Natural Nest incubation(my attempt)

[foxvalleyfarm]

I gotcha.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Ah gotcha. Well if you want I can send you a dozen from the lady that I got mine from. I paid $2.50 for them and atleast 3 are going good.

Oooh, what kind of eggs? XD

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

Just a barnyard mix. She actually sells them for eatting. 2 that I got were pretty dark brown, got 2 big white, some smaller white, and light shade browns.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

Okay so I broke my no candling for a week thing and candled ALL the eggs this morning and I'm going to report my findings here.

Box Incubator: (All of these are chicken eggs) Day 5 at time of candling, now on Day 6
1) Small yolk, no observable development
2) Medium sized dark mass inside, no veins, but mass seems larger
3) Large dark mass, almost fills egg, good sized air cell
4) Possible blood ring, will recheck on Sunday night and make a decision then. Moved away from other eggs
5) Very large mass, possible veins, good air cell, growing air cell
6) Almost no visible mass, will leave for a week and recheck
7) Very small yolk, no visible veins
8) Very large mass, no visible veins, dark shell
9) Large dark mass, dark shell, will recheck Sunday night
10) Large dark mass
11) Large dark mass
12) Veins, embryo seems larger, possible heartbeat
13) Veins, embryo seems larger possible heartbeat


Styrofoam Incubator: (Mix of types All shipped) Day 2 at time of candling, now on Day 3
1) Duck Egg, Medium Mass, very slight saddle air
2) Duck Egg, medium mass, slight saddle air
3) Duck Egg, medium mass, saddle air
4) Duck Egg, medium mass, air cell has healed, may lay on side outside carton
5) Goose Egg, Medium mass, saddle air
6) LF, Small mass, saddle air
7) LF, medium mass, seems larger, detached air cell
8) LF, medium mass, detached air
9) Bantam, small mass, detached air
10) Bantam, small mass, detached air
11) LF, Medium mass, detached air
12) LF, Medium mass, air cell almost healed
13) Bantam, Small mass, detached air
14) Bantam, small mass, detached air.

I got my water wiggles yesterday and let them warm up last night before putting them inside both this morning. When I left for town the temps on both were mostly stable. I'm finding that I have to turn and air out my box every three hours or because the inside egg temps climb up and up, no matter what setting I put the heating pad on, unless I put it on 1 and then they drop. I've tried removing my rice pillow and they drop or climb, I've removed the real pillow and have the same issue. I may get a second boa and try that because when I'm not home it only gets checked every 6 hours or so and when I get back the temps are almost 101 inside the egg, and by that I mean the thermometer that is actually inside a white store box egg.

When I got home last night my Styrofoam incubator was almost at 103, remember that the thermometers are on top of the eggs so closer to the heating element, it's a still air, and that was the air temp. I have no idea how long they were at those temps, but I'm praying it didn't hurt them. Those duck eggs are really special to my husband. He actually bought them on ebay after saying I couldn't buy any more. So I hope they all hatch, they are Ancona Ducks. Any ideas on the possible damage? I got the temps down within moments of coming home.

 

[Beekissed]

You can see the heartbeat?? I'm seeing dark blobs and less dark blobs. You must have good eyes for that....or I'm really old.

Maybe that area in which you are keeping the box is having too much temp fluctuations to keep your box at a steady temp? I was having the same problem when the nest was in my window seat but it stopped immediately when I took it out of that window and moved it 2 ft. over into a deeply cushioned chair.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

You can see the heartbeat?? I'm seeing dark blobs and less dark blobs. You must have good eyes for that....or I'm really old.

Maybe that area in which you are keeping the box is having too much temp fluctuations to keep your box at a steady temp? I was having the same problem when the nest was in my window seat but it stopped immediately when I took it out of that window and moved it 2 ft. over into a deeply cushioned chair.

I think I can, but who knows. My eyes actually sucks so I may be seeing it moving with my own heartbeat or who knows. I will resist the urge to recandle til Monday night, when I will involve my visiting grandma and a dark house. I did it around noon today and only had some curtains closed, but my husband wouldn't let me do much else and my house has too many windows to have any dark places besides the over stuffed closets, well and the room housing my brooder, which the meaties always think I have food so it's too dangerous to go in there.

And my whole house suffers from bad insulation and it's against the only wall in the house that it's part of an outside wall, and it's out of the way. So it may be the issue, but I don't have anything I can do about it. I guess I could try insulating the box somehow, but I have no idea how. Hopefully I'll get my camera back on Tuesday and I can try to post pictures. I did just look at some developing embryo pics and the possible blood ring may not be a ring. Who knows. I'm going to give it a few days before doing something with it. #9 I thought had a blood ring on Wednesday around 2 pm, but this morning seemed to have a somewhat growing mass, so who knows, I may let most stay til day 18. One is almost clear no so it may go. And interestingly enough one of them came out of my fridge(bought from a local so are fertile) and it seems to be growing a mass. So I may get a miracle baby seeming that hose eggs were in my fridge for like 3 weeks.

 

[Beekissed]

You can either wrap the box in an old blanket, comforter or sleeping bag or place it down inside a larger box and stuff the difference in space with newspapers to help insulate it.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

You can either wrap the box in an old blanket, comforter or sleeping bag or place it down inside a larger box and stuff the difference in space with newspapers to help insulate it. 

I'll what I can do when I get home, tho my thermometers all stick out the box

 

[Beekissed]

I'll what I can do when I get home, tho my thermometers all stick out the box

The part that reads temps do not, however, so it should help in some way.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

The part that reads temps do not, however, so it should help in some way.

What I meant was that if I put my box inside another box or wrap it in a blanket I'll have to unwrap it or take it out to read my thermometers. And because I'm paranoid I have 4.... 1 measuring inside an egg, 1 stuck slightly into the dirt, 1 measuring the air(or as best as I can get it to), and one in my wiggle.