Setting eggs on 7/15/2011 anyone want to join me

[Christie Rhae]

Lisa! I am honored you visited this hatching thread!

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi Christie! I saw the date in the subject line and since I set eggs the 15th and candled them today --- I jumped in.
I'm especially curious to know how all the eggs shipped that week are growing (well, all eggs). It was (still is) insanely hot here, but I've been collecting eggs as soon as they are laid and getting them inside where it's cool. I'm just hoping they didn't get too hot somewhere along the way.
Please do let me know how they look if you candle, otherwise, we'll wait another 2 weeks to see.
Good luck!

Lisa

 

[sgoff]

Candled my 14 tonight. Of the 14, 6 are definitely moving around. 4 i can't tell for sure and think they might be alive, but not sure? 4 probably not alive, but going to give them another week before i toss them (assuming they don't start to smell bad. Right now they smell fine.) MY 10 year old step daughter help me, playing scribe. She thought it was uber cool to see the little dot moving around in the egg! a couple of the viable ones had lost some weight, but not all....

This is too darn fun! can't wait until next friday so I can do this again,( think I will sneak a peak at the questionable ones next Tuesday, just to be sure I don't have any explosions...)

 

[Christie Rhae]

I am so weak! Ok I decided I was not gonna candle my eggs until lockdown. I lasted about 14 hours with that decision. lol! I did a modified candling.. I used a small LED light and just set the light on top of the eggs. I did not pick them up or even touch them with my fingers. At least half of them I could see veins. Like I said I did not pick them up so there may have even been more going on. Even 50% is great for me using shipped eggs. yay so excited!!!

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Yaaaay for veins and wigglers!
Anybody else candled?

Lisa

 

[kareninthesun]

I'm a newbie at this, and trying to find the right word hasn't yet 'hit' to describe how I feel. There is such a sense of hope when you peek at the first egg, before it is candled and 'see' the potencial of life. I don't know about anyone else, but my first mental image has changed. Before starting on this whole chicken adventure thing, it was picturing a cute fuzz ball chirping. Then reality hit when doing research. Not in a bad way, but almost like considering pregnancy...am I ready for this? Can I afford it? Yeah, will enrich my life, but this will be my responsibilty. Am I viewing this as being 'shackled', since I can't leave my charges unattended for an extended amount of time? What about the big bad world? Can I lend protection? How can I influence further generations? Will they grow to be part of the smaller community and make me proud through being a positive influence on the greater neighborhood community? Am I up to the challenge of caring for them when they are ill? Tons of questions beforehand...partially excuses while bravely considering sticking my toes in the water...

Then the REAL reality hit. Slowly. Didn't even know it. Somewhere around day 15 in the incubator of the first preparing to hatch. Can't call myself a complete novice. Already have 12 beautiful girls; Rhode Island/Americauna's. Love 'em. But there is something about gently picking up a warm egg, no one prepared me to consider the weight...it simply FEELS different...there is a sense of awe, God doing what He always does, but here it is, condensed within a shell, cells woven together perfectly, something that Man just can't do. Viable, yet practical, my mind back pedals to the first time I held a baby chick, to the time I committed, (partly in fear) to hammering the first nail into the first peice of wood for the coop, to last night's last check on the girls sleeping. To the first time my grandchildren held a chick- how the children's faces lit in delight the first time their chicks attempted to fly. It brings a sense of peace. Even in the practicalness of cleaning up coops, it is all....good. And right.

I know I've gone to the otherside when there is one yogurt left in the frig, and it is my favorite, but I set it out as a snack for the winged members of the family. My teen son laughs at me. Asks, "Do we still get to eat, too?"

As for the dozen encased in precious jeweled shells, I covet them as the treasure they are worth. Almost like the insane one pocketing a hefty emerald from a raided tomb. But I'm not the only one sneaking a peek through the glassed roof of the incubator, checking the temps and humidity levels.

God created the most perfect thing in chickens. Built for purpose, I can't imagine doing this for a living. Once my human brood hit teens, I was thankful that I survived four.

Due date: looking at the 28th!!!!

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Wow Karen, that's just beautiful.
Quote:

 

[Christie Rhae]

@ kareninthesun...
that is exactly what I would have said if only I could write so beautifully! Instead I could only muster up "yay so excited!"

 

[the1honeycomb]

Quote:

very nice mine are under my Dolly and I think she is doing a good job but it is Magic!!!

 

[Rowell Fowl]

Just candled and of the 13 remaining under Dorothy - one was 'discarded' by her on day 1 for some reason - it seems only 3 are progressing. Not that I am any sort of expert as this is only my 2nd hatching attempt and not helped by half the eggs being of the very dark brown variety so more difficult to see (although all 3 of the ones I think are doing something are brown ones - all the white ones seem either clear / I have 2 with what look like blood rings

)

I have put them all back under her for now as there are no bad smells and I could be wrong with my candling diagnosis. I have marked all the eggs and will use these markings to help me learn from the outcome should I decide to have another hatching attempt in the future.

Not a good percentage rate so far and still nearly 2 weeks to go, but fingers crossed for the 3. Hope you all have better percentages and look forward to your updates