November 2016 Hatch-a-long!!

[Faraday40]

Ok so today is day 19.... I admit I must be a hands on hatchet cuz I decided to take a peak at the ones I think are going to be early and..... I see shadows. And little beaks... and I have one peeping at me!!! ☆☆♡♡♡♡ so my hubby thinks I am crazy cuz I am calling all three of my kids to hear the chick!! Lol

You do know that the little chicks can hear you too, right? Broody hens talk to their eggs at this time to encourage them to hatch as well as to help them bond to the sound of her clucking.

Of course you want your children to hear the peeping eggs, but what's even more fun is to have them talk to the eggs. Yes, DH will think you're silly, but there's nothing sweeter than watching my daughter cluck & have about a dozen chicks run out to follow her around the living room. She often walks through the kitchen, dining room, living room & hallway loop with a tiny fluffy chick parade.

 

[Faraday40]

BTW- You don't have to sit there all night talking to the eggs. (Although I admit I do sometimes actually "talk" to our eggs.) But, by keeping the incubator in the family room or other active room of the house, the eggs/chicks learn your family's voices.

 

[aliciaplus3]

Ok my incubator is in my bedroom and I had the egg in my hand wandering from room to room so my kids could hear lol I didn't let it get cold and returned it to the incubator unharmed. So here we are a little while later and a different egg has an external pip!!! Wow I didn't expect any of this till Friday so I took Saturday off to tend to my hatch and here these babies are starting two nights early!!! Now I know I will have trouble concentrating at work.... lol

 

[FridayYet]

Ok my incubator is in my bedroom and I had the egg in my hand wandering from room to room so my kids could hear lol I didn't let it get cold and returned it to the incubator unharmed. So here we are a little while later and a different egg has an external pip!!! Wow I didn't expect any of this till Friday so I took Saturday off to tend to my hatch and here these babies are starting two nights early!!! Now I know I will have trouble concentrating at work.... lol

Wonderful! I'm hoping to see pips soon, too.

Good luck!

 

[aliciaplus3]

Wonderful!  I'm hoping to see pips soon, too. 

Good luck!

Thank you and to you as well ♡♡

 

[Cynthia12]

Are Easter-egger green eggs difficult to candle? (Like Marans eggs?) I know, it's only day 5, but I couk d see some veining on a light brown egg, but nothing on the EE eggs. By day 7, will veining become pronounced enough to see, even on the darker shells?

You got some good advice...you can also go by how the air cell looks ...is it getting a bit bigger, and... is it staying light..or going dimmer? Dimmer is not a good sign. Always remember, if in question, leave it, unless it stinks! Like someone said.

 

[tequl]

Best candling days??? Did it at day 7 and tonight marks day 10 being over so should I candle again I already had 1 blood ring and we eggtopsied it so the kiddos could see what it looked like... but we are are going to be starting our slide into hatch date soon ya a fist hatch wahoo

 

[Faraday40]

Best candling days??? Did it at day 7 and tonight marks day 10 being over so should I candle again I already had 1 blood ring and we eggtopsied it so the kiddos could see what it looked like... but we are are going to be starting our slide into hatch date soon ya a fist hatch wahoo

If doing a hatch for kids, I like to have them do a candling at 7 & 14 days. We trace air cells with pencil to show the growth. On day 17-18 we do the last candling & predict the pip location with a star or X. The candling gives us something to do while waiting for the big day. Sometimes I do the 2nd candling & pip prediction at the same time if I'm worried about chilling the eggs.

I make a simple data table & write numbers on the eggs, so they can record how each is progressing.The last 3 columns are for Pip (day/time), Hatch (day/time), Appearance.

If I'm simply hatching eggs -like with a broody - I'll candle once to remove bad eggs on about day 10. I don't bother monitoring & recording because the hen's doing all the work. Fussing with her eggs adds stress, so candling once is better. (Plus, some hens get pecky when broody.)

 

[orrpeople]

"Kathy-the-over-anxious-candler" here; and back with great news! Looks like we've got ourselves some fertile and growing Marans and Olive-Egger embryos (one BCM even moved around for us!) But, we were so excited (teen daughter and I)that we forgot to do any labeling. So, in a couple more days we will be much more professional and label, draw air sacks, and record info.
In other news, the power company has scheduled to replace our power pole Dec 1.... chicks due Dec 2nd. Seriously???

 

[Faraday40]

"Kathy-the-over-anxious-candler" here; and back with great news! Looks like we've got ourselves some fertile and growing Marans and Olive-Egger embryos (one BCM even moved around for us!) But, we were so excited (teen daughter and I)that we forgot to do any labeling. So, in a couple more days we will be much more professional and label, draw air sacks, and record info.
In other news, the power company has scheduled to replace our power pole Dec 1.... chicks due Dec 2nd. Seriously???

You must have a very bright flashlight to see into those dark BCM eggs!

While power is off, you can wrap up the incubator in towels / blankets for extra insulation & keep it closed. The chicks also generate some of their own heat, so that will prove helpful. It's awful that it has to happen during the most exciting time, but it doesn't have to be a death sentence.

DH works with computer networks, so we always have spare junk in our garage. I snagged a UPS headed for electronic recycling & use it to protect my incubator from power surges. It also has a battery back up that lasts about 30 min. I would not have paid for it, but since it was here, I re-purposed it.