HomesteadNowhere Hatch-a-long! Set April 7, hatch April 28!

[HomesteadNowhere]

I couldn't take it... I candled tonight...
Lots of the extra eggs were clears. No big deal. I did have them in a separate pen and they had one day visit from the roo. Seems like only a couple are developing. The roo may have a favorite.

Of the rest there are alot of questionable I marked. Tomorrow I'll pull the obvious clears. A couple are light shelled and glowed like a lamp. I'll do a recount on Thursday after candling again.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Found a post for a diy water wiggler I'm going to try. This run is simpler than the last run. Spring rain is keeping the humidity up even in this dry old house. Room humidity 38%, incubator humidity 47%. Last one I was having to constantly top up the humidifier next to the incubator to keep it from going below 20%. Not to mention myself avoiding a bloody nose from such dry air...

 

[Justso]

I went ahead and candled my eggs tonight, saw veining in all eggs except the olive egg. I tried two different light sources and still could barely see the air cell. I have to admit I was a little surprised, the two oldest eggs I had washed and put in the refrigerator a little over a week before setting. Sure enough they have veining.
I guess we'll see who decides to stick around next week. I think I'm going to have to get one of those big hunting lights in order to see inside that Olive egg though.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

I went ahead and candled my eggs tonight, saw veining in all eggs except the olive egg. I tried two different light sources and still could barely see the air cell. I have to admit I was a little surprised, the two oldest eggs I had washed and put in the refrigerator a little over a week before setting. Sure enough they have veining.
I guess we'll see who decides to stick around next week. I think I'm going to have to get one of those big hunting lights in order to see inside that Olive egg though.

My last hatch was all washed and from the fridge eggs Might have been a little impulsive... I did get 22 chicks though.

 

[Justso]

My last hatch was all washed and from the fridge eggs Might have been a little impulsive... I did get 22 chicks though.

That's great to know!

 

[airynn]

I went ahead and candled my eggs tonight, saw veining in all eggs except the olive egg. I tried two different light sources and still could barely see the air cell. I have to admit I was a little surprised, the two oldest eggs I had washed and put in the refrigerator a little over a week before setting. Sure enough they have veining.
I guess we'll see who decides to stick around next week. I think I'm going to have to get one of those big hunting lights in order to see inside that Olive egg though.

I always struggle to candle my olive eggs. Often I just leave them all in.

 

[GingerRose]

I always struggle to candle my olive eggs. Often I just leave them all in.

I struggle with mine also.
I put 18 in 3 days ago.
I will try, like always....

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

I have been so busy I'd completely forgot about candling the eggs until just now!

NH roo over freedom ranger hens... 34 from 44 set.
Bielefelder roo over freedom ranger hens... 6 from 12 set.
NH roo over brahma and a Wyandotte... 2 from 18 set.

Does blood ring mean there was some early development then it died? Had 2 that were B/FR and 5 that were NH/FR.
Also had a couple with a little black smudge but no veins. I tipped the egg back and forth and the smudge moved with the liquid motion. Early quitters also I'm assuming.
The clears were very clear.

So new total is 42. This is why I set so many. Had alot I pulled the last hatch and wanted as many as possible just in case it was the fertility or early quitters. Glad I did.

 

[airynn]

I have been so busy I'd completely forgot about candling the eggs until just now!

NH roo over freedom ranger hens... 34 from 44 set.
Bielefelder roo over freedom ranger hens... 6 from 12 set.
NH roo over brahma and a Wyandotte... 2 from 18 set.

Does blood ring mean there was some early development then it died? Had 2 that were B/FR and 5 that were NH/FR.
Also had a couple with a little black smudge but no veins. I tipped the egg back and forth and the smudge moved with the liquid motion. Early quitters also I'm assuming.
The clears were very clear.

So new total is 42. This is why I set so many. Had alot I pulled the last hatch and wanted as many as possible just in case it was the fertility or early quitters. Glad I did.

I wonder why you have so many that don’t develop. What is your hen roo ratio? I usually have 2-3 out of 24. My ducks were all developing on day 7 and I’ll check my 16 (I think) chicken eggs tomorrow or Tuesday. They are in my classroom.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

I wonder why you have so many that don’t develop. What is your hen roo ratio? I usually have 2-3 out of 24. My ducks were all developing on day 7 and I’ll check my 16 (I think) chicken eggs tomorrow or Tuesday. They are in my classroom.

11 hens, 1 roo.
I was thinking about it too. I think partly because there are 3 hens the roo favors and are fairly bare backed now. So eggs from other hens that aren't as regularly bred. Also since this is experimentally breeding from freedom ranger hens I suspect high rates of duds and early quitters is just part and parcel. Like how dark Cornish seem to have problems with breeding and fertility overall more so than most breeds.

I'm hoping for good offspring to pick from this batch. The FR hens have a ton of internal fat and I'm not going to try keeping them through the summer.