Setting eggs 4-3-14

[Alaskan]

Was it a giant double yolk egg?

Those often don't make it.... Just super difficult to get two chicks to full size in one egg shell.

 

[Dcat]

About an average large egg. I didn't see a double yolk when I candled them the first day. I have another egg that is huge but again only one yolk and the chick inside looks like they normally do at 10 days. I'm also wondering if it is just positioned facing the outside of the egg so I might be seeing the head and tail. I'm going to wait a few more days, borrow my son's super bright flashlight and try to get pics and video. I think my biggest worry if its twins is assisting the hatch. My only other assist ended badly and I really don't want to do that again.

 

[Alaskan]

Hummmmm


Interesting.

I am having a horrid time now. I want to spend all day every day candling my eggs. -sigh-

I have managed to control the urge, but now that there are veins and wiggly spots I am getting impatient, and just want to SEE!

 

[Henny]

Today is day 14 for my shipped eggs. I have 6 definite yes, 5 maybe and 2 that didn't make it. The 5 maybes have wobbly air cells but seem to have veining and movement. The 2 that didn't make it quit at around days 7 and 10 I am guessing. When I candled them the one that quit at day 7 looked like a blob the size of your fingernail stuck in one spot right under the shell with no veining. It had teeny wings and feet, no beak and 2 huge eyes. The one that quit at around day 10 had air cell problems. I carefully opened it from the top of the shell and saw that the air cell was peeled away at opposite sides of the shell. As I looked further I saw the little chick encased in its amnion--no heart beating or signs of life. Its body was very soft and pliable. The beak was formed, it had huge eyes with the lids just beginning to form, little wings and feet, tiny little marks where the feathers would start from. It was amazing.
Now I have to sit tight and hope for the best for the 11 remaining!!

 

[Dcat]

I love love love to candle my eggs. I force myself to leave them alone. When I candled them yesterday I did it to mark the air cells and then that one egg was weirding me out, LOL.

Henny, you sound like me, when I know one is gone I take it apart and look at everything.

 

[Henny]

Dcat good to know there is someone else who shares the same quest to know what happened. It helps to look at what is inside--it makes it clearer to understand when candling the next time. Now I have a better understanding of what a saddle air cell is like. I took pictures to use as a guide for knowing what the development is like at that stage too. It is just soo amazing to see the little details--I took out a magnifying glass to examine them!

 

[Fireflybabe56]

Ok I just want to make sure I understand. I'm doing the dry hatch method. My humidity has been steady at 33% throughout the incubation. At day 18 I know I'm supposed to raise the humidity by adding water. How high should the humidity be? Thank you for your advice.

 

[Hunters99]

I checked my incubator this morning and the temp had shot up to 104. I'm not sure how long it has been there. Should I be worried? It had been steady at 99.5 until today.

 

[Alaskan]

Ok I just want to make sure I understand. I'm doing the dry hatch method. My humidity has been steady at 33% throughout the incubation. At day 18 I know I'm supposed to raise the humidity by adding water. How high should the humidity be? Thank you for your advice.

With doing a dry hatch I increase the humidity as much as humanly possible at the end.

I would first candle, and see if the air cell is about the right size... And then try for a humidity of 80%.

 

[Alaskan]

I checked my incubator this morning and the temp had shot up to 104. I'm not sure how long it has been there. Should I be worried? It had been steady at 99.5 until today.

Last year I used a demonically possessed incubator..... So I know that even with spikes of 104 the eggs can still produce chicks. (Hatch rate way lower though)