First timer, is my rooster doing doing his job?

[BlueBaby]

Yes, that's what I do. I bring mine in the house every day. I collect my egg's Sunday through Saturday. Then incubate them if I am going to do so, or if someone else local need's hatching egg's. If neither, then I wash them and put them in the fridge.

 

[CanadianSkeptic]

I'm not sure how cold the eggs can get before incubating.
If you bring them in the house you should probably try to keep them in a cooler part of the house.
I was saving call duck eggs for a friend of mine to incubate and she told me to store them in an egg carton in a cool place (it was in the middle of summer then) and to prop up one end of the carton with something. Not at a steep angle, maybe a couple inches. About 2-3 times a day I would switch sides so that the carton was tilted on the opposite side. She apparently does this with all her eggs before getting enough to incubate and her hatch rates are very good. I've never incubated, unless you count using a broody hen, but it works for her.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

doing the cloacal kiss

OMG, I almost literally laughed out loud when I read that line!

I'm in the same boat, except my rooster was recently stolen from me. I'm incubating some of my eggs in hopes that they were fertilized and will produce some of his offspring. He was a great rooster who's genetic material should be passed on!

 

[Mosey2003]

The first one looks fertilized. The second one looks a bit wrinkled, unless it's a trick of the light? That could indicate it had been frozen. I would say if they were under 40 degrees for any decent amount of time, they may not make it.

The first thing that struck me though was that you said you're keeping the incubator between 95 and 102. That's far too large of a range, with far too cool and far too hot. Ideally, if it's still-air (no fan) you want it at 101. If you have a fan (hopefully a circulating fan, and not a computer fan) you want it about 99.5-100. 102 isn't as big a deal to me as the 95, although it's not ideal for them to be that hot for long.

 

[bwindrope]

OMG, I almost literally laughed out loud when I read that line!

I'm a zoologist and science teacher by profession! Can't help myself. But this egg hatching thing is a fun new adventure and I appreciate all your help. As for temperature, I read different things. My DIY incubator is steady at about 100-101, but I have to remove the lid to do stuff and the temp swings. I read that those temp swings don't matter if they are brief.

I'm more concerned that the coop temps have been too low recently and I was not collecting eggs on a daily basis. I'll have to do that going forward, although we are finally getting more normal temperatures here around the Salish Sea of Washington State. No more freezing nights.

 

[Mosey2003]

I'm a zoologist and science teacher by profession! Can't help myself. But this egg hatching thing is a fun new adventure and I appreciate all your help. As for temperature, I read different things. My DIY incubator is steady at about 100-101, but I have to remove the lid to do stuff and the temp swings. I read that those temp swings don't matter if they are brief.

I'm more concerned that the coop temps have been too low recently and I was not collecting eggs on a daily basis. I'll have to do that going forward, although we are finally getting more normal temperatures here around the Salish Sea of Washington State. No more freezing nights.

If you meant the 95 was only after you'd open it, that's different then.

If they were under 40 degrees all night long, yeah that could do it. Some will miraculously hatch after being refrigerated, some won't. Really close to freezing or below, it's a real crapshoot.