First time: Incubation Lavender Orpington Rooster w/ Welsummer and EE

[Tennessee Tranquility]

Very interesting! I'm at Day 8 of my first ever hatching. Using NR360 - but hygrometer shows it's temperature fluctuates a good bit. It seems to be doing better since it's been warmer in the house the last couple of days, but we like the house at 66 nights.

 

[Millsa]

Day 12. I just candled the eggs. One Welsummer Egg you cant see through and one of the EE eggs you cant see through. The rest… you could see a well defined air sac. Which is bigger than it was when you could see the embryo. They aren’t undulating anymore but i think they are pulling in and working on developing feet, beaks, scales and feathers.. all really important work! I used my bike headlamp which is super bright and it allowed me to see through 3 of the 4 EE eggs and they look great! So happy to see this development. It gives me hope that Mother Nature is right on track and that i wasnt so horrible to start the first eggs! I know they can crap out at any minute but im encouraged!!! Also worth noting the smallest of the eggs - which i think is the one that may not make it - has the CLEAREST air sack. It also moves around quite a biT on its own. I was concerned it could grow too big and break the air sac before its time but - that seems to not be happening. 9 more days to go!!! Xoxoxo

 

[Millsa]

Very interesting! I'm at Day 8 of my first ever hatching. Using NR360 - but hygrometer shows it's temperature fluctuates a good bit. It seems to be doing better since it's been warmer in the house the last couple of days, but we like the house at 66 nights.

Let me know when you get to day 11 if you notice them rolling around a bit on their own.

 

[Millsa]

Day 16. Power outage, major winter storm. Switched the incubator over to our generator… but not sure thats going to last through the night. I may just move them near the fireplace… and monitor Heat and humidity really closely. Not sure what to do otheir wise.. i mean if they are still alive and we dont know why they wouldnt be alive, if they are still alive obviously we want to keep them alive so i might just have to sit up all night. It’s what a mother hen would do.
If my partner didnt think i was crazy before, its about to get REAL

 

[Millsa]

Hope for the best.

My partner just confirmed we have enough propane to keep the generator running for a couple days.. god willing!

 

[Millsa]

Day 17, one more to go before lockdown. I candled them last night and the air sacs seem to be larger than they were at day 14.. since you cant see anything else due to shell color, im guessing this is a good sign at least SOME of the eggs are doing something.. and we may have a hatch. Looking forward to lockdown as i think i can more easily maintain a slightly lower temperature and higher humidity no problem with the reservours. Still on the generator here but Hubs is working out battery back ups for the egg-babies.

 

[Millsa]

Incubator: i also want to say that my no name incubator, which was a cheap one from amazon That cost $60.00 has humidity alarms and a low/high temperature alarm. It has an automatic egg turner too and turns eggs every 90minutes tho i stopped turning them on day 15.. i also have a secondary thermometer and humidity montior in there and it seems pretty accurate actually. I have been so grateful for these alarms - last night at 1am - we got a low temp alarm, so i started the fire and wrapped the unit in dishcloths which got the temp back up to 38c. being that we are on the generator power, i do notice its harder for the incubator to keep its temperature but the tea towels work well! SO FAR SO GOOD.

 

[Millsa]

Eve of LockDown : paranoia. So nerves have finally set in - watching the incubator struggle today to maintain heat on the generator… im thinking this could be a lost cause.. also , reading everyone’s posts.. it seems like this time is fraught with many unknowns. Im going to keep the temperature where it is about 99.F and jack the humidity tonight to 70% and hope for the best. Starting Lockdown 6 hours early. Also have my eyes on a NR360 at the local tractor supply if this hatch fails, I’ll be buying that asap, gathering a new clutch of eggs NOW.. since they can last for months for food…fertility check on the eggs weve been eating is about 80% i could be starting a new batch in a NEW incubator in a weeks time. The girls are laying about an egg a day so i get 3 eggs a day out of my 3 hens and their eggs are SO MUCH bigger than the ones i have in the incubator now! So much to worry about! Leaving all of it up to G.O.D. (Good orderly direction)

 

[Millsa]

Day 20 power is back on! Calibrating the NR360 may move eggs to it because the temperature is so stable… its a dream really.. having trouble getting the humidity up but will resort to adding a paper towel if needed under the slip guard. The eggs are still in the little incubator .. for now because it too is holding steady 99 and humidity is good. Hopeful that they survived this ordeal - may just delay the hatch a day or two late

if i can give them consistency.

 

[Millsa]

Day 22: 2 eggs definitely needed assistance (shrink wrap) and the other two after applying some coconit oil zipped one is still zipping but the other flew right out of her shell!