Setting first eggs tomorrow - 3/23

[Deerling]

I think the spray foam in the lid is a great idea! I bet it will hold temps a lot better after that. I just bought a hovabator genesis 1588. It's got pretty good reviews about holding temps and such. So excited to try it on my next hatch! I've got the urge to go buy more shipped eggs lol I'm gonna be overrun with little baby chickens!

I'm using a Genisis and it seems to be holding the temp pretty well. I have the plug out because I heard the fresh air is good for them. I'm so excited for this hatch! I am already planning on the next one. I'm going to set them April 25th and Day 21 will be my birthday

I candled all the eggs last night just by holding the light over each egg as it sat in the turner. Anyway, a lot of them looked great, with veining and everything! Even some of the store bought ones! Very exciting. I think I saw a few blood rings - what is that?

 

[missnu01]

I'm using a Genisis and it seems to be holding the temp pretty well. I have the plug out because I heard the fresh air is good for them. I'm so excited for this hatch! I am already planning on the next one. I'm going to set them April 25th and Day 21 will be my birthday

I candled all the eggs last night just by holding the light over each egg as it sat in the turner. Anyway, a lot of them looked great, with veining and everything! Even some of the store bought ones! Very exciting. I think I saw a few blood rings - what is that?

It's a bacterial infection basically inside the egg. You will see a dark red ring in the egg, but sometimes it hard for me to tell the difference between a blood ring and veining. Those need to be tossed though

 

[Deerling]

It's a bacterial infection basically inside the egg. You will see a dark red ring in the egg, but sometimes it hard for me to tell the difference between a blood ring and veining. Those need to be tossed though

Thanks! I was very curious.

 

[Deerling]

So, candled for Day 7 and I am amazed how many of them are developing. I only had five out of 34 that were question marks, and they were all very dark shells. Every other one showed veining, and in a few there was even a baby moving a bit. Sadly, one of these was put in upside-down.

The aircell was at the end pointing down. Did I doom this baby to pipping and not being able to get air? I'm so sad. What, if anything, can or should be done? I asked on the NorCal thread and am hoping to get some good answers. I wasn't sure which way I should put it back in.

Another egg is developing but has a small hole in it. I left it in for now. I may try putting wax over the hole.

 

[Deerling]

 

[gingerly1983]

Here's the ones I set! you've got a nice mix going too! I can't wait to see what kinds and colors hatch.

im sorry about the egg developing on the wrong end :/ I'm not sure what to do. If it were me, I would leave it with the small end up since its already developing on that end. Just be really careful and watch it closely during hatch time. You may have to help it out. That's my opinion, but I could be wrong. Hope its hatches for you!

 

[ScottLovelandCO]

I did a little modification of the incubator yesterday. I quickly installed another fan to help circulate warm air, added a heat sink, and installed the t-stat caddycorner to allow air flow across the sensitive part. I think being up against the plastic was causing it to retain heat on the sensor when the light was off. Now the off cycles are about 40% shorter. We also quickly candled at the same time. We started with 24 barnyard eggs, I dropped one during the initial weighing/candling. So 23 actually made it to day one. Of those 23 we had 18 showing great sign. We pulled the 5 that showed absolutely nothing. Of the 5 that we pulled and autopsied, 3 were infertile and 2 just never developed. One off the eggs the yolk was already scrambled when we opened it and the other yolk appeared to be separated inside the shell. So we're down to 75%. I still think we'll have a decent hatch. Oh......in case you were wondering, my incubator is much more stable now. The temperature is holding great. 98.5 -101 on the digital one and 100 on the mercury one.

Time for a stupid question: these eggs are a barnyard mix. The only rooster is an ameraucana but there are about 5 types of hens. Some eggs are dark brown, light brown, and green. We lost all but one green egg. Does the color of the shell determine what color egg that chick would lay? Assuming it was a pullet! I figure it has nothing to do with it but I thought I would ask. I'm sure it works a lot like eye color in humans. There is always a dominant trait. The ameraucana being green and whatever else being brown, which would be the dominant trait?

 

[Chesterchook]

What sort of egg do you have in the upper left corner of the turner? We were worried any eggs put there might knock against the turner motor, but it looks like you've got a small one in there

 

[missnu01]

I did a little modification of the incubator yesterday. I quickly installed another fan to help circulate warm air, added a heat sink, and installed the t-stat caddycorner to allow air flow across the sensitive part. I think being up against the plastic was causing it to retain heat on the sensor when the light was off. Now the off cycles are about 40% shorter. We also quickly candled at the same time. We started with 24 barnyard eggs, I dropped one during the initial weighing/candling. So 23 actually made it to day one. Of those 23 we had 18 showing great sign. We pulled the 5 that showed absolutely nothing. Of the 5 that we pulled and autopsied, 3 were infertile and 2 just never developed. One off the eggs the yolk was already scrambled when we opened it and the other yolk appeared to be separated inside the shell. So we're down to 75%. I still think we'll have a decent hatch. Oh......in case you were wondering, my incubator is much more stable now. The temperature is holding great. 98.5 -101 on the digital one and 100 on the mercury one.

Time for a stupid question: these eggs are a barnyard mix. The only rooster is an ameraucana but there are about 5 types of hens. Some eggs are dark brown, light brown, and green. We lost all but one green egg. Does the color of the shell determine what color egg that chick would lay? Assuming it was a pullet! I figure it has nothing to do with it but I thought I would ask. I'm sure it works a lot like eye color in humans. There is always a dominant trait. The ameraucana being green and whatever else being brown, which would be the dominant trait?

I think it depends on what egg color they hatch out of to a point. Like a hick hatched from a blue egg with a father that is a breed that lays blue eggs will lay blue eggs...but a chicken hatched from a brown egg with a dad that has a blue egg gene will lay a green egg. But it is very possible I am totally wrong. I think to get olive eggers don't people put a Marans too over EE hens, so what hatches out of that blue egg will be a chicken that will lay green eggs? Right? Or do they put an EE roo over a Marans hen? Or does it work both ways? I have some eggs set now that some were EE eggs sired by a Marans rooster. I'm assuming that what hatches out of the blue eggs will be a green egg laying olive egger. I am also assuming that what hatches out of olive eggs sired by same Marans rooster will lay a brown egg...since they are 3/4s brown egg layer with 1/4 blue egg layer in there...then again an EE is only half blue layer...so that changes it up again...who knows. I've confused myself now

 

[Deerling]

Here's the ones I set! you've got a nice mix going too! I can't wait to see what kinds and colors hatch.

im sorry about the egg developing on the wrong end :/ I'm not sure what to do. If it were me, I would leave it with the small end up since its already developing on that end. Just be really careful and watch it closely during hatch time. You may have to help it out. That's my opinion, but I could be wrong. Hope its hatches for you!

Ooh, those are lovely! I really hope to get some chocolate eggers at some point. Thanks for the advice, that was my instinct too.

I did a little modification of the incubator yesterday. I quickly installed another fan to help circulate warm air, added a heat sink, and installed the t-stat caddycorner to allow air flow across the sensitive part. I think being up against the plastic was causing it to retain heat on the sensor when the light was off. Now the off cycles are about 40% shorter. We also quickly candled at the same time. We started with 24 barnyard eggs, I dropped one during the initial weighing/candling. So 23 actually made it to day one. Of those 23 we had 18 showing great sign. We pulled the 5 that showed absolutely nothing. Of the 5 that we pulled and autopsied, 3 were infertile and 2 just never developed. One off the eggs the yolk was already scrambled when we opened it and the other yolk appeared to be separated inside the shell. So we're down to 75%. I still think we'll have a decent hatch. Oh......in case you were wondering, my incubator is much more stable now. The temperature is holding great. 98.5 -101 on the digital one and 100 on the mercury one.

Time for a stupid question: these eggs are a barnyard mix. The only rooster is an ameraucana but there are about 5 types of hens. Some eggs are dark brown, light brown, and green. We lost all but one green egg. Does the color of the shell determine what color egg that chick would lay? Assuming it was a pullet! I figure it has nothing to do with it but I thought I would ask. I'm sure it works a lot like eye color in humans. There is always a dominant trait. The ameraucana being green and whatever else being brown, which would be the dominant trait?

That's amazing! It's so cool that you did all that. I'm having a lot of trouble with the humidity in my incubator... want to come help me out

? I would love to see poctures if you wanted to share them. What kind of incubator was it?

I don't think that's a stupid question at all. I'm not sure of the answer, but I do think it's kind of a mix, like Missnu was saying. That if a dark brown egg layer and a tan layer made a baby she would lay medium dark brown eggs. Not sure, though. I know some people on the forums are working on projects to produce certain layer colors. I'll look around and see if I can find much info. It's cool to have other people doing barnyard mixes! There were tons of roosters and pullets (I would say almost 50/50) in the laying flock I got mine from - they are all purebreds but of different breeds. So I'm really excited to see what we get. And then the biggest tan ones in my picture are store bought fertile eggs. I can't believe all 10 still in there have veining! They would have been someone's breakfast!

What sort of egg do you have in the upper left corner of the turner? We were worried any eggs put there might knock against the turner motor, but it looks like you've got a small one in there

It's a little crevecoeur egg. It wasn't knocking against it, but it did get wedged in a bit. I moved it. I think everything is okay, but I wish I had remembered not to put one there.