The 10th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!!!!!

[Jules929]

Day 5. Looks like all 17 Marans eggs are developing! Hooray. If anyone is interested in what I look for in dark eggs at day 5 I've attached pics. It's not veining or the embryo. Rather I look for changes to the yolk. A clear delineation between the top and bottom of the egg. Also moving the light source slowly from the top to behind the egg you get a dark band in the middle. I call it "candy corn effect" but I'm sure there is a technical term. The egg much be candled vertically to notice these changes. You can also see these changes in the pic from incubator supply although most people would focus on the more obvious embryo and veins.

I'll check them again at Day 10 and lockdown. I'm trying to keep this a very hand off hatch.

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Thank you for sharing! I have a BCM in my shipped eggs and 5 White Marans eggs from my girl, Sugar. Hopefully I can candle them tonight before I miss that 5-6 day sweet spot! I also have a very dark Olive egger egg in the shipped group. I will have a better idea of what to look for now!

 

[GaryDean26]

Day 5. Looks like all 17 Marans eggs are developing! Hooray. If anyone is interested in what I look for in dark eggs at day 5 I've attached pics. It's not veining or the embryo. Rather I look for changes to the yolk. A clear delineation between the top and bottom of the egg. Also moving the light source slowly from the top to behind the egg you get a dark band in the middle. I call it "candy corn effect" but I'm sure there is a technical term. The egg much be candled vertically to notice these changes. You can also see these changes in the pic from incubator supply although most people would focus on the more obvious embryo and veins.

I'll check them again at Day 10 and lockdown. I'm trying to keep this a very hand off hatch.

View attachment 1726018 View attachment 1726019 View attachment 1726035

Well...I went out and got the 500 lumem light a few years ago and rigged things up like a Marans breeder I was working with said she had the best success with. I still was only able to see the air sac when I candled. If the egg doesn't develop I get a faint orange glow to the shell when I candle for the non air sac end. If their is anything developed int eh egg it is completely dark. So tend to keep most of the eggs in incubation and onto the hatcher and wait to see what I get. Here are the set of eggs my brother set from my flock in February.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Thank you for sharing! I have a BCM in my shipped eggs and 5 White Marans eggs from my girl, Sugar. Hopefully I can candle them tonight before I miss that 5-6 day sweet spot! I also have a very dark Olive egger egg in the shipped group. I will have a better idea of what to look for now!

Nice. Let me know how it goes!

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Well...I went out and got the 500 lumem light a few years ago and rigged things up like a Marans breeder I was working with said she had the best success with. I still was only able to see the air sac when I candled. If the egg doesn't develop I get a faint orange glow to the shell when I candle for the non air sac end. If their is anything developed int eh egg it is completely dark. So tend to keep most of the eggs in incubation and onto the hatcher and wait to see what I get. Here are the set of eggs my brother set from my flock in February. View attachment 1726920

Gorgeous eggs Was it a good hatch? I'm glad you found a candling technique that works for you. I'll have to give it a try. What day are you trying that on? Sounds later in development, Day 10+?

 

[Jennrz]

Nice! This method only works for a small window early in incubation, Day 5-6ish. But at Day 10 I'm sure you'll see all kinds of neat movement and shadows using traditional candling. l'll be watching for your update.

Of the three BCM eggs I candles last night (day 10) I pulled one. Thanks to @UThobbyfarmer and @MagpieDucks I had a better sense of what to look for.

I have 4 olive green eggs that are proving just as difficult. One looks like it might be an early quitter. There’s a small mass and possible blood ring. The others seem to have a decent bit of dark matter.

We’re half way through the hatch now so still a waiting game. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if half of my original purchase make it to lockdown. We’re at 20 of 24 still in the running.

 

[GaryDean26]

Gorgeous eggs Was it a good hatch? I'm glad you found a candling technique that works for you. I'll have to give it a try. What day are you trying that on? Sounds later in development, Day 10+?

I didn't get the final count from my brother, but we collected 8 eggs from my Favorite Marans hen for our hatch in February. Seven of them hatched giving us one cockerel and six pullets. We do our first candling at 4-7 days and then candle again on day 16-18.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Once you have set all of your eggs, please post your total in this thread, so we can get them counted!

We love pictures of your eggs, but please post your total number. @BantyChooks has a lot to record, so lets make it easy on her and not make her count eggs in pictures!​

 

[chickendreams24]

Oh dear what a bummer I wanted to join but it was too cold to set up our breeding groups until this last week.

Can I still enter contests or am I late for that cut off too?

 

[chickendreams24]

Either way I'll just live vicariously through all of you for a while until we're ready to start hatching this year.

Also we got our first turkey egg yesterday so I'm super excited for more of them!

We have calico and blue slate turkeys and will be getting a nargansett jenny as well.

 

[LynnaePB]

15 total eggs set for the hatch-a-long.

Sorry if this post is redundant, this is my first time participating in a hatch-a-long, I'm just trying to make sure my total was clear.