setting eggs tonight!! anyone else?

[CALI CHICK]

Wow, it is so exciting hearing about everyone's candling and incubation experience. We are like a bunch of expectant "mommies" talking about our soon-to-be-arrivals! Notice we have all girls on this thread (?)...do you think guys that incubate actually get all emotional about their eggs, or is it just us? LOL!

Corg- Your son is a handsome little guy. It is wonderful to get kids involved with animals, especially once they can help with chores-hehe! My son often lets the chickens out in the morning or puts them away at night. And, I have him go outside to do "hawk-patrol" when they free-range. LaynaDon- Your cousin and brother sound like alot of fun. Pretty soon they will be your hatch buddies. And I know your brother will want to help take care of the chickens. I remember we took our chickens to a petting farm and was amazed how many kids -and adults- held a chicken for the first time. It was a real joy to see the aww and delight on their faces! Everyone kept saying, "they're so soft" or another common remark was, "won't they peck me?". It was fun!

OK question- How many of you think I should move the eggs to the Hova Bator for them to hatch (so we can watch)???
I actually posted a poll about moving them, but still cannot make a clear decision. One guy said, "Don't fix what ain't broken!" and that is how my son feels. And, I too feel like, what if something happens to the new incubatoror something goes wrong. But I know ALOT of people put the eggs in a different incubator at lockdown, so why would it hurt mine? I really don't know what to do.

Oh, my son (the little media man) and I plan to record our Day 9 candling. With only 15 eggs it'll probably take 4 minutes or less. We are going to do some 'test videos' with our pullet eggs and then the Day 9 video Saturday afternoon. If it turns out clear, we will post it on here.

 

[LaynaDon95]

A lot of my friends who were raised around animals still pull their hands back when they see me holding Oliver and say "He doesn't ever peck you?!" My reply "Yup, sometimes. " You should see their faces. But they still hold him. lol


Ok, so about the Hova Bator. Have you set it up for a test run? Do you know if it will maintain a steady temp? If it does, I don't see a problem in swapping them over. Of course you would want to have it running for a day or two before you put them in. If you're too worried, then don't. But I would at least turn on and see if it would hold a good temp. You could do some in the spacecraft one and some in the Hova Bator. Do you know if one will hold humidity better than the other? There are a lot of things to consider, but bottom line, if you don't feel comfortable, don't push it.

I hope the video turns out! I wanna see it!

 

[hdowden]

well i did a candle today and looks like i have lost 2 but i'm not to sure so they are still the bator "cooking"

for now. the babies were all fine till the bator got turned off and temp went down too 88 that leaves me with 6 of my shipped d'uccle eggs and 3 of my one eggs. i'm just hoping that i'm just not seeing the babies correctly in the eggs and they are all just fine

 

[CALI CHICK]

well i did a candle today and looks like i have lost 2 but i'm not to sure so they are still the bator "cooking"

for now. the babies were all fine till the bator got turned off and temp went down too 88 that leaves me with 6 of my shipped d'uccle eggs and 3 of my one eggs. i'm just hoping that i'm just not seeing the babies correctly in the eggs and they are all just fine

hdowden...have you done a lot of incubating before this batch? I'm sorry the incubator got turned off.

That's frustrating. Hope your 9 remaining eggs make it all the way.

I'm going to candle again Saturday around 6 pm. That will be almost halfway into Day 9 for my eggs. Do you know what a quitter looks like? From my Day 4 candling, I've got 1 egg with a dark blob swirling around. I thought maybe it was a stall, but left it "cooking" like you. I've got 3 others that had a thick hazy circle around the center of the egg. I thought maybe these were the beginnings of blood rings, but also left them in the bator. This is all new to me so I love to compare notes, look at the Learning Center pictures and chat with others about what I'm seeing when I candle.

 

[cowchick11]

Well it sounds like most of you are well on your way. Hdowden you are even ahead of me with your 9, hope you keep them going.

I just recandled, I'm on day 10-11. As previously reported from my day 6-7 I have (I think) 5 green/out of 5, really hard to tell but definitely something there. And one, One, JUST ONE, Black Orpington out of 17!!!!

That I can see very well and has at least developed further since my last candling. Pretty frustrated but I do have a broody going now to stick any chicks under. Absolutely nothing! Else in the others, NOTHING!

I have talked to my family, who were standing around waiting to take pictures and see how many little Orps we would have. No pictures, we tried. Didn't want to harass my one Orp and risk it! No shot at a photo with the greens. Anyway my family is going to be on the look out for more broody hens and is willing to give it another go maybe in March and/or maybe for the swap in May. I didn't think my mom and brother would be that excited or interested!

Anyways will candle one more time at lock down when I take out the turner about this time next week! Good luck to all as some of us start into lock down.

I'm heading out to the beach with some visiting friends after work tomorrow and have asked the family to just check the temp. for me two or three times a day as they have been.

I think it is really nice to live at home PART TIME as an adult, my animals think it is great too!

 

[Corg33]

Nope. :\ I really want them to hatch but I'm not getting my hopes up. I can't see into two of them and the other one looks like a big blood spot. I won't be too devastated seeing as I have 33 more developing. (I found a clear yesterday.)

Did any hatch?

 

[hdowden]

hdowden...have you done a lot of incubating before this batch? I'm sorry the incubator got turned off.

That's frustrating. Hope your 9 remaining eggs make it all the way.

I'm going to candle again Saturday around 6 pm. That will be almost halfway into Day 9 for my eggs. Do you know what a quitter looks like? From my Day 4 candling, I've got 1 egg with a dark blob swirling around. I thought maybe it was a stall, but left it "cooking" like you. I've got 3 others that had a thick hazy circle around the center of the egg. I thought maybe these were the beginnings of blood rings, but also left them in the bator. This is all new to me so I love to compare notes, look at the Learning Center pictures and chat with others about what I'm seeing when I candle.

i'm sure they are quiters due to the fact they are so small and not filling up the shell, i can still see through them unlike the rest and with this being day 14 i shouldnt be able to see the chicks at all, although i can still slightly see movements of i guess what you can call the imbical cord (that movement is how i know those 6 are still growing). on top of that all the blood vessels i say before are also gone. this is only my 3rd hatch but i have no less than 5 per hatch.

my 1st hatch 2 of the 18 shipped eggs hatch, 7 of which were developed but humidity was to high and they didnt even pip internally, also with these were 4 of my own eggs of which all 4 hatched so 1st hatch i had 6 total hatch. my 2nd hatch which just ended about a week ago yeilded 5 fertil eggs with 5 black and white babies. 3rd hatch is this current hatch of which i have 8 shipped eggs all developing but with that incident with the incubator i now have 6 still going strong and hoping they all hatch, with them i have 3 more of my own pullet eggs also going strong and i'm sure they will hatch. so with this hatch i'm hoping for 6-9 babies total if i get less than that i will be so sad

i will be doing the easter hatch along to so incubator will get a rest once these hatch till 2 days before the hatch along starts

3 days till lockdown!!!!! lets keep going strong my little babies

oh yea i will be transfering them to my hovabator for lockdown as it holds humidity better (and easier to clean from a hatch) and i wont have to adjust the temp from taking the eggs out of the turner since its going to already be set up at the right temp for the eggs to be laying on their sides

 

[LaynaDon95]

Sorry to butt in, but I need an opinion. Did I sound too harsh in my response?

Did you read the statistics?
"According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, there were 16,100 farm related injuries of “children and adolescents” in 2009, 3,400 of which were work related."
So apparently it's more dangerous to visit or play on a farm then to work on one? Sure, some owners aren't smart about who they put in charge of operating machinery and etc. But that will happen anywhere you go whether you are a child or an adult. If they have permission from their parent or guardian to be working on that farm and driving that tractor and feeding that bull then the government has no further say. The government doesn't pay for their hospital bills or funerals. The government won't spend months crying if they die working on a farm. The parents will. If they want to take that risk then that's their decision.

You do have the right to send kids younger than 16 to other businesses.

"Minors may also be exempt if employed on a farm by their parents or guardians, and the parents or guardians own and operate the farm."
The family must own and operate the farm. Not just operate.

As far as educational purposes, it also says "may be exempt" which may not seem like a big deal, until they use that loophole to a family's disadvantage. Which at some point or another, they probably will.

It will be very different form the existing child labor laws. And on top of that it gives the government more control over your children. Goodness knows they have enough of that already.

 

[CALI CHICK]

hdowden - I think I'm going to transfer my eggs to a Hova Bator for lockdown too. It's good to hear you say that they "hold the humidity better".

I've been so hesitant to move the eggs, but with so many people changing the eggs to a hatching incubator, I think it'll be OK. I will borrow another hygrometer/thermometer and start getting the other incubator ready around day 16, so I have a few days to familiarize myself with it before lockdown.

My friend is coming over on Tuesday (Day 12) to help me make any last cuts. She always has at least 2 incubators running with staggered hatches so I will appreciate her judgment! I would post pictures on BYC, but I can't see much with my eyes so I doubt much would show up on a camera! There are 4 that I'm uncertain about. 2 are probably infertile--they are very bright yellow and don't seem to have anything inside. Then 2 are big blobs that I cannot see clearly because of the tan shells. The other 11 look good and I can see their big eyes and see some of the veins in lighter eggs still. Everything looks to be getting denser. At first you could see the "spider/veins" but now there seems to be cloudy "stuff" in the egg too. It is not transparent anymore. Is that normal for Day 8?

Well, I wanted to video my candling, but the eggs are just too dark and thick to show much.

Sorry.

I just got home from shopping with my little sister (she just had her 40th B-Day-LOL) and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. It is almost 70* here in California today. I hope everyone is out having a great weekend also. Next weekend, most of you will be busy watching your babies hatch!

 

[hdowden]

hdowden - I think I'm going to transfer my eggs to a Hova Bator for lockdown too. It's good to hear you say that they "hold the humidity better".

I've been so hesitant to move the eggs, but with so many people changing the eggs to a hatching incubator, I think it'll be OK. I will borrow another hygrometer/thermometer and start getting the other incubator ready around day 16, so I have a few days to familiarize myself with it before lockdown.

My friend is coming over on Tuesday (Day 12) to help me make any last cuts. She always has at least 2 incubators running with staggered hatches so I will appreciate her judgment! I would post pictures on BYC, but I can't see much with my eyes so I doubt much would show up on a camera! There are 4 that I'm uncertain about. 2 are probably infertile--they are very bright yellow and don't seem to have anything inside. Then 2 are big blobs that I cannot see clearly because of the tan shells. The other 11 look good and I can see their big eyes and see some of the veins in lighter eggs still. Everything looks to be getting denser. At first you could see the "spider/veins" but now there seems to be cloudy "stuff" in the egg too. It is not transparent anymore. Is that normal for Day 8?

Well, I wanted to video my candling, but the eggs are just too dark and thick to show much.

Sorry.

I just got home from shopping with my little sister (she just had her 40th B-Day-LOL) and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. It is almost 70* here in California today. I hope everyone is out having a great weekend also. Next weekend, most of you will be busy watching your babies hatch!

have you tried comparing your eggs to these? these are really great pics with a really great light and taking everyday through incubation (might be better help than me lol) if you can clearly see through them and there is absolutly nothing by this time (day 8) i would think they are infertile if you leave the clear ones in then i would mark them and keep an eye on them to make sure bactirea isnt growning in them. blobs would have me worried as you should really be able to see the outline of the chick (with clear eggs its pretty neat to see the little toes) again watch out for the bactirea growing with both your eyes and nose, if any start to smell take them out asap as you dont want exploding eggs that could kill any live strong chicks. the vains will be getting thicker and things do become more dense as they grow and when they hatch the vains will slowly disapper and the yolk gets asorbed right before they zip and push themselves out the egg. i havent candled on day 8 but i'm guessing you should still be able to see through the eggs still and see an outline from all the pics and candling videos on youtube i have looked at show. if i can get some pics of the ones that quite on me and the ones that havent i will post them but its always so hard to do when its just you doing it lol

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation