July 4th Hatch-A-Long?

[blogachick]

I am from WA state. I went to Montana 9 hrs. away to get new blood for my flock, 2 diff farms. mystery eggs and 6 goose eggs.

Your avatar is so cute. What breed is it? I lived in Spokane for twenty-five years and know the area well. Miss the rolling wheat fields and open space.

 

[CABINHOLLOWNC]

I'll join too! I was posting over on the June hatch along...as I set my 12 eggs (6 French Blue Copper Marans, 4 Easter Eggers & 2 Olive Eggers) in June...they should hatch July 1st. The June hatch along has gotten very quiet ...kind of lonely over there . Here is a picture of the eggs I set...

 

[blogachick]

I candled for the first time last night. Don't know what I was looking at though. Didn't see air sacs or black dots or vessels like the book said. There must be an art to this. I hope I get better...


Anybody see any birdies in there??

 

[blogachick]

Well, good luck on your hatch, I am sure you will do just fine. I tried candling my eggs early this morning and had no luck seeing a dang thing. Im hoping I just need new batteries for my flashlight as I have always been able to see growth by day 3 (on past hatches) and now I am on 7 with nothing much to see.

Did you see anything yet?

 

[Maeschak]

Did you see anything yet?

Not yet, I am going to try again either tonight or super early tomorrow morning (before the sun rises)... there are no completely dark places in my house so I have to wait until dark. And since it doesnt get super dark out until super late it is a bit of a project! 37 dang eggs to do! Ha! (I am also trying a much more 'hands off' approach this hatch- I usually obsess about the eggs, checking temps every few hours, constantly candling, etc.) I did weigh the eggs on day 7 and they seem to be losing the correct amount of moisture so fingers crossed everything is going well. Tomorrow will be day 10 and I believe that is a good time find and remove the duds. I will also be rigging up a better candling light using some aluminum foil. Hopefully that will help.

 

[Maeschak]

I candled for the first time last night. Don't know what I was looking at though. Didn't see air sacs or black dots or vessels like the book said. There must be an art to this. I hope I get better...

View attachment 1049647 View attachment 1049649 View attachment 1049651
Anybody see any birdies in there??

Im not positive but I think egg 7-b isn't fertile. (No dark spots at all and very even coloring). Don't chuck it though- give it more time for sure.

Also, air sacs can be difficult to see early on simply because the sac is often smaller than the candling light - imagine a circle inside of a circle and the bigger circle is your candling light and the smaller circle is the air sac. You just might not be seeing the sac because it is being covered by the larger diameter light. If you work the candling light around the corners of the fat end you should see the air sac.

 

[blogachick]

Not yet, I am going to try again either tonight or super early tomorrow morning (before the sun rises)... there are no completely dark places in my house so I have to wait until dark. And since it doesnt get super dark out until super late it is a bit of a project! 37 dang eggs to do! Ha! (I am also trying a much more 'hands off' approach this hatch- I usually obsess about the eggs, checking temps every few hours, constantly candling, etc.) I did weigh the eggs on day 7 and they seem to be losing the correct amount of moisture so fingers crossed everything is going well. Tomorrow will be day 10 and I believe that is a good time find and remove the duds. I will also be rigging up a better candling light using some aluminum foil. Hopefully that will help.

Wow, 37 eggs! I only have 18 and that seems like a lot. You mentioned weighing the eggs? I didn't know that was a thing I should do. Can you tell me a little more about it?

I know what you mean about obsessing. It seems like I'm checking the temperature and humidity every five minutes and the humidity is driving me crazy. The directions say to keep it between 58 & 60% until hatching but I've read on the forum people recommending no more than 30% or 40% so I'm not sure what to do. But then again it doesn't seem to matter how much water I add or take away, the humidity sensor has a mind of its own. I finally gave up trying and it bounces between 51% and 57%. I hope I'm not killing my babies. Any thoughts?

Good luck tonight. I hope you have live chicks in those 37 eggs!

 

[blogachick]

Im not positive but I think egg 7-b isn't fertile. (No dark spots at all and very even coloring). Don't chuck it though- give it more time for sure.

Also, air sacs can be difficult to see early on simply because the sac is often smaller than the candling light - imagine a circle inside of a circle and the bigger circle is your candling light and the smaller circle is the air sac. You just might not be seeing the sac because it is being covered by the larger diameter light. If you work the candling light around the corners of the fat end you should see the air sac.

Thanks so much for the feed back and air sac info. My candling apparatus is an upside-down flower pot with a hole in the bottom and a high intensity flashlight shining up through it. When I candled for the first time I just sat the egg on top of the hole and now I understand why I didn't see air sacs. Can't wait to try again next Tuesday (day 14)!

 

[gimmie birdies]

My Avatar is a "Greyslyn" only 2 of her kind, both F. lays "grey eggs."

 

[goat114]

Okay I have a question about one of my eggs it's not looking like it's fertili but I'm on day 11 of 21 should I keep it in the incubator or take it out