Set on 2/4...who's with me?

[cupman]

Yeah I can relate to that so much. I was considering just not candling the eggs but I get so anxious about what's to come. I've only candled maybe 8 of my 42 eggs and I'm just so nervous I'm going to screw something up. Another fear is that I don't have a 12 volt battery or adapter in case the power goes out. I really need to pick one up. I was considering just letting it go and seeing what happens but I don't want the dead eggs to rot in there...

Maybe someone can answer. If you put a sterile egg in the incubator and let it cook at 100*F for 21 days will the egg spoil? Will it blow up when I touch it? When I opened the lid of my incubator earlier in the day I noticed an odor of some type. It wasn't a bad smell, it wasn't a good smell, it was just a faint smell. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a spoiled egg in there.

 

[silkies4penny]

candled again tonight, I wanted to make sure the eggs I put under my broody were doing ok. It got down to 0* here the other night. well, I had one quit under the broody, probably froze. I checked the rest in the Bator and had another quitter so I am down to 12 in the bator and 4 under the hen. still my best success with shipped eggs right now.

 

[AriLovesChickens]

I wouldn't risk candling during that time (day 20-21). With my last batch, I opened the incubator a couple of times to add water, and I'm pretty sure I "shrink wrapped" a chick.

 

[Spangled]

Maybe someone can answer. If you put a sterile egg in the incubator and let it cook at 100*F for 21 days will the egg spoil? Will it blow up when I touch it? When I opened the lid of my incubator earlier in the day I noticed an odor of some type. It wasn't a bad smell, it wasn't a good smell, it was just a faint smell. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a spoiled egg in there.

If no one in our hatch-a-long group here has the answer, then maybe you'll want to start a new thread with that question.

I have in the past had a funny faint smell in the incubator and not had any problems. But my one instance is totally meaningless.

 

[Spangled]

so I am down to 12 in the bator and 4 under the hen.

Sorry about your quitters. How can you tell they've quit? Just size of the empty spot at the bottom of the egg?

 

[silkies4penny]

I could tell because of no movement and there was a ring starting to form. Also, I leave them for an extra couple days to be sure they aren't getting bigger. I still have one that I think quit, that I left in the Bator for now until I can tell for sure.

 

[cupman]

The stench was undeniable. I even started getting a whiff of it every now again when the incubator was closed. My reservoir was about dried up and so I decided to candle all 42 eggs. It's my first time and I am not 100% sure what to look for when candling. It was hard to see through the eggs, but I wasn't sure if that was the dark egg shells or a baby bird inside blocking the light. Of 42 eggs I found 10 that I could see through plain as day. I hope that answers my question about whether it was the dark tint of the shells or not. I broke all 10 eggs outside and what a smell experience. Not a single chick in any of the 10 eggs.

I have 32 going strong. It's been 14 days and I'm hoping the dark mass inside the eggs are my future little chickens. But I'm not really sure how to tell if they are alive or not. if I got all 32 to hatch or even 25 I would be thrilled. I just hope I get at least 10. One week left, fingers crossed.

 

[AriLovesChickens]

I have a mere nine eggs left out of the 22 I started with. I probably won't candle again now.

 

[Spangled]

I have a mere nine eggs left out of the 22 I started with. I probably won't candle again now.

Oh, I'm sorry. It's difficult with shipped eggs. I'm not sure that I'll ever do shipped eggs again. I'd have to be desperate because I know that the ones that I get always turn out poorly. I'm ecstatic if I get 25% hatch on shipped eggs. I had one shipment where none hatched, but most of the ones from my own chickens did hatch that were right there in the same incubator.

I'm almost thinking that it would be more fair for breeder to send us their eggs for the cost of shipping and handling and then if any hatch, we'll pay a set amount for each chick. Of couse, there's too many dishonest people for that to work, but I still think that it would be good if I only had to pay for the eggs that hatch, especially since I actually do know how to hatch eggs in a Brinsea. Not in a styrobator. My sturobator and I have a hate-hate relationship going on.

I agree that it's not the breeder's fault how the eggs come through the shipping procedure, but it's not my fault either. Basing the price on how many hatch seems fair. Either that or I base my bid (if an auction) on my guess that no more than 25% will ever even hatch.

I dunno. It's not easy for the seller or the buyer. And I am keeping my fingers crossed that you'll get both sexes in both breeds!!!

 

[Spangled]

The stench was undeniable. I even started getting a whiff of it every now again when the incubator was closed.

Wow. What a story. I've never had that happen. My empty eggs don't ever smell (or maybe my nose doesn't work properly). Did you ask what the stench meant on the main Incubating Forum? Maybe it means nothing. Well, I'm glad you got them out of there before they caused any problems. Thanks for the update.

I'm thinking about candling again tomorrow night or Sunday night. I had to stop rocking my Brinsea for about 30 hours because I had a few hatch that I had set previously. I guess they call that a staggered hatch. So we'll see how well my eggs made it through about 30 hours of high humidity and no turning for 30 hours come hatch day.