Incubators Anonymous

[TeaChick]

I've been on this kick getting everyone chatting about getting NPIP cert. and suddenly, I've got sick birds like crazy! Guess I'll call the dept of AG tomorrow still, but to be tested for the bad stuff instead of worrying about NPIP, for now.

 

[TeaChick]

I have had two bright blue eggs that pipped, but didn't zip. The first one I assisted. There was virtually no blood. It went really well. This is my first incubation ever, so I'm really a virgin at this all.

The shell was soooo thick compared to the lighter blue one that pipped and zipped and hatch within about 2 hours. I'm glad I helped because it was not doing the zipping itself. I have a second bright blue egg that was in the same situation. I've peeled back the egg shell around the pip to about halfway down. There was a spot with blood that came through the membrane. It just pooled; it wasn't free flowing. I put it back in the incubator, in the egg flat with some moist face-cleaned towellettes around it and under it. I'm giving it some time to absorb the capillaries before I try to help again. This eggshell was really thick, too.

I have a bantam blue wheaten that just started peeping, but no pip. Does that mean it's internally pipped? I hope it manages. I also have a Silkie egg that I candled because something was smelling in the incubator. It looked fully formed, but no movement. I pipped the aircell end and there was no movement whatsoever. I put it back and am going to give it some time. I had an olive egger yesterday that had air sacs at both end and was really light. That one had mold in it and seemed to have died a while ago.

I just replaced the cover and am going to go back to my reading for grad school. Appropriately, I'm reading Frankenstein. I may just call myself the Modern Chicken Prometheus.

Crested Cream Legbar:




Splash Amerecauna:

Erins flock-- pushing the limits is all part of IA!! lol

OT question: What kind of eggs are those in your avi?

 

[TeaChick]

Ordering eggs is a crap shoot. I have hatched exactly 4 chicks out of 56 eggs in 4 separate batches. And 2 of those were the wrong kind. Barred rocks instead of whites. My problem was allowing myself the opportunity to let me pay shipping on replacement eggs. They didn't change their way of packaging like I suggested. Definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

Learned my lesson. Only reputable sellers that know how to ship. Bubble wrap and two boxes. I ordered two separate batches of Sapphires, the super blue egg layers, from DMRippy and got great hatches.

Yeah, so I get eggs for free, so I don't care what I get, as long as it's chickens. lol

Quote:
Is the lesson not to set shipped eggs?
If so, then no; we'll set anything that has the remotest possibility of potentially hatching.

 

[TeaChick]

I wrap the eggs in newspaper first, and then I wrap bubble wrap around them but I keep the ends of the bubble wrap open. That way they can breathe.

You wrap meticulously, like me; I want eggs from you.

 

[ladycat]

You wrap meticulously, like me; I want eggs from you.

No eggs right now, they're not laying!

 

[TeaChick]

No eggs right now, they're not laying!

Oh, no!

Mine only just got back to laying, so I can't hatch any of my own yet either. =(

 

[LindaB220]

Quote: Very good advice. I'll try it. I'm still learning and trying to find out my mistakes. Of the two that were developing they were completely stuffed in the egg. I didn't notice how much air was inside. I dry hatched. Does that mean that I got it too dry and kept it too dry? It looked like they stopped developing about day 15-18 or so. I read that people never added water but I did and I live in a very humid area in NW La. It got as low as 16% and I tried to keep it upper 20's. I tried to keep it at 55% at lockdown. Some people say that's perfectly alright. But the rest of the eggs were scrambled totally. Came from Pa to La I have some Basques coming in next month and I want them to hatch darn it.

 

[calichicken]

Quote: x2...sometimes over thinking or worrying causes you to do more with the eggs when really you should be leaving them alone

...GUILTY !

 

[Bazy]

Yeah, so I get eggs for free, so I don't care what I get, as long as it's chickens. lol




Is the lesson not to set shipped eggs?
If so, then no; we'll set anything that has the remotest possibility of potentially hatching.

Not really a lesson not to set shipped eggs...I mean if you have them shipped, why not set them, right? More of a lesson of spending over $500 on shipped eggs and getting 9 chicks from it, four of which were 'bonus eggs' of breeds that I did not order, so do not count toward my breeding goal which means five chicks for $500. I could have ordered the five chicks direct from Greenfire for that price and been way ahead of the game.

My point is that shipped eggs are a gamble..roll of the dice. You have way too many variables beyond your (as a buyer) control to rely on shipped eggs for anything more than a hopeful dream come true. The bottom line is that Everything about shipped eggs can be blamed on post office handling....EVERYTHING. If you choose to order shipped eggs, and they don't hatch, you better be prepared to blame the post office. Period.

I sent a message to a somewhat local ebay seller...I love your birds! Do you allow pickups? they replied" Of course, but my eggs (in the auction) are not fertile right now, so you will have to wait until they are" yet they continued to sell the eggs on ebay. Point made.

I also had a seller reject my bid.." what happened" I asked..she said..i discovered my rooster is not doing his job, but I will let you know when he is....Ok....so I ordered from her 18 hatching eggs of a different breed and she GAVE me 12 of the eggs in question. ( why not, she's honest about my bid on her auction, right?) ONE was fertile of the 12 FREE eggs (from the rooster not doing his job) and 15 of the 18 are currently in lockdown. (plus the 'freebie') What is THAT hatch rate? Awesome, that's what!

I answered a late night ad for cream legbar eggs (must set now!! ) from a seller...about an hour+ away from me. He said..sorry, it was too late, I had to set them, but due to an unimportant, but technical issue, agreed to let me know when he had more eggs. One random Tuesday afternoon he says "I have your eggs!" so I drop everything to drive an hour and a half and 13 of the 13 eggs he gives me develop.

Face to face is best for me. Shipped eggs have some VERY dedicated sellers and some very NOT dedicated sellers..that's where YOU take the gamble on who to trust.

the bottom line should be arrived at by yourself. this is just my experience.

 

[calichicken]

Not really a lesson not to set shipped eggs...I mean if you have them shipped, why not set them, right? More of a lesson of spending over $500 on shipped eggs and getting 9 chicks from it, four of which were 'bonus eggs' of breeds that I did not order, so do not count toward my breeding goal which means five chicks for $500. I could have ordered the five chicks direct from Greenfire for that price and been way ahead of the game.

My point is that shipped eggs are a gamble..roll of the dice. You have way too many variables beyond your (as a buyer) control to rely on shipped eggs for anything more than a hopeful dream come true. The bottom line is that Everything about shipped eggs can be blamed on post office handling....EVERYTHING. If you choose to order shipped eggs, and they don't hatch, you better be prepared to blame the post office. Period.

I sent a message to a somewhat local ebay seller...I love your birds! Do you allow pickups? they replied" Of course, but my eggs (in the auction) are not fertile right now, so you will have to wait until they are" yet they continued to sell the eggs on ebay. Point made.

I also had a seller reject my bid.." what happened" I asked..she said..i discovered my rooster is not doing his job, but I will let you know when he is....Ok....so I ordered from her 18 hatching eggs of a different breed and she GAVE me 12 of the eggs in question. ( why not, she's honest about my bid on her auction, right?) ONE was fertile of the 12 FREE eggs (from the rooster not doing his job) and 15 of the 18 are currently in lockdown. (plus the 'freebie') What is THAT hatch rate? Awesome, that's what!

I answered a late night ad for cream legbar eggs (must set now!! ) from a seller...about an hour+ away from me. He said..sorry, it was too late, I had to set them, but due to an unimportant, but technical issue, agreed to let me know when he had more eggs. One random Tuesday afternoon he says "I have your eggs!" so I drop everything to drive an hour and a half and 13 of the 13 eggs he gives me develop.

Face to face is best for me. Shipped eggs have some VERY dedicated sellers and some very NOT dedicated sellers..that's where YOU take the gamble on who to trust.

the bottom line should be arrived at by yourself. this is just my experience.

Completely agree! I am trying at this point to get local eggs that I can pick up. My experiences with shipped eggs have not been very successful

I never really questioned the seller or quality because they had so much positive feedback and they did an amazing job with packing/shipping in my experiences. I just think that the mail and environmental issues(heat or cold) were too hard on them. I figure picking them up should eliminate this and hopefully get a better hatch!