Hatch-Along - Setting eggs this weekend (Jan5/6) WHOS WITH ME!

[chicken pickin]

Im getting my shipped eggs hopefully by Sat and Im going to set them on Sunday January 6th. Anyone else want to join me?

 

[outdoorbunny]

I'll join you. I just got in a new incubator...the Reptipro so I'm going to give it a try using eggs from my hens. I'm going to be setting 6-8 eggs either this Saturday or Sunday. They are Blue Laced Red Wyandottes.

 

[chicken pickin]

Yay my eggs are enroute !!!! I just got my tracking num. Expected day of delivery is Sat the 5th.

 

[outdoorbunny]

I'll be setting about a dozen olive eggers and 6 button quail. Currently have 15 black australorps and 6 OEs that are 3wks old in the brooder and no idea where to put tiny quail that they cant get out of.

I have 6 pairs of button quail and when the momma quail hatches her own babies, I just put 1/4 inch wire around the cage to hold in the little ones. But when I hatch out the cuties, I keep them in a 20 gallon aquarium with a little stuff animal in it along with the heat lamp. I use puppy pads (without the perfume) on the bottom and change it out every day to prevent amonia build up. I keep them there until they get their feathers in then move them to a cage with 1/2" wire. I love the little buttons!

 

[fisherlady]

Hahaha so, I went out to slip the eggs under the hen. She was still sitting there, eyes focused, looking intent. I started to slide the first egg under her, expecting to get pecked, but she ran and ran and she may still be running. I waited for a while, but I'm not sure she'll ever get in the laying box again. Oh well.

Don't give up hope yet... though she may not be ready for this batch of eggs she may be warming up to the broody idea. If she does decide to sit again swap out the egg she is sitting on each day with a new (and marked) egg for a couple of days, this way you can know if she is dedicated to the 'sit' and not waste eggs in the process.. we did this for nearly 2 wks on our Gracie before we were able to give her the 'real' eggs.

 

[nakanich]

I would like to join! I set my shipped eggs on 5 January. I set Cream Legbars, Black Copper Marans, Wheaten Marans, Lavender Orpingtons, Coronation Sussex, Welsummers and Blue Splash Silkies. I will not be turning my eggs for 7 days. Some of them had a pretty rough ride through the postal system. One box was crushed on one end and one egg was broken and one was cracked, pretty sure they are pretty shook up... Not holding my breath but still hopefull!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

The only potential problem I see with using old furniture as a brooder is the cleaning. Those chicks get really messy, especially as they get bigger, and the easier your brooder is to clean, the less time you have to put them somewhere else while you clean it. I use a giant dog crate as a brooder. I line the sides with cardboard stripes, they can't fly out of the top, and I can rest the heat lamp on top of the metal wire. I like being able to see through the side of the cage...good for chick-watching. At cleaning time, I take it outside, dump the shavings into the compost, rinse it with the hose, and put down fresh shavings. It takes less than 5 minutes. I keep my chicks in the laundry room. They do have a smell, not a strong smell, and it's not bad if you clean often, but it's not something I'd want in my living room.

 

[FeyRaine]

My Day 7 (Sat Jan 12,2013) Candling

Using a flashlight w/ tin foil tapped around it so the egg gets set partway in the tinfoil an I look at it kinda sideways.

7 Duck eggs:

Egg A - ? veins or small blood ring? , was in the far away windy spot, changed my plan and moved it to on spot right under blub to see it is developes in the next day or two...

Egg B - pretty certain that was a blood ring, but will wait until day 10

Eggs C-D-E-F-G - ALIVE, slightly diff. rates of progress but all very nice viens, & most had movement/heartbeat ! <grow little WH duckies

11 CHICKEN EGGS :

Very confusing -- most of the Green I could not see into AT ALL,
I could maybe see into some of the choc. but wow these are even thicker eggs than the last batch! I'd say about half are developing if I had to guess, but I didn't see much to go on.

Egg C - choc w/ pinkish grey undertones, Large egg, poss. x SFH (oh I hope!) right under the bulb, I clearly can see a chick, way more advanced (assume due to heat) has a dark eye spot, lots of movement looks like a day 10 egg rather than a day 7 egg based on last hatch so that hotter spot hasn't killed it so far but it will hatch first at this rate.

Egg J - Mint Green, very small, very narrow pointy end! - This is the only green egg I could really see into & I'm concerned -- There was great massive veining w/ a central chick blob, but it appears to be located in the top of the wide area, *exactly where the air cell should be* and I don't see any air cell line ??!! Could there be an air cell & I'm seeing the veins/chick down through the void air cell space and all is well? or could it be developing in the wide top area and this chick is doomed? Again, it is the only Green egg I could really see into, and aside from placement it looked great. Anyone seen this b/f?

Well that is my 7 day report, I'll not be able to keep my hands off & will likely candle 1 or 2 diff eggs every night now just trying to see if I can see anything as they grow bigger.

Hope everyone else is seeing lots of signs of life in their eggs today !

 

[nakanich]

I did my weigh-ins today and one of my incubators is having them lose their optimal amounts of weight nearly perfectly. The other is having them keep their weight on a tad too much. I'll fix that by lowering the humidity though. The really good news is that all of my eggs seem viable so far. Hopefully that stays true to the end.

That is great!

 

[Sally8]

I hatched BCM last spring and had a hard time getting any idea's as well. I left them alone and 100% hatched. Who knew. As I said earlier, they are hearty little birds. One minute you have a crack and the next ta-da! They are out of the shell.