I really need some fast advice on this stuff!

[SilkieSensation]

Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong will.

That being said, good luck on hatching at least a couple little roos. That way you can choose the best to keep. Also, with 18 hens, you really need at least 2-3 roos to keep fertility up. You are likely to have MANY unfertile eggs simply because your poor roo was outnumbered. Eggs should be fertile for at least 2-3 weeks, possibly as long as 4 weeks after your roo is gone. You may want to collect a few more just to make sure you get some fertile ones. You can always sell or give away excess chicks.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I want to thank all of you for posting such great information. I wanted to incubate some of the last of our roosters-hopefully-fertile eggs. He die last Saturday and we borrowed an incubator-homemade- last night. I am having a difficult time getting it up to 99.5 degrees. I put some blankets over it hopefully it will stabilize. It is at 98.5 -or was- until I put in the eggs.
I had to rush out and re-arrange the eggs when I read about the fat end up.. I had it backwards! You all already saved the day!

I will candle them in five days and see if any were fertile. They are a weeks worth of eggs-21 of them I kinda hope they all don't hatch. I already have 18 hens.
I only need one rooster! What are the odds I will get 21 hens? It's all based on need isn't it?
thank you all again for being such great BYCers! Byc is the tops.

 

[hecatesmoon]

I am guessing you did not use flash in the photos, yes? Just curious. I might want to take some pics for my FB page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Happy-Chickens/136321036519173?bookmark_t=page

 

[Little Miss]

Nope, no flash.

 

[3goodeggs]

Which ever of you said to put an 'X' on one side and an 'O' on the other, you share my brain. thanks for the idea because I get flustered then forget who has been done. The X/O's have helped a lot.
They are on a tray that tips from side to side so each time I rotate them I also tilt it to the other side.
So it is x side to o side air sac up each time, and then right tilt to left tilt.
Am I handling them too much? I try to move them 4-5 times each day. Too much?
I wash my hands before I handle the eggs, but... It is strange when the eggs are just eggs I am quite free to jostle them about because they are nice thick shells, but now that there are my potential chicks in there I get quite nervous.

 

[Chloe77]

I don't think you have to worry about handling the eggs with unwashed hands. They seem to have thick, nice, shells. I'm trying to hatch an egg right now, with a heating pad. Don't have an incubator!

And congrats on that sweet little chick, Little Miss! Chicks are the cutest things, and I'm glad you had had the experience of hatching one!

 

[Little Miss]

Oh, I'm not out of the woods yet. They still have a litte less than a week before they hatch!

 

[3goodeggs]

little miss,
I know you were thinking that you only had one that was developing, Does it look like you may have more now?
I have little hope for these eggs, they were not intended to be incubated and I am dreading the first candling for fear of a whole bunch of nothing.
This is such a great and helpful thread, I hope you do not mind me latching on to it.

 

[SilkieSensation]

She has 2 developing, so hopefully a pair of bouncing babies.

 

[Little Miss]

Yes, I do have two out of four developing.

At first I didn't see any movement in the second egg and the inside wasn't especially dark, but after a few more days it started to move. It's still not very dark at all but it moves every time I candle it so theres certainly something alive in the egg. I hope there are a decent number of growing babies for you! Let me know how it turns out!