Hatch a long during the month of July

[MBK Farm]

Good luck!! I have 3 of 4 Birchen Marans left on day 14. I have never hatched Marans before and I thought they were all duds until maybe 3 days ago and started seeing tons of movement!

Cool. Would love to see some pics of the little fuzzies after hatch.

 

[write2caroline]

My eggs were left on my door step even though I called the post office to let them know to hold the mail and MY Pet chicken had on the label to hold and call recipient. 100 degree heat that day.

I waited and put them in the incubator. That might have been a mistake but that's what I did.
So they went into the incubator on 7-9-2016 in the early morning and if they should hatch it will be Saturday July 30th

I had one other incident when I checked on my incubator and it looked like it was off so I unplugged it and plugged it back in.

Feeling kind of nervous about this whole endeavor.
Caroline

 

[SunHwaKwon]

My eggs were left on my door step even though I called the post office to let them know to hold the mail and MY Pet chicken had on the label to hold and call recipient. 100 degree heat that day.

I waited and put them in the incubator. That might have been a mistake but that's what I did.
So they went into the incubator on 7-9-2016 in the early morning and if they should hatch it will be Saturday July 30th

I had one other incident when I checked on my incubator and it looked like it was off so I unplugged it and plugged it back in.

Feeling kind of nervous about this whole endeavor.
Caroline

How long did you wait before putting them in? I wait anywhere from 1-3 days, then I incubate them for 3 days or so without turning. I have ten days to go on some shipped Bantam Ameracaunas, Marans, and D'Uccles. Right now I am at 10/14 for the bantams, 1/6 for the D'Uccle, and 0/10 for the Marans

 

[snywalker]

I have been waiting to join in. I put 56 eggs in the incubator a couple of weeks ago but we had problems. We waited a day to make sure the temperature was stable before putting the eggs in, but the first night the window fell out and the temperature dropped to 80! Then it didn't want to go back up. Then it lost power for a few hours! I was thinking my chances were pretty low.

Last night we candled in preparation of today's lock down. We threw out 21 eggs, but surprisingly we could see movement in most of the others!

We are unsure what day to expect a hatch because of all the problems, but it should be next week. Hoping that they make it. It's not going to be a good hatch rate, but it looks better than expected.

 

[write2caroline]

Tomorrow is my Day 7 so I plan to candle them and see if I have anything. I have 9 eggs so I have no idea what to expect.

Some of the eggs are brown eggs I am hoping I can see. I have a good flash light

Wish me luck.
Caroline

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Tomorrow is my Day 7 so I plan to candle them and see if I have anything.  I have 9 eggs so I have no idea what to expect.

Some of the eggs are brown eggs I am hoping I can see.  I have a good flash light

Wish me luck.
Caroline

Good luck! Make sure you go in a dark room.

 

[write2caroline]

Lock Down is the final three days?
So if my hatch date is 7/30 then I don't open and turn eggs on the 27,28th and 29th?
Caroline

 

[yeye5]

WoW! So many July Hatches! It's very exciting.
Caroline, I live sort of close to you! (between St. Augustine and Palatka).
I have a difficult situations with some eggs that may or may not hatch. (I posted in the incubation and rearing section under "high-risk eggs")
I am trying to save as many as possible. My lovely broody hen was killed by a predator when she had about 10-12 days on the eggs.
Presently I have the eggs with my silkie couple and their 4 chicks who are recently hatched too.
I know it sounds crazy...because it IS crazy. I just didn't want to give up o them since the might be viable and they are what I have left from Betty (hen).

I'd love to hear from others in this hatch-month how you all candle and also what for each person determines viability when candling.
I've done my best attempt twice candling the eggs. To be honest, what I'm seeing looks like bad news. On the other hand I've seen no "blood ring" around any of the eggs, nor have I encountered any foul smelling eggs.

Any advice or insights are very welcome!
Plus I can't wait to read about everyone else's hatch days! It is such a joy to witness!
I'm grateful to find this thread!

 

[snywalker]

I have a hard time with candling because they are dark eggs. So I put a light in a box and cut a small whole in it. I sit the egg on the whole (on its side) then shine a light in threw the air cell. You should see some veins and a shadow that will move. The shadow will be bigger when you are closer to hatching.

 

[yeye5]

Thank you snywalker.
I think I've been doing this "upside down"...I got a piece of very thick cardboard (from the bottom of a produce box), cut a little circle-hole in the middle and then placed the egg in the circle-hole. However I placed the egg/s in with pointy side down.
I'm not sure how big of a difference that would make...but based upon my results, I hope it makes a big difference!
What I saw, in over half the eggs (bcs many were also quite dark shelled so I couldn't see through them) was:
where the air pocket would be expected, I saw (at the top or wider side) a dark color that moved as I turned or tipped the egg.
I saw some red veins inside those eggs (which is what gave me some hope).
I saw a couple of, parts of, very tiny little figures that were not moving. I am pretty sure that chicks this close to hatching--IF they do hatch--would be Much larger than what I saw.
At this point I really know very little.
As long as the eggs continue to smell fresh, I feel comfortable letting them stay for the duration of their 21 days, if not a couple of days longer. I have rad that if eggs are traumatized or loose temperature for a short while, it can slow the gestation (?)
All I have now are fingers crossed...
Has anyone else seen this type of thing when candling? If so, what were the results of the attempted hatch?