I can't believe this no development and early embryo deaths 23 eggs!

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
I've never heard of this. Guess i never read my instructions thoroughly. Would opening the bator every day be something you want to do with all foam incubators, just the LGs, or with all? It makes sense, since the hen would get off the eggs everyday to eat and poop.

Thats an new one on me too! It definitely is not recommended on the Hova Bators! Doing that lets all the humidity you have worked so hard to get, just escape, a brief opening just to hand turn is all I ever do. I would re -read that first!
As for the bleach thing, yes Diluted water is fine, but I have watched straight bleach eat Styrofoam, not to mention corrode the metal hardware. That's what I meant, a wipe down as MISSPRISS suggested wouldn't be too bad, but I still use hot soapy water with antibacterial soap , no risk there, But that's just the way I do it, not right, not wrong.

And as for the dark lumps in the candled eggs, those are dead embryos, at day 6 you should be seeing a nice heart/embryo in the center with an array of veins running out from it.

Good luck to all yall.
Aubrey

 

[pegasuschick]

On darker eggs you can't see the blood veins or sometimes even the embryo, depending on how dark the egg is.
I have learned to candle the eggs before they go in the incubator and remember or take notes exactly how the eggs look. Even the darker eggs look clear with a round area which is the yolk. If the egg yolk is sloshing around in there you may not get a good chick.
I candle again at five days and note any changes that have happened in that time. At five days you can sort of guess which ones aren't going to do anything.
I do it again at one week, seven days, and you should be seeing some definite changes. By ten days the dark eggs are "full" and you can't see much anymore after that so I look for a light spot which is the air spot in the bottom of the large end of the egg.
From there on it is pretty obvious which are fertile and developing. If there aren't any changes, they might not be fertile or may have died. I usually wait at least a couple of more days before chucking those just to be sure.
Gina

 

[rnoyster]

Thanks for the advice! I figure that I will wait until the 10th -12th day and candle again. If nothing is happening then, I'll chuck them and start again. I may have a sterile roo! Just my luck! I'll have to call in some replacements from somewhere other than my own birds!

Dick

 

[pegasuschick]

A sterile roo would definitely do it. How many hens do you have?
Gina

 

[rnoyster]

I only have 6 hens with the one rooster. I also have a very young rooster, but he isn't trying to cover the hens as of yet. If the older rooster isn't doing his job, I'll be replacing him with another.

 

[rnoyster]

Well....I took my time tonight and candled the eggs again. It appears to my old eyes that I have 11 eggs that are growing from 23 total. I think that maybe my roo is doing his duty after all. I couldn't smell anything from any of the eggs at this time, so I guess that I will continue with them for another week and candle again and see where I stand. These eggs are brown, this is the first time with this process and I have a set of bifocals! Still, none of them appear like the photos from the University of Nebraska's website pictures!