Nov1- set 5 eggs -Skillet-bator... 3 live embryos

[alalele]

Quote:
Thanks for your thoroughness and reading all these confusing posts!

Ok... so wait till... day 7 and candle... only toss by day 12-14 unless smelly.... is day 4 too early to see anything? Some reason day 4 was on my mind to start candling.

Have you had experience candling EE eggs? I don't have a really powerful flashlight... so was thinking of putting a box (hole) over a strong lamp bulb... 100 watt? or other watt?

 

[willowcol]

Thats how i candle (box with lamp in it 100 watt bulb). I did on day 3 just because they were shipped eggs and I didn't check them when I unpacked them. I would think day 7 would be best. You would have a better chance of seeing something.

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
Thanks for your thoroughness and reading all these confusing posts!

Ok... so wait till... day 7 and candle... only toss by day 12-14 unless smelly.... is day 4 too early to see anything? Some reason day 4 was on my mind to start candling.

Have you had experience candling EE eggs? I don't have a really powerful flashlight... so was thinking of putting a box (hole) over a strong lamp bulb... 100 watt? or other watt?

If you know what your looking for you MIGHT be able to see something on day 4, what color are the eggs ?? Thats going to make it a little harder for you. Most dont candle till day 7ish, and with EE eggs will be hard then. At day 12 - 14 (as long as you can see in to the egg) you will be able to tell for sure whats a good egg and whats a dud/non fertile egg or dead egg (at that point you can crack open to see what happend, MAKE SURE THEY ARENT ALIVE. Like I said UNLESS they smell or are ozzing stuff out of them. I have not candled EE eggs before I HAVE candled DARK DARK brown eggs. That is what I do..... Cut a small hole on a box over a strong 100 watt bulb, I take one of hubbys metal clip on shop light things ($6 at walmart) AKA the things you put a heat bulb in.... that way I dont lose light, Do you know what im talking about ?

 

[alalele]

thank you both willowcall and swtangel!

Your encouragement and advice just what I need!

I'll wait till day 7 (unless stinky or ouzing) to candle like you both suggested because they are kinda medium color.... a grayish green or khaki.... some say celadon green shell... and the shells are thick.

http://leighanne.weebly.com/uploads/8/3/3/8/833856/7708901.jpg

http://leighanne.weebly.com/uploads/8/3/3/8/833856/8039735.jpg

I do have a metal clip lamp.. so I can put in a 100 watt bulb and cover with a box. I'll look that up to see photos when time is closer. Day 7 would be next Monday.... cause since I started at 11pm last night I'm counting today as Day ONE.... right?

Yikes that scared me when I read "make sure they aren't alive".... omg! Not sure what I've gotten myself into. The image of that just flashed through my mind... horrifying.

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
I know scares me to !!! Everytime I go to break a egg open (even if I know its bad) I just think..... What if !!! It just happend to a lady on here not to long ago.... She swore it was a bad egg, went to open it and guess what..... It wasnt a bad egg, it was good and she saw the tiny baby moving around. she was so upset with herself that she killed it!!! Thats why I say wait till day 14ish, by then you will know !!! The egg will look full, you will see a "blob" in the good eggs.

Yes, today is day 1 !! Ohhh and another tip on breaking eggs open.... When you break them open if they are bad/dud eggs they MIGHT smell..... BAD !!!!!!!! Real bad !!!! So.... just keep that in mind !!! Also if you can tell 100% the eggs are bad before that then toss em, b/c you dont want the exploding in your skillet bator !! Thats why you need to keep your nose open !!

 

[alalele]

Swtangel It sure is a lot to remember, so I've added that to my notes hanging by the bator. Sure don't want to experience that. Must have read the lady's post after the fact when she was making reference to it and I didn't know what she meant by "I killed one earlier" or to that effect. yikes... that would be hard for me to deal with, as it was for her. At least people here know and understand how it could happen and we can try to avoid going through that.

I weighed 2 bator eggs just now... they both weighed 1.7oz so I didn't do the rest. Maybe I should so I can keep track of them individually. I wonder if that would be a way to tell if they are "coming along"? I saw a chart somewhere of (maybe on the link you provided) of the air cell growth and if they are losing humidity maybe they will weigh less before the chick started to grow. Anyone have that info?

I weighed some of my fresh eggs and they ranged from 1.9 to 1.6oz.... several were 1.7 though. Maybe it means nothing but I still don't know if I could have already gone to high in the early stages and these may not be viable now? I'll have to wait ... and keep monitoring and learning about this skillet-bator. I think 'it' has hope and can hatch some eggs with the knowledge I'm gaining now.

Ok... here are the stats I recorded since my last post: setting 1.4 on bator since 1:28pm SunNov2... I want to see what fluctuations happen without adjusting dial (location: 1/2 bath with door closed and no a/c vents)
Time Hum WigTemp Notes
6:00 36% 99.9f Perfect levels for last 3.5 hours with no adjustments
8:25p 32% 101.7 no adjustments.. just started raising on it's own
9:32 31% 102.9 Adj:Had to intervene- removed lid and flipped eggs to side X
12:45a 33% 95.2 full air circ to allow cooling
5:42a 32 91.6 stable overnight it appears...
5:44a 33 90.3 Adj: lid at angle with 2 corners exposed for air circ
8:18a 28 96.4

ok.. I need to work outside today in the yard and plan to still monitor all day and note fluctuations.. if the humidity goes below 25% I'll add a steamed cloth to bring it back up a little.

Again, I have no idea if these eggs are progressing...

 

[swtangel321]

I really don't have any helpful info on the weighing of them, I know and understand that they need to lose weight and that is done with hum, I don't be live many people weight them daily or at all for that matter ( I could be wrong ) That would be a good thread for you to post to find out more info on also to see if anyone does it.


Your temps seem somewhat steady !! Do the temps in your house go up and down ? That could cause the bator to go up and down a little. My bator (when I'm using it) drops at night due to the house getting cooler then, I've learned to either up my temp so when it does drop its not below 99.9 or use the heat lamp above the bator at night !! Your hum sounds great !! Warm water is the best to add if your hum falls low, if its to hot the temp might raise and to cold might drop !! Just remember to add a VERY small amount of water to bring it up (you can always add more) It's much harder it bring it down than up !!

Again you should post about the egg weighting !! Its very important for an egg to lose the weight but I'm not sure how important it is for you to worry about it that much !!


ETA: I know you had the temp issue but it was VERY early on and I think they still have a GREAT chance of making it !!! Dont give up yet !!

 

[alalele]

Tonight I just bought a LED flashlight with 115 lumens at walmart. It's day 7 and can SEE veins in the darker part that appears to be the yolk. The veins are very clear to see on most of the eggs.

One egg as clear as day I can see pulsing movement! IT'S A TINY CHICK BABY! There are two other eggs that I had THOUGHT I might be seeing pulsing but wasn't positive. And 2 eggs that are darker inside and can barely make out even the veins.

Right now I'm in awe that I can finally see life in that one egg for sure. Not sure why one is so much clearer to see than the others when the shell colors are so similar (from 2 EE hens).

I've been turning them nearly religiously using my cell phone alarm as a reminder about every 8 hours. My HM wiggler(s) has leaked twice and humidity rose drastically so I had to change out the lining towels each time (which corrected the humidity eventually). The towels act as a buffer and are about 2" thick from the bottom of the skillet.

Problem is finding a water wiggler at the dollar stores Or walmart but I don't know where to look in walmart and I do know what they look like as I've seen them before but now that I need one can't find any..??? So the temp is just a guestimate as it's now I guess gauging the heat in the air..??? I've not adjusted the dial on the skillet since day 2 or so.. just let it regulate itself and I adjust the top glass lid for ventilation only.

Well tomorrow I'm on a mission to find a water wiggler and hope someone can tell me where or what department to find one.

 

[willowcol]

They would be in with the toys, but I never could find one. I made my own and put it in a bowl incase it leaked. I eventually just took it out, I have 3 Therm. in there the wiggler in my opinion just gave me something else to worry about. Glad you see life in the eggs.

 

[BeardedChick]

I am using those moisture crystals for plants in a ziplock + some water for my wiggler. Those will NOT ever leak fluid, even if there's a small hole in the bag. Might be worth a try if you have some on hand. A TBSP should be enough to do it. I used 2 TBSP and it kinda made too much wiggley stuff. Fold the ziplock around the probe & tape it shut and you are good to go.