Setting the week of August 22 (or so... ) Everyone join!! You know you want to!

[MnMPoultry]

I guess I can get in on this hatch-a-long with all of you. I set 19 Silkie eggs (BBS, Buff, and White) from bargain on the 24th. I did a day 7 candle last night and pulled just three clears on shipped eggs! I must say, that's probably the best Day 7 candle percentage I've seen personally on shipped eggs in three years.

Nancy did a great job packing and it really shows in how many eggs developed.

Oh, yea, I've got them in a circulated air old Hovabator that has a wafer thermostat. I've always has great hatch % on eggs that have been set, fertile, and not scrambled from shipping, so here's hoping for 16 Silkies in two weeks!

 

[mstricer]

Day 8

So after Day 7 candling yesterday, here's where my incubation stands:

Out of 25 eggs (12 local BCMarans and 13 shipped Ameraucanas) I have: 

7 not developing or quit very early. Of those, three were the only odd size/shaped ones-2 pullet eggs and one was bullet shaped egg. I will leave them in til day 14 just to be sure.
5 have veining and some kind of mass (but I could only see one baby in there, in the one with the detached air cell) I did not see movement in any of them.
11 of them I can't tell and will have to wait til day 14 when I weigh and candle again. 

Strangely enough, the Ameraucana eggs seem to be doing better than the Marans. 5 of the Marans eggs look like they aren't developing at all, and only 2 of the Ameraucanas. However it has been really hot here in SoCal so maybe that affected fertility. Also the air cells looked really good in all of them except the one which was detached.

Will update this on day 14. I'm not sure what to do about the detached air cell in the one egg. I think I'm going to just leave it be in the turner, not weigh or candle it again until day 18. I hope I didn't hurt it when I candled it...

I wouldn't throw anything out until at least day 10 - 14. I've had eggs that I thought were quitters and cracked them open only to find that it was developing. So sad.

 

[XxPandaxX]

Wow everyone ! Welcome newcomer !! Lol. As for the heat spike to 100 degrees thats fine. Anything beyond 103 is bad and causes deformities or kills the embryo. However, since it did spike you should keep an eye out more frequently.

Sadly, I had a heat spike last night, and one of the standard chicks was killed ): So only 1 more standard chickie left ! Today will be day 10.

My eggs from GA have arrived !! Best packing EVER, all the eggs look to be in Great shape except for 1 tiny one, one too porous and a few other shape things. All the duck eggs are fine and have zero cracks or shape issues - thank GOD because there are only 6, and I'll probably only hatch one of the ducks anyway. Everyone else looks like they're doing amazing with shipped eggs. I can only hope I get that lucky !!

Hope everyone's eggs will thrive...

Also, that fridge bator looks awesome !!

 

[Wrightsx4]

Day 9 for my shipped eggs. They were not packed well (zero padding between bottom of box and cardboard carton - eggs not individually wrapped). Of 15 I set 11 with only real hope for 4 or 5 eggs due to air sac issues. The good news - my DD and I candled today and have three hopefuls. One I can see moving around well (faverolle), one I can see veins but no movement (faverolle) and one is extremely hard to candle (ameraucana/ee) but I can see veining and a small blob that DD swears moved. So...puffy cheeked chickens are doing well Nothing to see in the australorp or sussex eggs. Many detached air sacs and maybe 2 blood rings but holding onto them til Monday to be sure since I'm not experienced in candling. I'd hate to find vessels inside I didn't see from outside since theyre brown eggs. My homemade incubator frustrated me for a few days - no sleeping for me- but it's straightened out. 3/4 Covered my oversized vents and everything is staying where it's supposed to. In case I had a single hatch I decided last night to order some friends from Meyer Hatchery they arrive next Wednesday 9/12 mine are due to hatch Thursday 9/13.

 

[MnMPoultry]

Sorry to hear about those badly packed eggs! It's always a bummer to spend money on getting eggs shipped and only have a couple hatch. Those turn out being very expensive chicks!

 

[Wrightsx4]

Sadly I trusted how they'd pack the eggs, since they actually sell egg shipping supplies too. Maybe they would have survived if they'd used the supplies they sell. They were very nice and did issue a partial refund. Learning experience. At least I get to try out my incubator and hopefully get a couple chicks from the eggs.

 

[Roxannemc]

i forgot to mention what i am talking about... Roxanne asked about my lemon cuckoo eggs...lol

Yeah the heat. I was asking them to put in ice pack in with the eggs. paid extra each time... ..Most did the last few Got a few t o hatch 3-5.....These eggs that iam getting the great hatch from???...no ice pack. So go figure. It was 90's to 105 when they were shipped.No rhyme or reason to it all.

 

[Roxannemc]

Yeah the heat. I was asking them to put in ice pack in with the eggs. paid extra each time... ..Most did the last few Got a few t o hatch 3-5.....These eggs that iam getting the great hatch from???...no ice pack. So go figure. It was 90's to 105 when they were shipped.No rhyme or reason to it all.

Shoot if you live closer and got some Lemon cuckoo chicks to hatch...we could trade what i have show LB's for yours!!I wanted totkeep 2lb's and hope for a roo as ihave 3 hens already but not showDONT need 5!!!.

 

[XxPandaxX]

Do they have to be moving ?! When I candle mine I see something move all the time, but just wondering, does zero movement mean dead chicks ?

Sorry about those badly packed eggs, that's a bummer !! I'm sure you'll get at least a couple though..

Here's an interesting topic. My friend that sent me the standard eggs and the 6 French Rouen (duck) eggs incubated some ameraucanas a while ago. 2 of them developed to the end until they tried to hatch themselves and died. I hear this is because they are "true" Ameraucanas, and all of them have a "defect" that makes the majority of them die while hatching. Of course, I'm going to hatch them myself. Some of you might not agree, but I think it's stupid to sit and watch the chick die that's fully formed and has zero deformities. My friend would have done so, but it was her first hatch and she didn't know that they were true ameraucanas. Thank you GOD I know !!

Good news: I got 4 french copper maran eggs !! They're brick red... meaning candling is a no. Ugh. Hopefully they'll develop well. They ALL have a permanent spot in the incubator for 21 days since I won't be able to tell which are developers and which are not. But with good news comes bad news... All of the OTHER eggs besides just a few are in colder temperatures. They will still develop fine- maybe even better, because of course colder is better than hotter. I'm trading in good hatch rates for a late, late, LATE hatch day..

Re-edited to add that I tossed the majority of my local eggs ): Day 10 and I have 8 developing. 6 bantams, 1 duck, 1 standard.

 

[what did I do]

Do they have to be moving ?! When I candle mine I see something move all the time, but just wondering, does zero movement mean dead chicks ? 

Sorry about those badly packed eggs, that's a bummer !! I'm sure you'll get at least a couple though..

Here's an interesting topic. My friend that sent me the standard eggs and the 6 French Rouen (duck) eggs incubated some ameraucanas a while ago. 2 of them developed to the end until they tried to hatch themselves and died. I hear this is because they are "true" Ameraucanas, and all of them have a "defect" that makes the majority of them die while hatching. Of course, I'm going to hatch them myself. Some of you might not agree, but I think it's stupid to sit and watch the chick die that's fully formed and has zero deformities. My friend would have done so, but it was her first hatch and she didn't know that they were true ameraucanas. Thank you GOD I know !! 

Good news: I got 4 french copper maran eggs !! They're brick red... meaning candling is a no. Ugh. Hopefully they'll develop well. They ALL have a permanent spot in the incubator for 21 days since I won't be able to tell which are developers and which are not. But with good news comes bad news... All of the OTHER eggs besides just a few are in colder temperatures. They will still develop fine- maybe even better, because of course colder is better than hotter. I'm trading in good hatch rates for a late, late, LATE hatch day.. 

Re-edited to add that I tossed the majority of my local eggs ): Day 10 and I have 8 developing. 6 bantams, 1 duck, 1 standard. 

They do not have to be moving to be alive!