Setting eggs today 5-3-12...anyone with me?

I just candled my eggs and...all ten are fertile!!!
celebrate.gif
I'm so happy! There are a couple that I'm not 100% positive are still alive, but most of them looked just like they should! On the first egg I candled tonight, I didn't see anything at first, and thought maybe I saw a blood ring and was getting discouraged, when slowly the embryo moved up the side of the egg, allowing me to see it and all its spider-vein-iness! I was so excited! 23 more days!
big_smile.png
 
Well I just candled all 18 of the eggs I am incubating for my neighbor. Of the 18, 17 have tons of veining and little embryos in them. One egg, I labeled it it 18? is kind of odd looking, it might be a quitter. I put it back in though and will candle it again at day 10 or so to see if there is change. She has two white eggs in the bunch...holy cow, they are so easy to candle and that little embryo was moving like crazy. I am sure it was in there screaming for someone to turn down the lights. :)

I am quite pleased with that rate of growth. Can't wait to tell my neighbor in the morning.
celebrate.gif
 
Hmm. I don't know - it's still early to tell. There was a dramatic difference for me between day 4 and day 5 (are you on day four?). I'm not positive those black dots are part of the embryo/veins but I saw a couple of dark spots (they weren't quite like yours, though) on a yolk a couple of days ago and thought maybe the egg wasn't fertile or had died - but now it's definitely growing and looks like an embryo with the veining.
Right now i'm on day 5. I'm going to wait until day 10. People say when you are on day 10 for darker eggs, you can be sure that it has a chick. I am pretty sure it does, because I compared it to a non fertilized egg, and I didn't see the black spot in it. I'm going to give the little guy some more time just to be positive. I'm just worried about the crack and if any bactiria got into it..
 

Alyssa13, have you tried Craig's List ?? Maybe you could put out a request for a peep.. I am in Ohio and I see people giving away chickens all the time.. The single surviving chick from the hen that has been broody for a few months now is 3 weeks old now and my wife noticed it has green legs.. Guess they call that willow leg and my wife's coworker husband wanted to buy it off of us because it is a rare genetic anomaly but she said heck NO.. She wants this girl as a pet and does not want it tossed in with the rest of the working girls we have laying eggs.. The wing and tail feathers are growing well and have bands of gold, black and brown so we have high hopes that she will grow into a well marked adult..

I have 41 eggs in my incubator , added 1 freshly laid egg on day 2.. We hope that we get a 75% or better fertile/hatch rate and I will have a good idea in another 5 days when we candle the batch.. It took almost 24 hours for the temp. to get up to 100 deg. and the humidity to drop to 50% but I checked it every few hours and now I am confident as it has been stable for 2 days.. 2 thermometers helps to make sure accuracy is maintained.. Gave up on the thought of building a wood frame brooder and am using the large cardboard box setup as I have done in the past.. Cover the open top with chicken wire and hang light bulbs from the chicken wire for heat.. Since we are going to do 3x sessions of full incubator and the batches will be 3 weeks or so apart I will have to scrounge up 2 more bigger boxes and that way we can move the chicks every 3 weeks from small to medium to large box as they grow..
 
I candled the one questionable egg again tonight...I was going to wait until day 10, but I was walking by and just felt the need to check it out. I can see a red ring, but I also believe I saw movement in there. I put it back and will give it another day or two. It is a brown shell, but not overly dark. I also couldn't resist checking the white ones too...they are so nice to candle. I can't believe how much they changed from last night...it is amazing. And those little guys are active. :)

So I have already been scouring the sales for hatching chicks. Going to fill it with eggs of my own after this hatch. I am thinking some BCM and perhaps some Showgirls. I currently have: Buff Orpingtons, White Leghorns, RIR, New Hampshire Reds, Red Sex links, EE, NN, Mottled Houdans, Black Cochins, Light and Dark Brahmas, Cuckoo Marans, Wyandottes (silver and BLRW), Black Australorps, and some barnyard mixes that my broodies just hatched out last week and the week before. What would you suggest I add to my flock?
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom