Help I Really Messed Up! Now I am trying to incubate to fix mistake.

[peafowlmom]

I moved my peahen and her eggs. BIG MISTAKE. She stopped laying. Their temperature dropped. SO I have 2 eggs in a really small incubator. I was hoping someone has answers to these questions.

Since their temp. dropped for a couple hours are they ok?
Is the fat part of the egg supposed to be facing up?
The incubator is an experiment incubator that my son got for his b-day.
The eggs are packed in there, is that ok?

I am very upset that I did this to her and the eggs. I really thought it would be safer in a pen than free-ranging it.

PLEASE HELP! I know i messed up but I want to fix it.
This is a picture of the poor litter eggs.

Thanks for your valuable time and advice, Carrie

 

[Glenmar]

You did OK. I tried to let my free ranging hen hatch some eggs this year and something ate them all.
So you might have lost them anyway. Temp should be fine. What day were they on. At day 10 you should be able to candle them to make sure they are alive and growing. Incubating on their side is great. They should be turned at least 5x a day.


ETA: My neighbors found an egg in their driveway a few months ago. I put it in my incubator, and it hatched.
So I don't think a little cooling down would have hurt.

 

[peafowlmom]

Glenmar, how do you candle and which way do I turn them?

 

[silkielover5]

to candle them put like a flash light againsted them in a dark room. and just turn them so that their laying on a different side. using something to mark one side of the eggs help to know if you turned them or not

 

[Frosty]

In all honesty, this late in the year they may not be any good anyhow. I hope you are lucky and they are!

 

[peafowlmom]

Frosty, I was wondering that myself. My husband is quite furious with me for "interfering". Would a hen lay on them for over a week if they weren't fertile?

So, I do not candle until 10 days?
Can I use my "homemade" candler or is it not gonna work? (box, with brooding light stuck through it, the a card board circle to place the egg on?)

I had already tried to candle and could only see the outside of the egg. Probably homemade candler, right, or is it to soon to see through at all?

 

[Frosty]

First question, does the male still have his train? My understanding is that when the train drops, so does fertility. A hen can still be fertile for a few weeks after breeding, so if he was just recently dropping his train...

If you use a homemade candler, be very cautious. A regular bulb gets pretty hot and you don't want to overheat the eggs. I use a mini mag light held up to the large end of the egg, and I wrap my hand around the end of the light where it meets the egg to keep the light from shining outside of the egg. 10 days is about the time where you can start seeing development.

If the nest was where a predator could get at it, moving it was actually a good idea. Yes a hen will sit on infertile eggs, and given the chance that the eggs may not even be fertile it isn't worth the risk that a predator could have as easily killed the hen.

 

[Glenmar]

Quote:
That's what I was thinking too. Which is why I sugessted candling them.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Odds are they are not fertile......yes a peahen will set on non fertile eggs, they have noway to know if fertile or not.


Not to be the bad guy , those incubator are pure junk , no way to control temp. or humdity......should be illegal to sell those as incubator. Had one years ago ...in the trash within a few days.

 

[hpc4th1]

to candle them put like a flash light againsted them in a dark room. and just turn them so that their laying on a different side. using something to mark one side of the eggs help to know if you turned them or not