A couple of weeks ago, one of my (favorite) hens came up missing. I knew that she could be on a nest but after not seeing her for a while, figured she was taken by a hawk (she was the smallest in my flock.) Early this morning, a stray dog killed her. I took off work and hunted and hunted til I found the nest. It was under a building and I had to dig a huge hole to get the eggs. I have them in the incubator and have candled a couple and saw movement! Here's the problem, I have no idea what day they are on. The air cells look like they are not far along (day 9?) but some of the ones I candled looked dark and full. How long do I turn them? Do I turn them till they pip? Should I wait for internal pips (peeps?) Or do I just guess when to stop and hope for the best? I am going to try to get those air cells bigger by keeping the humidity low until I see a pip. They were being incubated by the hen on bare dirt. Anyone?
