How do you keep track? !

[gabrielle1976]

Hi everyone. I was wondering how all of you keep track of your eggs. From the moment they are in your hot little hand ready for that broody or incubator . Do you just put and X and an O and pop them in. Do you write the hatch date or the set date? Do you write down on a pieace of paper any infor mation? I would like comments stories photos instructions ect. Im shure there are some that just pop the egg in and guess in about 21 days its about that time and I bet there are people that keep records that would make Goverment accounts feel shame. I want to know from all of you.. HOw do you do it how do you keep track and what all information do you keep track of. Date set date hatched date laid air cell size egg shape shell pourousity ? Ect ect...

 

[gamebirdsonly]

I have been keeping records since I got my first incubator back in 1987. I keep track of when their going to hatch and what kind they are and the % of the hatch and how many of each.

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

I have a notebook where I record the number of eggs collected, breeds, and dates eggs are set. Throughout the incubation process I make notes about when I candled them, how many were duds, how many are suspect, and eventually how many hatch out. I mark them with a regular number 2 pencil for breed and collected date, then give them check marks or question marks as I candle them.

When I find eggs that either didn't develop or stopped developing at some point, I carefully open them up to see what happened. In my most recent hatch, I had 2 eggs that made it to the hatcher but never pipped. Last night I opened them up. One of them had probably died around day 20 because there was still some yolk that wasn't absorbed into the body cavity but the other just never moved its head into position to pip. While you can't know what might have been wrong internally without dissecting them, you can see at what point they failed to progress.

One of the things I like best about keeping chickens is that it's like a giant science experiment. I don't weigh my birds at hatch or as they develop, but I suppose if I wanted to I could. If you track things, you can see over the course of time at what point in the year your birds lay the best quality eggs for hatching (feed, temperature, and day length being factors). It's fun having a hobby that teaches you so much!

 

[AwallRooster]

Not as thuro as oldchurchegger

,but I keep start dates,turn times,water add,amount of water added,candling dates ,time,temp.readings 3 times a day, humidity readings 3 times a day inside the bator,an outside the bator,breed, but is a hooby for me, and its a hobby i love.