Newbie mom...questions...

[RubyNala97]

You guys are going to get so sick of me! I'm a newbie and feel this great responsibility to get this right! So here goes:
Recieved shipped silkie eggs yesterday morning. Made it here in 24 hours & all eggs look great externally. I tried candling & honestly couldn't find the air cell. They were just laid, so I'm thinking I'll give it a couple days & candle again. I know that most likely they have detached air cells. I left them upright to settle outside the incubator for 12 hours. Incubator was reading 99.5. Put them in last night at 9:30pm. Checked at 3:00am and incubator read 100.5! So I manually lowered it and at 7:30am it read 100. Or even 99.9. I tried lowering it again and its holding at 99.9-100. Is this okay?? Also not planning on turning eggs for 3 days. They are in cartons with a whole cut out the bottom. Is that ok to not turn them for 3 days, even though I don't know the condition of the air cell? Any advice appreciated. Of course my real kids get sick the day we start incubation, off to the drs! Thank you!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You guys are going to get so sick of me! I'm a newbie and feel this great responsibility to get this right! So here goes:
Recieved shipped silkie eggs yesterday morning. Made it here in 24 hours & all eggs look great externally. I tried candling & honestly couldn't find the air cell. They were just laid, so I'm thinking I'll give it a couple days & candle again. I know that most likely they have detached air cells. I left them upright to settle outside the incubator for 12 hours. Incubator was reading 99.5. Put them in last night at 9:30pm. Checked at 3:00am and incubator read 100.5! So I manually lowered it and at 7:30am it read 100. Or even 99.9. I tried lowering it again and its holding at 99.9-100. Is this okay?? Also not planning on turning eggs for 3 days. They are in cartons with a whole cut out the bottom. Is that ok to not turn them for 3 days, even though I don't know the condition of the air cell? Any advice appreciated. Of course my real kids get sick the day we start incubation, off to the drs! Thank you!

LOL. We feed off of helping others, so you are just feeding our need to help.

If you are using a forced air incubator (fan) then 99-100 is perfectly fine. If you have a still air incubator then you need temps to average 101-102F taken near the top of the eggs. You are probably right an the air cell is probably hard to see because of freshness, just make sure that when you are candling you are shining the light down into the egg from the air cell as it makes it much easier to see what is going on. Many people try candling from the bottom or side in the beginning and then can't tell what they are looking at. I haven't personally ventured into shipped eggs, but so far it sounds as if you are on the right track. Many people do not turn for the first couple days for shipped eggs so you should be good.
Good luck and I hope that your kids feel better!

 

[RubyNala97]

Ye

LOL. We feed off of helping others, so you are just feeding our need to help.     If you are using a forced air incubator (fan) then 99-100 is perfectly fine. If you have a still air incubator then you need temps to average 101-102F taken near the top of the eggs. You are probably right an the air cell is probably hard to see because of freshness, just make sure that when you are candling you are shining the light down into the egg from the air cell as it makes it much easier to see what is going on. Many people try candling from the bottom or side in the beginning and then can't tell what they are looking at. I haven't personally ventured into shipped eggs, but so far it sounds as if you are on the right track. Many people do not turn for the first couple days for shipped eggs so you should be good.
Good luck and I hope that your kids feel better!

yes, it is a fan incubator. Thank you for responding. I didn't turn the first 24 hours, just left them alone, fat end up. Today I began tilting them. Just moving the fat end from one side of the carton to the other. I think I'll do that for 48 hrs. Then loose the carton, lay them on their sides and turn 3xday. My 4 month old baby is very sick, but on a positive note, it making these first few days fly by and I don't have time to obsess over future baby chicks. It's helping me be patient and let them do their thing in the incubator!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Ye
yes, it is a fan incubator. Thank you for responding. I didn't turn the first 24 hours, just left them alone, fat end up. Today I began tilting them. Just moving the fat end from one side of the carton to the other. I think I'll do that for 48 hrs. Then loose the carton, lay them on their sides and turn 3xday. My 4 month old baby is very sick, but on a positive note, it making these first few days fly by and I don't have time to obsess over future baby chicks. It's helping me be patient and let them do their thing in the incubator!

Oh no. I hope he (she?) feels better. I hate when little ones are sick. My boy and I have been having a lot of head cold/sinus crap going on.

 

[RubyNala97]

LOL. We feed off of helping others, so you are just feeding our need to help.     If you are using a forced air incubator (fan) then 99-100 is perfectly fine. If you have a still air incubator then you need temps to average 101-102F taken near the top of the eggs. You are probably right an the air cell is probably hard to see because of freshness, just make sure that when you are candling you are shining the light down into the egg from the air cell as it makes it much easier to see what is going on. Many people try candling from the bottom or side in the beginning and then can't tell what they are looking at. I haven't personally ventured into shipped eggs, but so far it sounds as if you are on the right track. Many people do not turn for the first couple days for shipped eggs so you should be good.
Good luck and I hope that your kids feel better!

So, I took your advice and as I was tilting the eggs this morning, I took a flashlight and did just as you said, and I saw an air cell!!! I know that seems like such a little thing to be excited about but when they first came in, I searched and searched for the air cell to no avail. I was so excited! Thank you! Btw, yes head cold & sinus problems here too! I have 3 boys and the oldest is 9 but the youngest is 4 months. So the older boys brought home a cold and the baby ended up getting really sick-ear infection, fluid in the chest. The one thing I don't miss about babies, is how little they are & how sick they get. But he's on the mend now & I found an air cell, so it's good!

 

[lazy gardener]

Glad you're now turning those eggs. There's quite a bit written in the learning center about dealing with shipped eggs. I think the recommendation is to turn them, even if the air cells are not stable. I don't remember how long they recommend that you rest them before putting them in the incubator. If you haven't visited the learning center, it's a great place to go to answer questions you didn't even know you had, as well as just generally educate yourself about every thing chicken.