January 2021 Hatch-A-Long

[UThobbyfarmer]

They have only internally pipped. So I think they’ll hatch tomorrow.

What...what?! Someone has chicks hatching already? I'm so jealous! Bring on the 2021 peepers!

 

[hysop]

Here is early development in a brown egg. It's been incubating 20 hours. My flashlight is 1240 lumen. I hold the egg horizontal and have the flashlight underneath (not the air cell end).

Can you see the slightly smaller circle within the yolk? I outlined it in one pic. It's kind of a "you see it or you don't" kind of thing. Same brown egg all pics except for the last one whick is my "blank" probably infertile brown egg. I took some of white eggs too. I'll do a different post for that egg.

View attachment 2469792View attachment 2469795View attachment 2469796View attachment 2469797

Oh wow thanks. I’ll start looking for that and comparing in the spring when my chickens start laying eggs. I only have one rooster to 18 girls so I’m sure I’ll come across some infertile ones. I’m hoping to hatch a friendly rooster with this batch since they are not at all related to any of my flock.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Here's a white TJ that does have some development. It's been incubating 36 hours. For a white egg with as bright as a flashlight as I use the changes in the blastoderm should be extremely noticable (to my eye). Instead it's much more subtle and I had to wait an extra 1/2 day to see anything at all. Which is why I said they seem delayed.

Same white egg for the first two pics. Last pic is a "blank", possible infertile, TJ egg from the same batch for comparison.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Oh wow thanks. I’ll start looking for that and comparing in the spring when my chickens start laying eggs. I only have one rooster to 18 girls so I’m sure I’ll come across some infertile ones. I’m hoping to hatch a friendly rooster with this batch since they are not at all related to any of my flock.

Nice! That's actually great from a learning perspective. Did you see the changes I was talking about?

I love good roosters! Hopefully you have another 1-2 that make the cut. We've had a few truly excellent ones over the years. They're the stuff of legends. We still talk about them fondly years after their passing.

 

[hysop]

Nice! That's actually great from a learning perspective. Did you see the changes I was talking about?

I love good roosters! Hopefully you have another 1-2 that make the cut. We've had a few truly excellent ones over the years. They're the stuff of legends. We still talk about them fondly years after their passing.

Yes, I did. And I think I have seen that before when I candle super early and didn’t think much of it but now I’ll know it’s a good sign! Since I usually look for red veins, but now I can start looking for that if I’m impatient

Our current rooster is the best. I’m not sure how old he is, so before he gets too old I will want to keep one of his future male offspring.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

I've been reading articles of embryonic development and storage. As you can imagine there is no shortage of articles on this topic. This one is more of a summary but it back up what I'm seeing with these TJ's eggs. 9/12 eleven days old eggs are developing albeit slowly. None of the older, 18 day, eggs are developing (to be expected). The metabolism IS affected by long term cold storage. Excellent example of epigenetics at work.

"Embryos of eggs stored long-term can be affected such that they do not initiate growth after proper incubation temperatures are provided; they initiate growth, but grow at a slower rate than eggs stored short term; and they are affected in both of the previously mentioned ways."

Poor litte guys. I kind of feel bad trying them. Oh well, no turning back now. I'll do some more digging on pubmed to see how hatchability is affected in embryos with slowed metabolism. Then I'll be ready for any potential ill fated hatching results.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17435042/

 

[Willow2253]

Looking like the eggs under broody are empty. I’ll candle again tomorrow just in case and replace them if I have to.

 

[ackie]

broody is gone
feathers, no body
eggs inside in an incubator now but not sure how long they sat without her
it was cold last night
and I'm having issues with incubator temp so they may have been at 101.5 for a bit
what temp is absolutely death?

 

[ackie]

on the up side! surprise 10 day old chicks! (quantity 10. age 1 day)

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Looking like the eggs under broody are empty. I’ll candle again tomorrow just in case and replace them if I have to.

That's a bummer. How long has she been setting? Would day old chicks be better for her?