So after I bought my new brinsea incubator I of course had to squeeze in one "test" hatch before the Easter hatch. Last night, day 10 I candled. Now that I have officially seen life I am sooooo impatient! I just want them to hatch!
Here's what I have so far, thoughts and feedback from you guys are always appreciated.
I put in 5 of my buff brahma eggs to test fertility, they are all cooking away and saw movement like crazy in them.
I also put in 20 shipped marans eggs. During the candling process I found 2 that had pretty significant cracks or dents in them. I did not notice that on candling when I received them. Maybe I squeezed them in too tight and did it myself. These marans eggs are very difficult to see thru. I use two mag lite flashlights when candling and on 2 of them I thought I saw veins and 1 with possible movement.
But anyway back to the cracked ones. One of them had a dent, hole and crack half way around the egg, so I cracked that open first to see if it had any signs of fertility. The good and bad news of that is it was fertile and very early quitter. Pretty much just the eye there. So when I saw fertility in that one I decided to recandle the other cracked one and decide what to do on it. I candled it and I actually thought it looked clear because the light seemed to shine equally all the way thru. Couldn't even tell where the air sack was. So I carefully cracked it open and to my great sadness there was a live little embryo in there. The crack went all the way around the shell basically cutting it in half but it wasn't leaking. I guess I should have put wax on it. My new philosophy with marans eggs if it doesn't stink or goo to leave it.
This is also the first time I am weighing the eggs and marking the air cells. The air cells seem to be developing as they should be. I figure at 10 days the eggs should have lost about 13% of their weight correct? Well they are not losing that much. More like 8 %. I am only weighing 12 of them so it doesn't take me forever to weigh, candle etc. I am using the dry hatch method and humidity is sitting at 28% in the bator. Any thoughts?
Oz did you weigh your eggs? You have a really humid climate to deal with. I thought Oklahoma is dry, but it has been rainy/snowy here lately.
I have also been sick with the flu and fell behind on my fun chicken facts. Between all the sleeping I have been doing it was hard enough just keeping up with the thread and now that I have confirmed life in those eggs I can't seem to peel myself away. Its going to be a long 11 more days.
Here's what I have so far, thoughts and feedback from you guys are always appreciated.
I put in 5 of my buff brahma eggs to test fertility, they are all cooking away and saw movement like crazy in them.
I also put in 20 shipped marans eggs. During the candling process I found 2 that had pretty significant cracks or dents in them. I did not notice that on candling when I received them. Maybe I squeezed them in too tight and did it myself. These marans eggs are very difficult to see thru. I use two mag lite flashlights when candling and on 2 of them I thought I saw veins and 1 with possible movement.
But anyway back to the cracked ones. One of them had a dent, hole and crack half way around the egg, so I cracked that open first to see if it had any signs of fertility. The good and bad news of that is it was fertile and very early quitter. Pretty much just the eye there. So when I saw fertility in that one I decided to recandle the other cracked one and decide what to do on it. I candled it and I actually thought it looked clear because the light seemed to shine equally all the way thru. Couldn't even tell where the air sack was. So I carefully cracked it open and to my great sadness there was a live little embryo in there. The crack went all the way around the shell basically cutting it in half but it wasn't leaking. I guess I should have put wax on it. My new philosophy with marans eggs if it doesn't stink or goo to leave it.
This is also the first time I am weighing the eggs and marking the air cells. The air cells seem to be developing as they should be. I figure at 10 days the eggs should have lost about 13% of their weight correct? Well they are not losing that much. More like 8 %. I am only weighing 12 of them so it doesn't take me forever to weigh, candle etc. I am using the dry hatch method and humidity is sitting at 28% in the bator. Any thoughts?
Oz did you weigh your eggs? You have a really humid climate to deal with. I thought Oklahoma is dry, but it has been rainy/snowy here lately.
I have also been sick with the flu and fell behind on my fun chicken facts. Between all the sleeping I have been doing it was hard enough just keeping up with the thread and now that I have confirmed life in those eggs I can't seem to peel myself away. Its going to be a long 11 more days.
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