The Great Tolbunt Polish Hatch!! - Babies!!!

[Illia]

Quote:
Same with you!

Anyone want to see my sonogram?

Here's two of the babies. . . Don't worry. I didn't drop any eggs this time. . . .

They're just the tiniest little fetuses right now, but coming along well.

 

[monicas]

so glad to see some of these coming in to the area. put me first on your list for chicks or eggs when you have some : )

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Hey there.

I actually wouldn't mind the thought of devising a list of people interested, as I already had someone mention it earlier. Just a conceptual list though for now. . . As they hatch and mature, I'll be breeding both pure Tolbunts and projects of Tolbunt x Silver Laced Polish to increase fertility, vitality, and on the F3 and F4 birds, improve the Tolbunt color itself.

 

[monicas]

sounds like a great idea to increase their vitality. we're playing with wcblue polish right now so we should be ready for a new color about the time you start getting a lot of eggs : )

 

[debilorrah]

OOOO I am so gonna follow this now!!!! Thanks Illia!!!

 

[Illia]

Okie dokes. . . Update again!!

- I actually have 6 fertile Tolbunt Polish eggs!

And here's the latest on how development is going. Although my camera tends to focus on my hand for somereason, I do love candling and taking photos of white eggs - They're so bright and clear.

Pretty soon I should see eyes, then a heartbeat, and then some ligaments and movement.

As for the other eggs, I have 2 eggs from each of my current Polish hens. Of those, only one WCB hen has both eggs fertile, another WCB hen has one egg fertile, and the rest are quitters. I also have 2 Easter Egger eggs in there. . . Both quitters. Exciting when Tolbunts are doing better than your own flock's rate.

 

[Illia]

Update!!


Okay, so I've been taking photos daily of one egg in particular to show the growth through candling of an egg. ( It has been a fascinating thing to do and watch. . . ) But now I'm pretty sure I jut have 5 left, because the very egg I've been candling and photographing each night has suddenly gone weird. Here's the last few days' photos:


April 24th

April 25th

April 26th

Does anyone have a CLUE what in the world just happened? This giant odd looking blob doesn't move, doesn't wiggle - It just sits in place. And it seems to grow in size and density, but I don't see any veins attached to it anymore, and it doesn't move. Here's a comparison to the other eggs, who are doing great!

In here, there is plenty of veining, the fetus will swim around, and you can see its eyes and all. . .

We're on day 9 today!

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
I really do believe that too much handling and candleing cause things like this to happen. I have read many many works on hatching, and it is often suggested to limit candling to just 2 times (day 7 and day 18). Honestly, I very rarely candle. If I do, I never touch the egg. I use a candler (that I can not find) or a small sized high power light and hold it over the top of the egg for a couple seconds. Simply touching the eggs can pass on any number of microorganisms. Then, there is always the, "accidental dropping," of eggs. Jostle the egg to much and the contents of the egg can be disturbed. Alot of reasons I leave the eggs alone.

I dunno, maybe it has nothing to do with it .... Just my thought on the subject. But I will tell you one thing ..... If I had expensive eggs like that, I sure would not be handling them!!!!!

 

[Illia]

. . . I'll keep that in mind. I usually candle eggs about 4-8 times during their incubation, but I was afraid that could be the reasoning.

I'll keep my dirty hands off them now.

The next update should be just before Lockdown.

 

[pdsavage]

Its so hard to keep from candling huh...I have to keep myself busy so i wont candle everyday....