Incubating Shipped Eggs

[gimmie birdies]

I have eggs due 9/10th, 14th, 17th all under same hen. I will remove chicks as they hatch so she keeps sitting.

 

[missnu01]

I haven't incubated hatched eggs yet, well I just set my first ever shipped eggs, but all my eggs are incubated air cell up because that is how my incubator is made sort of. I lay them on their sides to hatch but incubate them big end up. Going to do the same thing for the shipped eggs because I get great hatches with my own eggs so might as well incubate these the same right?
If I was new to incubating I would finda neighbor with eggs, or somewhere locallyi could drive to. Or hatch my own eggs. That way you don't have the shipping woes to discourage you. The first time I tried incubating eggs they were from my own flock. All set eggs were clear. My roster was to old to get the job done. But it made me really sad. A week later or so I got some local mixed eggs and hatched 18/18. First try. Can't beat that. So if the shipped eggs keep getting you down buy local and gain some confidence. Also always good to know it's the eggs and not your incubating conditions causing the issues

 

[Fuentes Farm]

So my experience with shipped eggs is that its best to not turn them once they go into the incubator for 4 days. Im on my third batch this year of shipped eggs, furst two batxhes didnt do so well and I started turning them 24 hours after this last batch is doing great so far and I waited to turn them.

 

[only1bgirl]

Yes not turning for four days worked on my second batch, I had development which was better than my first that had zero. I kept them in cartons large end up and layed them on their sides day 18. None hatched and I waited until day 24 to open eggs, If I do it again I will not wait as long because I think two might of made it with some assistance, they had their feet above their head and inner membrane seemed thick, possibly shrink wrapped. Definite learning experience, going to try one more time!

 

[Fuentes Farm]

Yeah I had to help 2 babies last batch they would of never made it

 

[missnu01]

All of this makes me afraid. Lol. I haven't candled my shipped eggs yet. Might try tonight, or tomorrow night. I'll probably try to give them a peek tonight keeping in mind that something clear now doesn't mean anything.

 

[only1bgirl]

I went ahead and ordered a new incubator with a fan, time to get serious! This will be a fun project for the kids and I this summer. We really have our hearts set on Silkies so we're going to order another batch of eggs too. Would really like to find eggs from either California or Washington but I'm not having any luck tracking breeders down. Good luck with your shipped eggs, keep me posted please about their progress. What kind are you trying to hatch?

 

[missnu01]

I've just got some mixed eggs going. 16 mixed shipped and 13 of my own mixed eggs set in an older model excalibur 301 food dehydrator. I just set them the 4th. So too early really to check them but I'm super curious. The temp and humidity is great so the real variable is shipped vs non shipped. All the air cells in the shipped eggs looked really good. A few weren't totally round, but all were where they should be. Have another set of mixed eggs coming tomorrow 18. So hopefully I will have a ton of chickens soon if everything goes well.

 

[only1bgirl]

That is so neat, I tried to use my old dehydrator but I could not get the temp below 108, no thermostat so I drilled a bunch of holes in the lid, thought about buying a dimmer switch. I used a cooler with a light bulb, it held the temperature constant if the house stayed constant with it being spring I'm not running the heat so it would drop at night and so did incubator caught it one morning at 97 degrees, which could of killed some of the embryos. I was checking it constantly, hoping an incubator with a thermostat will be easier to regulate. Good luck with your hatch, keep me posted please, exciting!