The 5th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Egghead_Jr]

I candled a few days ago. It seems the cold weather gave me fertility issue or had eggs frozen before collection. Didn't candle them all but it looks as though 1/3 of them are clear. Good weather now and rooster has been very active with the ladies. Starting to collect today for the next batch, should have 2 dozen or more for next round.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

I had to pull 2 more eggs...they were the ones that were spotted internally so I couldn't see anything, not even the air cell. But, I knew by now I should see shadows moving around, and I could make out the shadow of the yolk, but it would move with the egg as I turned it, so I knew there was no growth going on in either one of them.

Now, I know how to tell if an egg is fertile or infertile when you first crack it open before incubation. I took pictures of each of the two yolks, and there's a few white spots in the fertility spot (dunno what you call it). Can someone tell me what this means? Were they fertile, just didn't grow? Thanks!

 

[JennaLynn122]

I had to pull 2 more eggs...they were the ones that were spotted internally so I couldn't see anything, not even the air cell. But, I knew by now I should see shadows moving around, and I could make out the shadow of the yolk, but it would move with the egg as I turned it, so I knew there was no growth going on in either one of them. Now, I know how to tell if an egg is fertile or infertile when you first crack it open before incubation. I took pictures of each of the two yolks, and there's a few white spots in the fertility spot (dunno what you call it). Can someone tell me what this means? Were they fertile, just didn't grow? Thanks!

I'm no expert, on my first hatch myself but I'm taking an educated guess in saying #1 looks infertile and #2 looks like fertile and possibly a very early death? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong or lmk if I'm right

 

[ronott1]

Here are the results of yesterday's hatch using the Brinsea mini advance. Four hatched great, two did not hatch, and one hatched late and weak (is still in the incubator) to make five total.
The freshest of the eggs all hatched the best... or so it seemed. Two did not hatch.

I keep telling the egg farmer about this! each day of storage can add one hour to hatch time for hatching eggs--and the last ones to hatch are often weak--some to not make it.

He dropped of 51 eggs yesterday, collected over 15 days.

They will hatch over a long period of time. The weakest ones will be more likely to be mal positioned because they are weak. Shipped eggs can have the same problem for those collected after 5 days because of the shipping stress and energy used to recover.

 

[Marthab1953]

I'm no expert, on my first hatch myself but I'm taking an educated guess in saying
#1 looks infertile and #2 looks like fertile and possibly a very early death? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong or lmk if I'm right

#2 egg definitely started growing.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

#2 egg definitely started growing.

They both smelled funny, too. Dunno if that means anything or not. Not rotten, exactly...but smelled off.

 

[JennaLynn122]

#2 egg definitely started growing.

That's what I was thinking. Looks like at least pard of the blood island started around the dot.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I was pretty happy this morning i was eating breakfast then i was going to check my birds, then my great uncle called( he lives closer to my birds he's right next door to my grandfather who's farm i raise my birds on). He said he saw a fox running around with something in it's mouth. My stomach dropped i ran up there with my gun and it was the biggest fox i have ever seen. He killed my tom turkey out of all things i would of rather him kill a chicken instead. Im mad and going to kill it later.

I'm sorry. I too have had a massive fox cruising around here. My dog has chased it off, thankfully.

Here are the results of yesterday's hatch using the Brinsea mini advance. Four hatched great, two did not hatch, and one hatched late and weak (is still in the incubator) to make five total.
The freshest of the eggs all hatched the best... or so it seemed. Two did not hatch.

Congrats!

I had to pull 2 more eggs...they were the ones that were spotted internally so I couldn't see anything, not even the air cell. But, I knew by now I should see shadows moving around, and I could make out the shadow of the yolk, but it would move with the egg as I turned it, so I knew there was no growth going on in either one of them.

Now, I know how to tell if an egg is fertile or infertile when you first crack it open before incubation. I took pictures of each of the two yolks, and there's a few white spots in the fertility spot (dunno what you call it). Can someone tell me what this means? Were they fertile, just didn't grow? Thanks!

2nd definitely started developing. Harder to tell on #1, but I think I see the disc, so it looks like it was fertile.

He dropped of 51 eggs yesterday, collected over 15 days.

I think I'd cry if I dropped 51 eggs.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm sorry. I too have had a massive fox cruising around here. My dog has chased it off, thankfully.

Congrats!

2nd definitely started developing. Harder to tell on #1, but I think I see the disc, so it looks like it was fertile.

I think I'd cry if I dropped 51 eggs.

I cry if I drop a dozen eating eggs.

My wife took all the eggs I had collected for hatching with pedigree and egg ages and stuck them in the fridge with the rest. I had to start all over. At least the HAL eggs became fresher. But since all my experiments were Kaput, I lost some interest. I just put a couple cartons in the LG for a few days and just moved them to the cabinet turners a few days ago. They'll sink or swim I guess.

Speaking of elevation, I think Oz is about as close to sea level that one can get. I'm just under 600 ft..

 

[Roosting Robin]

This is great news!  So glad to hear that people are keeping hives.   More need to.  If we had a place for it, we would be doing this. 

We just moved out where we have space for bees. When I get my chickens going, my next venture is bees. I have no clue how to start though; hopefully can find someone local to help me learn