The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[KYTinpusher]

They are going to pay for replacement eggs. It's just heartbreaking because I was attached to those babies and now I have to start all over

I'm trying not to be angry with them for being irresponsible with their dogs but it's hard.

You probably want to stay on good terms with your neighbors, but keep this in mind if their is a next time. They are liable for replacement cost of the grown birds, including shipping if needed, not just the cost for eggs that may or may not hatch. Let them know just what that cost might be next time and they will think real hard about restraining their dogs if you have some rare and expensive breeds. Depending on your relationship with them, you may want to do that via a certified letter so that there is proof that they have been warned and a judge will know they are repeat offenders. (ETA - Be sure to keep a copy of the letter in your files) A good judge will not tolerate repeat offenders and will make it rather painful on their wallet.

My incubator should arrive between the 4 and 9 of march when should I order my eggs?

Unless you have a back-up plan or don't mind the eggs going to waste, I would wait until your incubator arrives before you order eggs. Anything can happen in shipping and there may be an issue with the incubator where it doesn't work and needs to be replaced. Murphy's Law says if you wait to order eggs, the incubator will arrive quickly and in perfect working condition. But if you order eggs to arrive about the same time...

Now. I just ordered some this morning.

Getting more EE eggs from a gal that I have bought from before. Her EE's are darling. Here is a photo of one of them..I just had to get more eggs. I shared a lot of the ones that hatched last yr.



Plus I'm getting some Silkie eggs from a close by town..no shipping! Yaay, first time I've bought from him. Will get those and set those on the 5th.

Pretty girl!

 

[Kluk-Kluk]

X's 2.

x'3 or 4 or 5... That is really terrible. So sorry.

 

[Kluk-Kluk]

I am so happy to see you guys back. You brought tears to my eyes last year. It was great to see the joy those chicks brought your residents!

Wow, what a great idea! My mother is in assisted living. I'm sure she would love something like that!

 

[RattleCan]

Alright guys, I need some help. The eggs have arrived and... not gonna lie. After the last two batches of eggs that I hatched, I thought I knew what I was looking at when candling. But apparently I don't.

I'm assessing the quality of the air cells. Almost every single one of these eggs has a loose air bubble that moves when I rotate the egg. This is a rolling air cell, correct? It's just that, in some of the eggs, there's a darker area that doesn't move when you rotate the egg and, even though the air bubble wants to roll around freely, it won't go past that dark area. And some of those dark areas look like the saddle shaped air cells in Sally Sunshine's earlier post about shipped eggs. So is that little bubble the air cell, or is it that whole dark area in general? I can try to take pictures if that will help. I just wanted to try the method of outlining the air cells, but I'm not sure what I should outline. Or should I wait to do that until lockdown?

Second, one of the eggs is cracked. Not broken cracked, but definitely has a visual starbust and long hairline cracks coming from it. I've heard you can use candle wax to repair eggs like this, any advice?

Third, a second egg has what looks like cracks, but they're on the inside of the shell. From the outside it looks like a normal egg, but when candled, there's a small starburst and cracks coming from it. Haven't seen anything like that before so not sure if I should do anything about it.

Now, assuming the moving air bubbles are the air cells, I'm going to say they're just about all loose and rolling. I haven't dealt with this before, all of the eggs I hatched in my last two batches never had a freely moving air bubble, so here comes the doubt about me being able to successfully hatch these guys.

I guess I'll let them settle for the few days and set them on Thursday. Sally Sunshine's post says not to turn on the turner for at least 3 days after I start incubating them with loose air cells. Does this still apply if I let them settle for almost 3 days before starting to incubate? Does the air cell eventually settle into place and stop moving? Or will it now be loose until the developing chick essentially forces it to stay near the top of the egg?

 

[KYTinpusher]

OMG I just had a startling math realization!

As I was cleaning incubators...

24 X 3 = 72 (3 incubators that hold 24 eggs each)

That's more than 5 dozen. No wonder I am over run with chicks. I don't have a cabinet, so it doesn't look like as much spreading it out.

You mean to say you only put 24 eggs in each of your Octo 20's?

Am I the only one who plays the Egg Jigsaw Puzzle Game to see if I can fit just one more egg into the basket???

I have to hand turn the incubators because they are too heavy for the auto-turners and it may break the motor arm (been there, done that, more times than I care to admit!

). This is just one of my Brinseas currently - except for a little variation in the colors, they both look the same

, plus eggs in the coolerbator and as of last night, under a broody Svarthöna, too!

 

[Cynthia12]

Alright guys, I need some help. The eggs have arrived and... not gonna lie. After the last two batches of eggs that I hatched, I thought I knew what I was looking at when candling. But apparently I don't.

I'm assessing the quality of the air cells. Almost every single one of these eggs has a loose air bubble that moves when I rotate the egg. This is a rolling air cell, correct? It's just that, in some of the eggs, there's a darker area that doesn't move when you rotate the egg and, even though the air bubble wants to roll around freely, it won't go past that dark area. And some of those dark areas look like the saddle shaped air cells in Sally Sunshine's earlier post about shipped eggs. So is that little bubble the air cell, or is it that whole dark area in general? I can try to take pictures if that will help. I just wanted to try the method of outlining the air cells, but I'm not sure what I should outline. Or should I wait to do that until lockdown?

Second, one of the eggs is cracked. Not broken cracked, but definitely has a visual starbust and long hairline cracks coming from it. I've heard you can use candle wax to repair eggs like this, any advice?

Third, a second egg has what looks like cracks, but they're on the inside of the shell. From the outside it looks like a normal egg, but when candled, there's a small starburst and cracks coming from it. Haven't seen anything like that before so not sure if I should do anything about it.

Now, assuming the moving air bubbles are the air cells, I'm going to say they're just about all loose and rolling. I haven't dealt with this before, all of the eggs I hatched in my last two batches never had a freely moving air bubble, so here comes the doubt about me being able to successfully hatch these guys.

I guess I'll let them settle for the few days and set them on Thursday. Sally Sunshine's post says not to turn on the turner for at least 3 days after I start incubating them with loose air cells. Does this still apply if I let them settle for almost 3 days before starting to incubate? Does the air cell eventually settle into place and stop moving? Or will it now be loose until the developing chick essentially forces it to stay near the top of the egg?

Go to page 596....post 5954!

 

[KYTinpusher]

Alright guys, I need some help. The eggs have arrived and... not gonna lie. After the last two batches of eggs that I hatched, I thought I knew what I was looking at when candling. But apparently I don't.

I'm assessing the quality of the air cells. Almost every single one of these eggs has a loose air bubble that moves when I rotate the egg. This is a rolling air cell, correct? It's just that, in some of the eggs, there's a darker area that doesn't move when you rotate the egg and, even though the air bubble wants to roll around freely, it won't go past that dark area. And some of those dark areas look like the saddle shaped air cells in Sally Sunshine's earlier post about shipped eggs. So is that little bubble the air cell, or is it that whole dark area in general? I can try to take pictures if that will help. I just wanted to try the method of outlining the air cells, but I'm not sure what I should outline. Or should I wait to do that until lockdown?

If the bubbles can move anywhere within the egg, the aircell is broken. If they are contained within the darker area, but it is larger than a normal aircell, then they are saddled, but not broken. Definitely let them rest for a few days with the large end up. Some of the aircells may repair themselves. Candle again before you set them on Thursday to see what shape the aircells are in. If they look better, you can start to turn them right away as normal. If they still look bad, I would wait a few days to start turning them.

Second, one of the eggs is cracked. Not broken cracked, but definitely has a visual starbust and long hairline cracks coming from it. I've heard you can use candle wax to repair eggs like this, any advice?

I use the fabric medical tape and remove it at lockdown so it doesn't keep the chick from pipping. If it isn't too bad, I have also used the spray on bandage and redo it a couple of times during incubation. It lets air through and won't hamper pipping/zipping. Others use wax or nailpolish, but I have never tried those.

Third, a second egg has what looks like cracks, but they're on the inside of the shell. From the outside it looks like a normal egg, but when candled, there's a small starburst and cracks coming from it. Haven't seen anything like that before so not sure if I should do anything about it.

Those sound like stress cracks. The egg is probably bigger than that particular hen is used to laying. If they don't seem to go through the shell, you don't need to do anything.

Now, assuming the moving air bubbles are the air cells, I'm going to say they're just about all loose and rolling. I haven't dealt with this before, all of the eggs I hatched in my last two batches never had a freely moving air bubble, so here comes the doubt about me being able to successfully hatch these guys.

Unfortunately, eggs with broken aircelss seldom hatch, but they can so don't give up on them yet. I have only done it successfully once.

I guess I'll let them settle for the few days and set them on Thursday. Sally Sunshine's post says not to turn on the turner for at least 3 days after I start incubating them with loose air cells. Does this still apply if I let them settle for almost 3 days before starting to incubate? Does the air cell eventually settle into place and stop moving? Or will it now be loose until the developing chick essentially forces it to stay near the top of the egg?

 

[TJordan]

I'm in NC I would give them to you for free if you paid shipping. I don't know that they would get there in time. Iv never shipped before.

Thanks but I'll wait. I'll be good. I can still cheer you all on

 

[Eps32]

Thanks but I'll wait. I'll be good. I can still cheer you all on

Alright sorry u can't join I feel bad

 

[RattleCan]

Quote:
It looks like there are 7/24 eggs with broken air cells then, including the cracked egg.. The bubble moves 100% freely around the entire egg. I definitely won't be giving up on any of them though!

Of the remaining eggs, it looks as though all but two are saddled. And of the two that look like what I'd call perfect, barely moving air cells.... I just noticed one of them is cracked good too!

Alright, so the one that has "stress cracks" I won't worry too much about then. They're definitely only inside the egg and only visible when candled. Now as for these other two cracked eggs... I may have medical tape in an old first aid kit that I'd have to go dig out. No spray on bandage, I do have wax and nail polish but I'm sure they're less desirable solutions. Is the main issue with a cracked egg loss of moisture? I'm just wondering if I should definitely do something to them at all or just let them be. They do have visual cracks, but they're not broken, leaking, gentle handling doesn't seem to be bothering them. I'm just afraid of doing more harm then good. But if there's no hope of them hatching in their current state, I'm going to dig for that tape.

If they seldom hatch, than I have little hope that I'll be able to pull them through. But you bet I'm gonna try it.