Setting eggs in incubator May 3rd...Anyone with me?

[chickeneer45]

So tomorrow will be the one week mark for my eggs and I am going to candle them all to figure out if they are developing. I have only ever checked one egg and tomorrow I will be doing the whole batch (10). What are the best ways to go about doing this without disturbig the broody hen too much? I will also be marking them with sharpie and possibly taking pics so i figure about 5 minutes per egg maybe. If anyone could tell me how they do it, or just give any advice in gneneral that would be great! Thanks!

 

[xiamenmom]

I wouldnt use that broody again if she let her first chick die. But then again, sometimes they can do better on their second try, so let's hope that's the case! But some hens really just don't make for good mommies. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you though! It's not always just easy to switch broody if you don't have that many chickens to choose from. Keep us posted on how she does!

I'm not going to use the hen that let the chick die (although I'm sure that some chicks die no matter what, right?). I'm using the one whose eggs never hatched, but I got three newly hatched chicks from the farm stand and she was a great momma to them until she went broody again.

 

[melina90]

I'm not going to use the hen that let the chick die (although I'm sure that some chicks die no matter what, right?). I'm using the one whose eggs never hatched, but I got three newly hatched chicks from the farm stand and she was a great momma to them until she went broody again.

I see. Once a great momma, always a great momma, or so I've heard. Good luck!

 

[DiamondDust]

I candle d about half my eggs today and all of the ones I checked are developing! This is so exciting. . I would love to see a lot of them hatch this time. Shipped eggs can be such a gamble but I am hopeful.

 

[schmockl]

Candled my eggs yesterday - culled 6 of them. Two had blood rings the other four were clear. The rest of the eggs were developing nicely.

 

[melina90]

I candle d about half my eggs today and all of the ones I checked are developing! This is so exciting.

. I would love to see a lot of them hatch this time. Shipped eggs can be such a gamble but I am hopeful.

That's awesome, congrats! Once they're developing they usually pull through - hatch day is the next critical point for them.

Candled my eggs yesterday - culled 6 of them. Two had blood rings the other four were clear. The rest of the eggs were developing nicely.

How many eggs do you have left after culling 6? I have 13 left of the 20 hedemora eggs. Day 9 today, we're almost halfway now! I'm too eggcited about this hatch...

Their aircells are really messed up so I'm probably going to have to assist them all in hatching... Think I might actually ask some friends to come over in order to be able to assist as many as possible at the same time, not risking any to die because of the wait and low humidity...

 

[SarahJaneB]

Candled mine too! tossed about 5 that were definitely infertile. The rest of the eggs were a bit to dark to see much which is a good thing but my little flashlight is not letting me see much anyway. Could definitely see nice veins on some of the lighter ones. Possible 3 more infertile but wasn't sure and it looked like 2 had blood rings but left them in just in case. I'm going to buy another flashlight soon. Glad i'm not the only one seeing development!

So 44 minus probably 10? gives me 34, not to shabby, just hope they all hatch!

 

[TheDownyChick]

To candle, or not to candle... I am resisting the urge, because I would not cull any anyway, as I am not experienced enough to be confident in what I am seeing. On the other hand, no eggs look funny or smell bad, so I guess that is good.

 

[schmockl]

That's awesome, congrats! Once they're developing they usually pull through - hatch day is the next critical point for them.
How many eggs do you have left after culling 6? I have 13 left of the 20 hedemora eggs. Day 9 today, we're almost halfway now! I'm too eggcited about this hatch...

Their aircells are really messed up so I'm probably going to have to assist them all in hatching... Think I might actually ask some friends to come over in order to be able to assist as many as possible at the same time, not risking any to die because of the wait and low humidity...

Started out with 35 - this is my second attempt with shipped eggs - my first batch didn't hatch at all, they died in the shell during lock down and had terrible saddle shaped air cells. I'm trying a different approach to this batch. The first couple of days in the incubator I didn't turn them, hoping that the air cells would reattach. Some of the air cells have a slight saddle shape to them, but the rest look pretty good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[TheDownyChick]

I caved to temptation and candled a few. It was hard to tell what i saw. All the ones I saw except the BCM eggs had an air cell and a dark mass, which I hope were healthy chicks growing right along! But maybe they were all bad. I really don't know! I may candle some more tomorrow. (Fingers crossed!)