New flock

[Jotaylor]

Hi, we just got a flock of 4 hens, but they came in a flock of 15 that had 2 roosters. We know that they were not separated at their previous home. We have had them 2 days now and so far have gotten 2 eggs from 2 specific birds. What we are trying to figure out is if those eggs are fertilized without breaking them. If they are we are fine hatching them but are trying to figure out what we should do. Our main purpose is for eggs, but will take a few extra babies if they are fertilized. Any advice on incubating and how long to incubate before we could candle them and see if they have babies. Thanks!

 

[chicken pickin]

CHances are if they were in with 2 roosters then all the eggs you get from them will be fertile for about 3 weeks. Id incubate them

I also just picked up 2 pullets and they have been giving me an egg a day each for the past 5 days I had set eggs on mon so I put 2 of each of their eggs. Im kickin myself now for setting so early because they are both laying great and my own flock is now showing signs of fertile eggs from my own rooster. But any way lol Id set them and if you want to check to see if you have signs of life you could candle them about day 4 and you should start seeing signs of veining and maybe even a black dot which would be the chicks eye.

 

[CHICKEN CRAZY1]

You could candle the eggs with a flashlight in a small room. There is an article about it on the learning page under hatching and raising chicks.

 

[sumi]

If the hens were kept with roosters and the roosters did what they do, the hens should lay fertile eggs for another 2 weeks approx. You can store hatching eggs for up to 14 days before setting them, but keep in mind that the chance of them hatching will start dropping significantly after day 7. If you store eggs for hatching choose clean, undamaged eggs. Do not wash them as this removes the protective "bloom" on the shell that keeps bacteria out. Also store them fat end up and turn them at least once a day. You can do this by placing them in an egg carton/tray and putting something like a book under one side of the carton and then the other side, tilting the eggs side to side.
Once you start incubating them you can candle them after 7 days to check if the eggs are developing. Sometimes, especially with dark shelled eggs it's difficult to tell on day 7, so don't discard any eggs you are unsure off. Candle again on day 10 and double check. I can tell you a lot about incubating, but this article explains and illustrates in very well:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

When you are ready to start incubating or if you have any more questions come join us on this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/704328/diary-notes-air-cell-detatched-shipped-eggs

Ignore the title. It started with a batch of shipped eggs, but it's turned into a very informative hatch along where you will get lots of good advice and help, when needed. Or just some hatch crazy people to chat chicks and eggs with!

 

[Jotaylor]

WOW! Ok that was not an answer I expected! We really don't know any thing about chickens lol Ok it looks like I have alot of reading to do and we might need to get an incubator, here is my quick makeshift incubator. I have a heat gun handy to keep check onthe temp. It is a cookie tin I

 

[chicken pickin]

Hmmm I dont know if that set up will work but you could try. The eggs need to be at about 99.5 degrees and they also need to be at a certain humidity depending on your own preferance i try to keep mine at about 40% humidity. eggs need to be turned while incubating between 3-5 times a day (always an odd num of times) and after 18 days the last 3 days on incubation is called lockdown and humidity needs to be raised to around 60-65%. An incubator might be a better option or you can even check out threads on homemade incubators.

 

[sumi]

I don't think that is going to work very well, sorry! You will need to control and monitor the humidity around the eggs and up it or lower it when needed. I don't suppose you have a cooler box laying around that you could use? Here's a great article on how to build a "coolerbator":

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubator-incubator

The member who build that incubator had some fantastic hatch rates using it and I'll definitely recommend it.

Also see here for more on homemade incubators:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=19675

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=21547

And for more on incubating eggs, raising chicks, keeping chickens etc:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

 

[Sally Sunshine]

WOW! Ok that was not an answer I expected! We really don't know any thing about chickens lol Ok it looks like I have alot of reading to do and we might need to get an incubator, here is my quick makeshift incubator. I have a heat gun handy to keep check on the temp. It is a cookie tin I

You have a wonderful start! Enthusiasm and a will to learn! Some great information handed to you! I hope you do some reading and hatch some chicks! your early on enough to make this happen! What kinda chickens have you gotten?

 

[Jotaylor]

I just updated my profile so please take a look and see if you can help us identify our breeds!

 

[sumi]

I'm not so good at guessing breeds LOL Why don't you repost those pics here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this

And ask the people who frequent that section?