Just put in my first batch of eggs today!

[Pattymal]

Um, duh!
I just realized I don't need to have the egg over the bulb where the heat rises- I can put a hole in the side of the box and hold the eggs up next to it. Geesh- why didn't I think of that before????

 

[navywife22]

I saw eyes in a couple of my silkie eggs today too!

I was so excited! So far I have had 1 blood ring and 1 definitely not fertile so me and my son cracked it and it looked like what you would get from an egg you bought from the store on the inside. There are a couple more that I think are infertile too, but I am leaving them a couple more days. I have a ? on some of mine as well. I have been using a flashlight with a styrofoam cup and paper towel for my candler

for my silkie eggs and I can see really well in those. But, for my EE eggs are dark and I can't see through them with my silly candler. LOL So, I took my living room lamp in the pantry and made a hole in a shoebox and put them up there with that and can see the blobs but not sure I see anything else. Of course, I had my almost 2 year old daughter in the pantry pulling things off shelves so I was in a rush.

I really want to see inside those eggs. I think I get more excited than my 7 year old son. I saw the eye in one and I was yelling for him to come look and all he said was, yeah, and went back to playing his DS.

I just know I am going to want to do this again after these hatch! I have white, buff, and blue silkies and I hope most of them hatch (13 of those altogether) and I have 13 EE eggs. 2 silkie eggs were tossed and I think at least 2 more are infertile.

Hoping we all have good hatches. I can't wait to see pics and take pics to show all of you!

Day 5...we have eyes in at least 4 silkie eggs....My son and I just went and checked them and this time he was excited and when it moved he said it was playing peek-a-boo.

 

[Pattymal]

Navywife- that's so cool!

I candled again tonight and now I think most of my 15 eggs are developing! One is clear, one I think is clear but it is pretty porous and hard to say for certain, and I think the rest are doing OK.
I am wondering if it's a good idea to candle every day or two and check for blood rings, or if I should just leave 'em alone at this point...
It's pretty tempting to peek in there and see what's going on!
I am sooo tempted to buy one of those cool-light candlers...

 

[navywife22]

I think I mess with mine too much so I am going to leave them alone now for a few days. I still think a few are not fertile at all. I have a few with question marks and still haven't really been able to see inside my EE eggs yet so I have no idea what's going on with them. Tomorrow is day 7 for me.

We have no coop! So, we need to get to Lowe's and start building. I am kind of waiting to see if any hatch first before we spend the money on that. They will be in a brooder for a while so we have time, I think.

If I continue to do this, I am going to just buy a candler. It would make life so much easier.

Keep us posted on your eggs! I love hearing everyone's progress.

Kari

 

[AmyJ]

Hi Navywife! We have a coop but its not totally finished yet either! We got some chicks in April and said oh we have lots of time lol. It's mostly outside stuff to finish up not much though. But our first chicks are so big now and beautiful, we just ended up getting too many roosters.

My daughter kept asking me if we could hatch some so I thought now with school over would be a great time to try and do it. I'm on day 7 with ours and they look good so far when I candled them today. They all look like they are developing, except for the ones I can't see in. I'm really hoping they hatch and hope you all have a good hatch too!

 

[Pattymal]

We don't have a coop yet either!
We are moving at the end of the month from a 1/2 acre suburban plot to a 6 acre one.

If the kids and I get our way, chickens are just the beginning! But we have to go slowly and see what we can afford! For now we will see what we hatch and then get to work on the coop, while the chicks are in the brooder. If my 5yo has her way, all our chicks will be house pets anyway, LOL!
I am thinking of buying some guinea hen keets too, as I am worried about ticks at the new property- it is all overgrown pasture and tick heaven there! Oh yes, and ducklings are so cute...

 

[navywife22]

Now I don't feel so bad not having a coop yet.

Good luck on your move! It would be nice to have some acreage. When my husband retires from the Navy in 2 years we are moving back to Kansas and looking to get some land. If I had my way, I would have all kinds of animals. We had Nigerian Dwarf Goats for a while.

They were a lot of fun! Now, I am doing the chicken thing. I am afraid once these hatch I won't want to stop!

I seriously need some acreage now.

 

[navywife22]

Had to destroy 4 more silkie eggs, so I am down to 8 from 14!

No development at all. Looked like eggs from the store when I cracked them. But, on a happy note, ONE little chicky is really developing! I can see his head, neck, body, and it looks like I can see his heart beating too!

I am going to try to video it later when the hubby gets home and post a link. Still have a question on 2 Silkie eggs and I do see veining in some. Wonder why the one little guy is so advanced in development?? I'm happy though!

 

[navywife22]

Day 7 of my silkie egg. I think he may be my only one out of the bunch of my silkie eggs, but who knows. We can see his body and see his heart beating.

I am hoping it's a girl.

 

[darbella]

I also placed my first batch into a LG bator tonight. The temp read 100 and went down 2 degrees by the time I placed 15 tiny banty eggs inside. How quickly does the water evaporate??? The bator itself is in a room that stays between 68-72 degrees all summer. What is the best way to add water to the little canals in the base? maybe pipe it in with aquarium tubing so you doint have to take the top off or is it best to take out the clear plastic windows when fiddling with turning the eggs or adding water? This is my first hatch and I had to go and buy the serama eggs, i would hate to mess this up. I should have tried an easier breed to hacth!