Help! I have a few questions bout eggs and I need them answered!

[561196]

So about a week ago my friend gave me some chicken eggs from her farm. I wanted to see if I could hatch a few; so I put 2 in my homemade incubator. It’s been 5 days so far and I see no developing, only a airsac and I think a yolk moving around? I didn’t know if they they we’re fertile or not so I cracked some open in the batch and there was bullseye in most of them! (The picture shows what it looked like) Also, when I go to sleep I don’t wanna leave the light bulb on for my homemade incubator because it’s a fire hazard being in a cardboard box all night.... how can I warm up my eggs for at least 8 hours without anybody having to check on them?? This is my first time trying to hatch eggs plz help!!!

 

[Mvan42]

I would wait to buy an incubator I don’t know how well a hatch will go inside an cardboard box.

 

[MGG]

Does your friend definitely have a rooster? I think if you want to hatch these you'd better get an incubator

 

[ChocolateMouse]

If it's been 5 days and you see no veining when candling then they aren't developing. They may well not be fertile. Does your friend have an active rooster? Have the eggs been washed or refrigerated? You can check egg development through candling. (If you don't know how to candle an egg you take them to a dark room and shine a flashlight through the shell. Cell phone lights tend to work well.)

Eggs need to be kept warm 24/7 to develop. Also they need to be between 99-102*F to develop. If your home-made incubator isn't safe to do that or isn't producing enough heat you won't be able to hatch eggs. Mama hens sit on their eggs all day and night except for 20 minutes a day to go eat and poop. You must keep the eggs warm 23.5 hours a day. You also need to turn them regularly, 3 or 5 times a day.

Egg only take 21 days to hatch so at day 5 they should have produced a LOT of activity in the egg, veins and maybe even a bit of motion. So there's clearly something very wrong with your setup and it may not be on your end, but something is making these eggs totally undeveloped.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

Well, after 5 days there won't be much change, but from the picture you've posted that ''bullseye'' spot is just the hen's contribution toward making a chick called the nucleus; seeing that doesn't necessarily mean it's fertile. What you want to be looking for after about a week is a spiderlike structure of veins.

About your fire hazard question- definitely don't use a cardboard box if you're worried about the bulb getting hot! You should be using a proper incubator that won't burn your house down. Even one of the cheap yellow throwaway ones is better than a cardboard box that you're worried might catch on fire.

Incubating eggs is a very delicate process, and once you start, you can't press pause. You have to keep the eggs consistently warm and turned 4 times a day with no breaks! Even just an hour without heat can be a disaster.

If you want to make a proper home-made incubator, a really good way to do it without burning your house down is to use a glass fish aquarium. You can often find them for cheap or free from garage sales. You can hold more heat inside the glass aquarium by placing it into a slightly larger cardboard box, and stuffing the gap tightly with foam or newspaper.

 

[MGG]

I accidentally broke this egg on day 3, look how much is already going on in there. I felt super bad.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I accidentally broke this egg on day 3, look how much is already going on in there. I felt super bad.View attachment 2065352

Oh no... Accidents happen! Don't be hard on yourself.
It happens to all of us sooner or later!

 

[MGG]

Oh no... Accidents happen! Don't be hard on yourself.
It happens to all of us sooner or later!

Yeah, I had no idea I couldn't see it when candling. I was removing the eggs and had ten infertile ones, i just figured that one would be too. I was carrying them out to the trash when I dropped them all because I tripped over the dog. They were all infertile except that one. I felt so bad.

 

[GabCar]

I accidentally broke this egg on day 3, look how much is already going on in there. I felt super bad.View attachment 2065352

Although sad, it's amazing to see how quickly they develop! I currently have eggs in a homemade incubator. Did you count the day you put them in as Day 1?

 

[MGG]

Although sad, it's amazing to see how quickly they develop! I currently have eggs in a homemade incubator. Did you count the day you put them in as Day 1?

No, that's day 0