Given birth to 4 healthy sons but incubating eggs....yikes!!

[texastinsel]

Hey yall! I am new to this forum as well as incubating. Any advice on candling will be greatly appreciated. I have searched through a gazillion posts/photos on here as well as the internet at large, and am still struggling with which ones are viable in my incubator. It breaks my heart to have to discard any, although I am also eeeked-out by the thought of one exploding. Three eggs thus far have had to be disposed.

I am in a bit of a conundrum. I have two different incubating periods in my incubator. Tomorrow is day 18 for the first set. Help would be much appreciated.

 

[Arielle]

I know how you feel--having 2 boys was easier than the stress incurred during my first hatch!

Candling takes experience. I kept everything the first time as THey were good strong eggs without cracks from my own hens. No shipping trauma to the shell. The next time I was more comfortable identifying clears and blood rings. BUT 5 others not so sure off so kept those in the incubator.

What I'm trying to say is, what you are going through is normal! LOL Basically if the egg has filled and is mostly dark I will keep it through lockdown.

I had a staggered hatch my first time; it required helping several shrink wrapped poults. Hatchlings should be removed by 24 hrs old. I removed mine sooner and let them fluff under the brooder lamp.Many on BYC do not support opening the incubator or helping the chicks hatch. I'm so new at hatching, I figure any error is my fault so I should help them.Do what you are comfortable with. Many tutorials if you do help out.

For the later hatching eggs:At the end not turning the eggs so often is not as important as the first few weeks. Mark them and turn them when you are in pulling out the hatchlings. Rolling the eggs ready to hatch makes it harder for them to hatch IMO.

Deep breath, blow out slowly . . . .

 

[texastinsel]

Arielle,

Thank you! They should have Lamaze for hatching chickens

.....hmmmmm.....I may be on to something!!

 

[texastinsel]

I really need to know how I can really tell if they are going to hatch. Some are really obvious...others are dark but I am still unsure. How many out there can tell me what the best idea is for lockdown?

 

[Jloeffler]

I was right there with you. I candled two eggs today I have in the bator, they are at day 12 and are light brown medium sized eggs from my own hen, so no shipping damage to worry about. This is my second attempt at incubating. First didn't go well. Today I saw movement in one of the two eggs! It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! Having given birth to three healthy children I liken seeing the movement to the first time I felt them move, only this time I got to share it not only with my hubby but also my kids! There is a great candling thread on here if you haven't found it yet. It's what I've been using. Good luck!

 

[TeePants]

Haha, I feel your pain. This is my first time doing it and it doesn't help my fiance is completely disinterested. He just wants them to make him breakfast later, lol.


I can't wait till he sees how tiny these banty eggs are, he's going to die.

As for lockdown, I read you're supposed to wait till day 18, kick the humidity up to the ~60ish range and leave them be. You could always try to take pics of your candling and post them here?

 

[texastinsel]

J-

You rock!!! You explained it perfectly!!! It is comparable to the first time I felt that 'flutter' when I was pregnant with all of my "fourteen children" as my friends like to say. It is so beautiful and miraculous. My husband said he never thought he would have a wife in the pitch dark bathroom, high powered industrial flashlight in hand, and a huge assortment of eggs!! He was laughing at me when I would declare....we have a baby darlin...until he came in the teeny bathroom himself and saw the beauty of a baby in the shell!

 

[Jloeffler]

Texas- you just described my DH! He keeps asking when he can have his shop back, but he checks on those eggs as often as I do! And he sure came quick when the kids started hollering for him to come see the chick move in the egg! I am still reveling in the super awesome tingling of feeling the gentle bumps against the shell and watching the chick shadow flutter! Soooooo cool!

Tee-my DH is fascinated by the tiny bantam eggs. Hopefully it captivates your DBF so that he gets more involved...maybe starts to build you more coops cause he's gonna need more eggs!!

 

[texastinsel]

Tee-

I am winging it and praying....I will keep you posted.

 

[texastinsel]

j-i have some bantams and am also in awe of their tininess! Is that a word? Perhaps in the bantam world it is.