First time hatching eggs!

[Oldhallchicks]

Good news, the seller of the buff Orpingtons said he would send us 6 more free of charge! So we are borrowing a second incubator and will be putting those in next week. I’m going to do my best not to candle or check them until after day 7 so I don’t get my hopes up.

 

[totribet]

Good news, the seller of the buff Orpingtons said he would send us 6 more free of charge! So we are borrowing a second incubator and will be putting those in next week. I’m going to do my best not to candle or check them until after day 7 so I don’t get my hopes up.

That’s great. Hopefully you have better luck this time. I’m placing my very first batch in the incubator on Thursday of this next week. I’m super excited too and scared. I’ve never successfully hatched any at all. I tried several times in my old incubator. Just bought a new one this past week and I’m hoping for the best.

 

[Oldhallchicks]

Well, we lost the last BO, and we are down to 3 speckled Sussex.

Ive learned a couple of lessons: 1) don't get your hopes up for all the eggs that start to develop to make it full term 2)just leave the eggs be for the first week.

I think I was so nervous and excitedthat I couldn’t help but have a peek at the eggs every day. now that I’ve done that and lost so many eggs, I’m afraid that I killed some of them by opening the incubator too often.

so I’m getting 6 more BO shipped from the guy on eBay for free and hoping for at least a couple of those to hatch, and I’m also going to pick up a couple more Brahma eggs from the guy I got them from locally because they are obviously my healthiest happiest eggs in there. (Plus...how cute are brahma’s?! )

I’ll put them all in Wednesday/Thursday and do a staggered hatch, as I’ve got a really large incubator that I can divide up so I think it’ll work fine.

 

[Oldhallchicks]

6 eggs still happy little dancing babies yesterday on day 11, though the speckled Sussex eggs have really saddled air cells so we will see how they do with pipping/hatching.

Instead of Brahma eggs (the guy I got them doesn’t have any this week), I set 12 supermarket eggs as an experiement! Lol

I guess I shouldn’t have gotten all excited about my 6 free BO eggs from the eBay seller that I had bad luck with the first 6.

he offered to send me 6 more free of charge so I was Ecstatic, as buff Orpingtons are the breed my 7 year old chose to hatch and none of the first 6 made it to day 10.

The 6 freebies arrived today...one was broken, and 3 were filthy. 2 look like they might be scrambled (which I know is no fault of the seller). So I have 3 that look viable with slightly but not totally detached air cells.

If I’d paid for them or if they were rare etc, I would complain, but as it stands, I just spot cleaned with a little warm water, I’ll put all 5 in and check them at day 7 to see how they’re doing. I know usually you shouldn’t clean them etc, but as my July hatch is with 12 supermarket eggs and these freebies I’m just winging it and not overthinking it.

 

[Oldhallchicks]

this is my supermarket egg experiment if anyone wants to follow that! Lol

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/supermarket-experiment-uk.1387504/

 

[Daisycar]

I want!

 

[Oldhallchicks]

tuesday is lockdown date for the first batch of chicks, and this time next week, we will hopefully have some little fluffs, and more eggs ready to keep growing until the second hatch 11 days later!

 

[Oldhallchicks]

This is my staggered hatch setup! I’ll tilt the ones that are tilted a few times today and tomorrow or until I hear any chirping or see any pips. Then I’ll not open the incubator unless I need to get a chick out, at which point I can quickly til

I can’t see a dang thing in the grocery store blue/Maran eggs, so I just left them in. I pulled one blue egg that was clearly infertile, but the others I really can’t tell.

there is only 1/6BO clearly developing. One was infertile with a completely rolling air cell. The others I can’t see any development and it is day 6 so should be able to see something.

I figure I’ll just wait til the end of the first hatch to pull anymore, because there should be clearly developing or infertile by then.

 

[Oldhallchicks]

We have a pip! First seen at 6:15 pm tonight! (Day 19)

 

[Kiraeh]

Yaaaaa exciting!