INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

[shahtir101]

I think a hen is going to go broody!

 

[BantyChooks]

I think a hen is going to go broody!

 

[Jessimom]

I think a hen is going to go broody!

Yeah!! Do you have eggs to put under her?


I have a question, the last chick that hatched (about an hour ago) has a little bit of membrane and shell stuck to it's back. I just checked the 'bator and it was lying on it's back with a bunch of chickens pecking at it. I flipped it over and it ran away. Do I take it out to remove the membrane? It's still wet-ish, not fluffy.
.
Thanks! We have had 23 hatch...my cat got into the room with chicks and beheaded one.

She's been around dozens and dozens of chicks and never bothered them. Not sure what changed, but we now have a process in place to make sure that both cats are out of the room when we close the door. We're trying to get them all moved out to one of the new coops we built. But in the mean time we need to find a lid for the brooder.

 

[kwhites634]

Yeah!! Do you have eggs to put under her?


I have a question, the last chick that hatched (about an hour ago) has a little bit of membrane and shell stuck to it's back. I just checked the 'bator and it was lying on it's back with a bunch of chickens pecking at it. I flipped it over and it ran away. Do I take it out to remove the membrane? It's still wet-ish, not fluffy.
.
Thanks! We have had 23 hatch...my cat got into the room with chicks and beheaded one.

She's been around dozens and dozens of chicks and never bothered them. Not sure what changed, but we now have a process in place to make sure that both cats are out of the room when we close the door. We're trying to get them all moved out to one of the new coops we built. But in the mean time we need to find a lid for the brooder.

What size is the brooder?
Can you put up a pic....maybe I can give you an idea

 

[LocalYokel]

x2  I like your double viewing window though, if that's the new one.

Old (but great)

New (love automatic temp control)

 

[LocalYokel]

I think a hen is going to go broody!

e e e

 

[kwhites634]

Old (but great)


New (love automatic temp control)

Older is usually better. Now you take me, for instance....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have another curiosity question, & I'm betting you have the right answer. From 5 layers, I usually get 5 eggs daily. Yesterday I got 4, this morning I got 6. The bedding is overly deep for extra warmth in this cold weather that doesn't want to go away (32* first thing), so it's conceivable that the birds have managed to bury one once in a while, but this has happened fairly frequently. Normally, it's pretty obvious that I've found an egg laid the previous day 'cause I can tell from the uneven color of the shell that it's been there a while. The eggs I got this morning showed no such uneven coloring.

I know that a hen will sometimes lay two eggs in one day; not common, but not unheard of. I'm wondering if a hen can develop a fully formed egg that for whatever reason doesn't get laid, then develop an egg the following day that gets laid, in the process pushing the first, unlayed egg out ahead of it.

You are getting good production now and that would be expected from fairly young birds this time of year. It also makes it much easier to figure out what's going on.
Sorry if this reply is too verbose but here goes.
Consider that it takes about 25 hours, more or less, to make an egg. Most of that time (about 21 hours) is spent in the shell gland getting calcium carbonate and pigment applied.
The ovum spends about 15 minutes in the infundibulum where it is fertilized if there is a rooster present.
The longest sections of the oviduct are the magnum and isthmus. In the magnum the future egg receives the inner and outer membrane and some water. That takes about 3 hours.
In the infundibulum the albumen is secreted around the yolk. That takes about an hour.
One of the shortest sections is the uterus or shell gland. There isn't room for 2 eggs in there at the same time.
While rare, it may be possible for an ovum to be released into the infundibulum before an egg is laid. Though that usually happens about an hour or perhaps much longer after an egg is laid. If that happens, it would only shorten the time between eggs to about 21 hours unless and egg was kicked out before all the calcium were applied.
Much rarer is when an egg backs up out of the uterus and gets joined with other material or even another yolk which is how an egg within an egg occurs.
Once the egg is released from the uterus, it is laid about a minute later.
All that said, the reports of 2 eggs a day are likely from eggs being laid very late in the day after collection or possibly an egg held in the cloaca while on the roost and laid at dawn. If someone has a lit henhouse or added light that comes on very early or even a bright moonlit night, I can see a hen coming off the roost at night to lay - thereby making room in the uterus for the next egg.

I use the following graphic in my advanced class.


As you've already said, an egg can get hidden in bedding.

A couple years ago there was someone on BYC that swore all their birds laid 2 eggs a day - every day. I suggested that they could get rich offering those genetics to the egg industry. They got very mad at me and said they wouldn't subject their birds to scrutiny by industry. Never heard from them again.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I can't help you even when I try you say I'm mean

Still love you though Brother

I feel you. I'm often considered mean. I guess I don't think I have time for the touchy feely stuff. Spent too many years in harsh working environments from the military to factories, etc.
Gotta grow some thicker skin.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Is @Sally Sunshine MIA ? I didnt hear from her yesterday either that I am remembering ..
I got 7/10 of my polish to hatch. They were /are all sticky. Should I wait a couple days before I give them a rinse ?