May 2020 Hatch-A-Long

[Minky]

Joining the May group! This is my first hatch of the year out of my blue wheaten marans. I'm not clan breeding anymore but rather making specific selections.

These eggs are from my older two hens who have the best type. They're not very dark but large and very round. They were covered by a 'nephew' cockerel from a very dark egg (I'm loosely following a line breeding plan).

So hopefully I will get offspring with great type who lay darker, round eggs! Cross your fingers for me.

View attachment 2089947

Hi -Im curious why you are wanting round eggs, is it just personal preference? I have a Welsummer who lays 90 g totally round eggs every time. Like a giant turtle. I think they are very cool, but totally impractical for egg cartons.
Also, what do you mean "the best type". (sorry, newbie-ish question im sure)

 

[Minky]

My eggs from MH should arrive today or tomorrow...hopefully. The mail in Michigan has been super wonky lately...some things arrive days later than they are supposed to, and some arrive early! Either way, I'm antsy for them to get here! My broody Judy buff orp has finally committed so I want to swap out her eggs (most of them are fake or pullet eggs) for some of the legbar eggs and the welsummer egg.

I have a Broody Trudy! (although she's not broody this year!!). Hope your eggs come!

I started my eggs on Fri April 10th, but it was afternoon- and they finally got to temperature at 10 pm on the 10th. So when should I first candle?
FRI -day zero
SAT- day 1?
SUN day 2
MON day 3
TUE day 4
WED day 5. ??? is that right? or since I started so late in the day is SAT also day zero, making today only day 4?

Im so confused.

 

[gmjarvi]

I have a Broody Trudy! (although she's not broody this year!!). Hope your eggs come!

I started my eggs on Fri April 10th, but it was afternoon- and they finally got to temperature at 10 pm on the 10th. So when should I first candle?
FRI -day zero
SAT- day 1?
SUN day 2
MON day 3
TUE day 4
WED day 5. ??? is that right? or since I started so late in the day is SAT also day zero, making today only day 4?

Im so confused.

I call all of my broodies "broody judy" even though none of them are actually named Judy I just like the rhyme. Hahaha.

There are lots of opinions/methods on day counting and candling. I try not to worry about the exact timing of candling so much. Chances are you will see development on a D4 egg and if not you can just candle again in a couple of days to be sure.

 

[gmjarvi]

What does that abbreviation mean

My best hatches have been hand turned to and I use a vertical turner.

I'll see how good my hand turning works on the quail because I can't even see inside their eggs

Lol, "for what it's worth," sorry!

 

[FortCluck]

My eggs from MH should arrive today or tomorrow...hopefully. The mail in Michigan has been super wonky lately...some things arrive days later than they are supposed to, and some arrive early! Either way, I'm antsy for them to get here! My broody Judy buff orp has finally committed so I want to swap out her eggs (most of them are fake or pullet eggs) for some of the legbar eggs and the welsummer egg.

I was calling my Cochin Judy the other day because I think she's going broody

 

[SueT]

I started my eggs on Fri April 10th, but it was afternoon- and they finally got to temperature at 10 pm on the 10th. So when should I first candle?
FRI -day zero
SAT- day 1?
SUN day 2
MON day 3
TUE day 4
WED day 5. ??? is that right? or since I started so late in the day is SAT also day zero, making today only day 4?

I think you'd consider that day 1 began 24 hours after coming to temperature. So each day begins at 10 pm....
Did you candle? Or waited till today?

 

[Floydie]

I have a 2000 lumen flashlight I use. It's hard to see through the speckles.

I used the light on my phone to candle the quail eggs, it worked for both button and Japanese quail eggs. I do have a wallet phone case too so there is a cut out area where the camera and light is, so the eggs sit on that nicely.

 

[FortCluck]

I used the light on my phone to candle the quail eggs, it worked for both button and Japanese quail eggs. I do have a wallet phone case too so there is a cut out area where the camera and light is, so the eggs sit on that nicely.

Some are colored and you can't get light to shine through them. I pulled 4 clears and the rest seemed fine.

 

[gmjarvi]

MH eggs arrived this morning!

They are resting now. I might just get them incubating tonight instead of waiting a full 24 hours. I'm impatient lol. I wasn't expecting amazing eggs, but I can tell just by looking at some of these eggs that they are super porous. One of the CCL eggs has some hairline cracks in it, so I might try to nail polish those and see what happens. The welsummer egg is so beautiful, though I wish I had gotten more of those instead of the speckled sussex..I have some speckled Sussex chicks right now and honestly most of them are jerks.

I'm debating which eggs I should give to my broody. Anybody hatch shipped eggs with a broody before? Is it easier than the bator? Gah. Maybe candling before setting would help.

 

[ASteelman]

Hi -Im curious why you are wanting round eggs, is it just personal preference? I have a Welsummer who lays 90 g totally round eggs every time. Like a giant turtle. I think they are very cool, but totally impractical for egg cartons.
Also, what do you mean "the best type". (sorry, newbie-ish question im sure)

Good questions. Marans eggs are supposed to be very round, rather than a more typical egg shape with a round vs pointy end.

When people talk about a bird's "type" they are usually referring to its body type, and how its shape conforms to the Standard of Perfection for its breed set by the APA (american poultry association). For instance in my Marans I am looking for deep chests, 45 degree tail angle, wide all the way through the body, wide V tail rather than pinched, etc etc.

It might be short for phenotype but I'm not sure about that. Phenotype is "the set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment."