle my Marans, but that's it. I can faintly see some veins in my own Red Star cross, so that feels gooooooooood. It's so encouraging to see definite signs of life.

(you should have seen me chasing that emoticon back and forth with my cursor trying to click on it)

 

[KZ]

Quote:
When are your eggs due to hatch? Have you ever hatched Marans before?

 

[youngbiddy]

I put them in about 3 minutes after last Tuesday started, so the 21st. It's my first hatch and most of them are shipped eggs. These will be my first Marans, I can't wait!
I've got a mixed flock of purebreds I keep for eggs; I raised them from day-old chicks from My Pet Chicken.

 

[texaschickmom]

Quote:
At first I was thinking lockdown would be on tuesday, but after reading more I guess you are not supposed to count the first day

I put the eggs in at about 12:00 pm on the 18th. So am still debating tues or weds for lock down, maybe I will just do it tuesday night after I get off work (about 12:00am)

I am sooo glad that I didn't start with dark egg after you guys saying you can't see anything!! I dont think I could stand not knowing.

I'm thinking that if you put your eggs in on Feb. 18th at 12:00 PM you should lockdown on the 8th at 12:00 pm. (I'm going to look at a calendar again....)Yep...I think that's right.

 

[KZ]

I'm thinking that if you put your eggs in on Feb. 18th at 12:00 PM you should lockdown on the 8th at 12:00 pm. (I'm going to look at a calendar again....)Yep...I think that's right.

I totally think you are right. I read this other thread (well, I read like a zillion but I am referring to the one that made the most sense to me) and it basically said, if you put your eggs in on a Friday, they are due to hatch on a Friday. Count back 3 days to the time of day you started (in my case it was 10:00 am) so Tuesday, the 8th at 10:00 am will be the exact right time for me to go to lockdown. Of course, I am going to wait until that evening since I will be working, so give or take a few hours, I will soon be on the home stretch.

These are my first Marans, also, and they are shipped eggs from Ebay. I sent several prior customers of the person I bought the eggs from a message asking how the hatch was from this seller. Two responded and said the hatch was very good (one had a 90% and the other 75%). Oddly, they thought I was the seller asking as a follow up. I did that with a couple of other Ebay sellers, and their hatch rates were not nearly so good. Therefore, I feel like its most likely a good batch of eggs.

I have a better incubator on the way and won't try again until it gets here. Those French Black Copper Marans eggs are just to expensive to mess around with!