new to hatching eggs

When you buy hatching eggs they should not have been incubated, so there will be no development in them until you do incubate them or put them under a broody hen. Chicken eggs take 21 days, not 28 though! If you don't know much about the process, the best idea would be to read through as many threads in the 'Incubating and Hatching Eggs' section here as you can, and do it before you buy any eggs. Incubating really isn't all that difficult, but without the proper information I think the chances of a successful hatch would be almost zero!

Chuckling at the thought of buying eggs and having them hatch out the next day. I guess that would make life a LOT easier for an awful lot of us hatch-a-holics on here...

 

Quote:X 2!!! And man would that be nice to have them hatch the next day!!!

 

I suggest you read through this. I think it is pretty good information to prepare for incubating. I reread it each time before I start another batch in the incubator.

Texas A&M Incubation site
http://gallus.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/b6092.pdf

Most hens are good mothers when they go broody. Silkies go broody a lot more than many other breeds, so they get a reputation as being good mothers. I'm sure most of them are good mothers.

I don't have silkies so I don't have that experience. I have noticed from posts on this forum that when a broody goes back to the wrong nest it is often a silkie. I've noticed that those sweet mild-mannered nice silkies are mentioned often when people post that a broody did not protect her chicks from other hens. I suspect most of this is that silkies go broody a lot and have more opportunities to do something wrong. I don't think that they are necessarily bad mothers when they go broody, just that they get more opportunities to do something wrong because they are more often broody so they get reported more often.

Hope that makes sense.

 

After having bought over 200 hatching eggs from both BYC-ers and ebay and ONLY successfully hatched 4 chicks, I would offer the following free advice:

Test your incubator for as long as you can stand to! Use a couple of thermometers that have min/max storage. This way you can see how low/ high your temps get BEFORE you put expensive eggs in the bator.

Let eggs sit at room temp, pointy end down, for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours before putting them into the bator.

Avoid bargains, especially on ebay! There is usually a reason that no one else has bid on those 99 cent eggs. (maybe the $16 "shipping" charge for 6 "mixed" eggs!) Always read the feedback on ebay!

Avoid auctions that do not show parent stock, they may be hiding something. Ask specifically where the parent stock came from, especially if you are spending more than 50 cents an egg! If they are selling eggs from hatchery stock, YOU can go buy hatchery stock that is GUARANTEED to live for only $2-3 each!

ASK what the parent stock are fed! Cheap, low-protein food will keep the parent stock alive and healthy, but will produce weak embryos.

Ask questions before you buy, lots of questions. They should have put the information in the ad, then you wouldn't have to ask!

ASK HOW THEY PACK THE EGGS!!! Egg cartons are fine for bringing eggs home from the store, but every time I have gotten shipped eggs in egg cartons, there are broken eggs! Bargain here on BYC has a BRILLIANT page on how to pack eggs, refer whoever you buy from to her page on how to pack eggs correctly. I have not bought eggs from Bargain, but I have heard only good things about her eggs and practices.

I HIGHLY recommend asking sellers for references, especially on here, find out who else has bought from them and how their experience was.

My experience with "helping" the chick hatch was - every time I would "help" the chick would die. Not all will survive, a lot of factors go into whether that chick or not, and my big, clumsy attempts at helping, although well-intentioned, were not the answer!

Good luck hatching, I hope this information is helpful, I learned slowly and at GREAT expense, but hopefully my experience can help others.

 

Quote:X 2!!! And man would that be nice to have them hatch the next day!!!

X10