- Jul 25, 2007
- 32
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Just thought I'd write a little bit about my incubation process.
I started by ordering eggs via Meyer Hatchery and EBay. Interestingly enough, the Meyer eggs packed in foam suffered damage with two eggs cracked beyond repair. The EBay eggs were all safe and sound. The eggs are a random assortment of breeds.
I fired up the Hovabator. I didn't have auto turner room for all the eggs, but i was able to lay the remaining eggs on the floor and turn them manually.
The Meyer eggs haven't performed. Out of the 16 eggs that made it through shipping only 6 have survived. Most of the Meyer eggs remained clear and nothing ever developed. A few made it a ways then gave out and developed blood rings.
The EBay eggs, including the manually turned ones, have faired better. Out of the 36 eggs shipped I've had to cull 10.
I did the culling today and it was tense. It's pretty obvious which eggs aren't performing. A quick flash of light and I can see that there is either a dark mass or it's clear. However, each time I selected a loser and cracked it open I'd pray that I wouldn't find anything but yolk. I'd hate to cut a life short. I've been lucky and haven't had anything even remotely developed (beyond a very tiny speck) show up so I feel pretty good that I didn't kill anything.
It's tough to have to lose 20 eggs, but that's nature I guess. I called Meyer when I received the eggs to let them know that they seemed to have had a rough ride. I'ts on their books and they said to call after the hatch is over to work out any $ owed to me.
It's an exciting process and it's neat, especially on the lighter eggs, to see the development.
I started by ordering eggs via Meyer Hatchery and EBay. Interestingly enough, the Meyer eggs packed in foam suffered damage with two eggs cracked beyond repair. The EBay eggs were all safe and sound. The eggs are a random assortment of breeds.
I fired up the Hovabator. I didn't have auto turner room for all the eggs, but i was able to lay the remaining eggs on the floor and turn them manually.
The Meyer eggs haven't performed. Out of the 16 eggs that made it through shipping only 6 have survived. Most of the Meyer eggs remained clear and nothing ever developed. A few made it a ways then gave out and developed blood rings.
The EBay eggs, including the manually turned ones, have faired better. Out of the 36 eggs shipped I've had to cull 10.
I did the culling today and it was tense. It's pretty obvious which eggs aren't performing. A quick flash of light and I can see that there is either a dark mass or it's clear. However, each time I selected a loser and cracked it open I'd pray that I wouldn't find anything but yolk. I'd hate to cut a life short. I've been lucky and haven't had anything even remotely developed (beyond a very tiny speck) show up so I feel pretty good that I didn't kill anything.
It's tough to have to lose 20 eggs, but that's nature I guess. I called Meyer when I received the eggs to let them know that they seemed to have had a rough ride. I'ts on their books and they said to call after the hatch is over to work out any $ owed to me.
It's an exciting process and it's neat, especially on the lighter eggs, to see the development.
