March Hatching Madness

[cook_kaka_ook]

Set eggs on Valentine's day. March 7th is the target hatch day. This will be my 2nd attempt in a still-air bator. My first hatch last August was (13 out of 19= 68%) shipped eggs. I have 10 BCM and 11 Ameraucanas. Eggsciting....

 

[sevenchickens]

I'm on day 12 of my first ever hatch. Perhaps I'm a little overprotective but, out of my 7 little eggs they all have veining and dark blobs (I'm trying to candle with a really week, apparently, flashlight) I saw movement in my EE X CuckooMarans but now there isn't any in any, they all look about the same, except 2 that are too dark. They still smell like fresh eggs. I'm worried!

 

[digitalsniper]

Im Still shooting for 3/9 for my hatch date, but my temps have been swinging so wildly i have no idea. I candled 3 of the 22+ and they all had movement, but my temps are swinging between 97.0 and 103.2 . I dont know whats going on with my bater but its not stable.
I am excited about 8 of the eggs from my gamecock and EE cross, Game and Barred rock crosses. I have 7 chicks that are 4 months old from him and the hens and they are INTERESTING looking mutts.lol. Wild as hell but Interesting looking. I cannot get them to befriend me. Oh and my pullets from my first hatch about 6 or so months ago started laying now (2 have) and im getting oversized shooter marble eggs from a Black mutt and a naked turk. I sure hope their eggs grow in size. it takes a dozen to make an egg sandwich. lol

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
Possibly even more so! LOL! I only have 6 tats! But I bought a cabinet bator last week, and I've even been ordering hatching eggs of breeds I have no intention of keeping!

 

[madornato]

Quote:
Hey--I'm on my first hatch and read lots of differing opinions on when to candle, so I decided to candle at 8 days and 2 weeks, deciding to get rid of the nonfertiles at 2 weeks to keep them from exploding in my incubator. It was really exciting to see the eggs at day 8--you could see the veins and the little chicks "swimming" around in there. So exciting for me and my kids. However, when I candled yesterday at day 13 you could only really see dark blobs that took up about 75-90% of the egg, but you could make out the edge of the wings on some of them, and one or two you could see moving slightly (out of 22 fertile eggs). What I'm trying to say is don't be too worried if you saw little movement on day 12--I think they're much bigger and can't move around as easily. Next time try day 8 as well--it was awesome. We candled with a fluorescent lightbulb inside of a shop light that we clipped to the side of a table. My hubby made a little platform of cardboard that attached to the side of the shop light. He cut a small hole in the middle of it. We just sat each egg on that little hole and peered through from the side in a dark room. I'm sure there are much better ways to candle eggs, but we just made do with what we had on hand that we could make quickly. Also, it seems that my eggs still smell the same as when they were first laid as well--don't know why.

Good luck.

 

[chicken stalker]

Quote:
Question 1: Yes there is a possibility of twins surviving. If you use the search button you can find some threads regarding hatching double yokers.
Question 2: If the roo is from a blue egg then he will pass a blue gene to his offspring. When crossed with a brown layer, the resulting hens will lay green to olive eggs. Blue covers brown which makes green in the chicken world.
Good luck!

 

[Madcap621]

Tomorrow evening will lock down the 8 remaining [if all pass candling] refrigerated/washed 'store-bought' eggs, expected to hatch 3-3. Of the 2 that made lockdown from the first dozen, one is hatched and one is sitting there doing nothing. That one has until tomorrow evening to hatch or get out of the hatcher! 2 more eggs will go into lockdown on March 3rd, for a 3-6 hatch. Sending good hatching vibes to all of the March hatchers!

 

[BBK]

I'll be candling again tonight...day 10..i'm a little nervous, b/c agqain, i'm not seeing movement...Maybe I'm just missing it..IDK?

good hatching vibes to everyone.... can't wait for the hatching to begin...

Melinda

 

[sevenchickens]

Thank you Madornato you put my mind to ease a bit. I'll hang in there!! 5 more days 'till lockdown. Can't wait to see the little peepers!

 

[ljs5451]

Tomorrow is lock down day for my 2nd batch in the cardboard box incubator, which is working better than I expected for just being a box. The night light bulbs keep the temps. very stable and the best part is that it didn't cost me a dime...lol. There are 19 eggs in there and I have seen some of the eggs wiggling. My humidity stays at a very constant 50% and the temp. ranges from 98º to 101º. My thermometer is the type you buy so you can read outdoor and indoor temps. and I love it because I can keep the monitor with me so that I can watch it closely. There is also a 4th night light bulb that I can turn on if the temp drops suddenly. I don't mind hand-turning the eggs, it gives me an excuse to mess with them.

The 10 from the first batch are doing well and nearly completely feathered out except for the little preemie, that one is a little smaller and doesn't have as much feathering but is not being picked on by the others. March 4 is day 21, I will report back with the results.