Our Journey into chicks

[Bukrub66]

Hello Folks, I'm Ron from Texas and I feel like a kid about to get a new Nintendo. We have been looking into chickens for a couple weeks and joined BYC late last week. We have read thread after thread, looked at different breeds and discussed options. Well this morning I ordered 10 Swedish Flower hen eggs from Blue House Farms. Gonna order an incubator later today. Just thought I would say hello and open a thread so others interested can follow my progress and maybe enjoy some of the excitement with us. I'm hoping for tons of advise along the way, so get ready for me to bug the hell out of y'all.

 

[N F C]

Hi Ron! I remember when you 1st joined and talked about the SF's. When will you get them?

 

[Bukrub66]

She has 7 eggs on hand now and waiting for a few more. I suspect they will ship later this week or next week sometime. I was here at Tractor Supply getting ready to buy an incubator when my neighbor called and told me he had one I can use. So I guess I can skip that step and get busy building a brooder then a coop. I'm terrible at waiting. Like a little kid.

 

[N F C]

Know what you mean about waiting, not my strong suit either. On our day old chicks were ordered them in January for an April delivery because we had to do an overhaul to our set up to accommodate them...seemed like forever!

Since you're going to be incubating eggs, you might be interested in looking at another BYC members thread. It's miles long by now but very interesting. Here's a link if you want to check it out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ck-out-of-here-a-diary-of-a-crazy-chicken-man

I haven't tried incubating eggs yet so am interested in following how you do with it. Thanks for sharing your adventure!

 

[McChickenNugget]

I've been thinking of getting an incubator too. Our small flock of Easter eggers and Dominiques just started laying and my first thought was hatching more of them lol

 

[Bukrub66]

Just got the email that my eggs shipped today. Picking up the incubator from my neighbor tomorrow, gonna get it plugged in and make sure I can regulate the temp and humidity. I've printed my egg progress charts and hopefully have everything together.

One thing I am confused about that I want to be sure I'm doing right. When my eggs arrive I understand I should number my eggs, mark each side with an X and an O, and let the eggs settle for 24 hours before placing in the incubator. Is this correct? Also once placed in the incubator, I should rotate at least 3 times per day and on the 8th day candle the eggs and check for veins. Anything else I'm missing or am I on the right track?

 

[Rainier]

Anything else I'm missing or am I on the right track?

don't forget to enjoy this process. All of it even the bad that comes with raising chickens!

 

[AmericanMom]

Just got the email that my eggs shipped today. Picking up the incubator from my neighbor tomorrow, gonna get it plugged in and make sure I can regulate the temp and humidity. I've printed my egg progress charts and hopefully have everything together.

One thing I am confused about that I want to be sure I'm doing right. When my eggs arrive I understand I should number my eggs, mark each side with an X and an O, and let the eggs settle for 24 hours before placing in the incubator. Is this correct? Also once placed in the incubator, I should rotate at least 3 times per day and on the 8th day candle the eggs and check for veins. Anything else I'm missing or am I on the right track?

If these are shipped eggs I would let them settle, fat side up in an egg carton for 24 hours, then place them in the incubator in an egg carton and allow them to rest without turning for another 72 hours, if you want to I have read where folks get better hatch rates from shipped eggs by incubating in the egg carton in the incubator and just tilting the carton 2-3 times a day. The less you handle those eggs the better chance you have of a successful hatch, It might be good for you to research what others have done.. I have not incubated shipped eggs although I keep telling myself I will

Sally Sunshine has an excellent article..

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

 

[Bukrub66]

My eggs arrived today. I had ordered 10 and received 14 so I was excited about that. Even more so that none were broken. I numbered all the eggs and proceeded to weigh and place upright to rest. I thought I could use my digital scale that I use for reloading, but they are too heavy for it. My wife's kitchen scale is in 10 gr increments so it is useless as well.

So off to candling I go. 1st egg looked perfect. Had a great air cell that stayed put. Egg #2 had a nice cell as well but it is rolling. To my disappointment I found that eggs 3 thru 14 all appear to be scrambled inside. All eggs are now sitting in a spare bedroom sitting in a carton.

The incubator is plugged in and working on getting the heat regulated. About to head to the store and get some distilled water for it as the humidity is fairly low.

Gonna let the eggs settle. Do I need to candle again tomorrow before putting them in the bator or just go ahead and put them in and candle at day 9.

So the adventure begins.

 

[AutumnChic]

I candle mine on the 7th day. If I question any of the eggs I candle again on the 10th day. Making sure to discard the unfertilized eggs.